Eh back in the day computers were expensive and not everyone could afford one (and I don't mean a library computer that you can work on, one you can code and hack on). The ubiquity of computing is not something that's been around forever.

There have always been costs and barriers for the cutting edge.

The problem isn’t cost, it’s reproducibility and understanding. If rely on a service you can’t fully understand to get something done, you’re beholden to the whims of its provider.