At least for this article it's more about the job, or to be precise, the past where job and passion coincided:

> Ultimately if you have a mortgage and a car payment and a family you love, you’re going to make your decision.

Nothing is preventing the author from continuing to write code by hand and enjoy it. The difference is that people won't necessarily pay for it.

The old way was really incredible (and worth mourning), considering in other industries, how many people can only enjoy what they do outside of work.