I know what you mean about the vampire reaction, though I'm not as "appalled" as I am disappointed. But I think I understand that some folks -- probably the majority of users -- aren't interested in making the computer sit up and do tricks, they look at it like a hammer, one that's got some blinky lights, but basically a hammer.
It's just a tool to get a job done. A good day is when they manage to hit the nail with the hammer's head instead of the claw, and it didn't break in their hand. They just want to go home with a paycheck and they don't see anything in making the hammer do any different than it did yesterday.
You and I are different. If we see a repetitive task, we immediately think, "How can I do this faster, more efficiently, how can I make the computer do more of this job instead of me having to do it?" Hence scripting, etc.
It gets like everything else, above a certain level of sophistication compared to the person's background. "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic" they say.... Hell, I used to take apart my car's carburetor (a '74 Fiat 124) and do my own brakes and exhaust and tune-ups, set the timing and screwed with every setting I could find. These days, I just want to get from Point A to Point B and frankly I don't know a damn thing about what's under the hood any more. It frustrates me.
I misspoke? typed? By Windows people, I meant Windows support people. The ordinary user has no reason to look at the command line, honestly.