> it feels hollow to me

I don’t think there’s ever been a more accurate and appropriate moment to say: that sounds like a you problem.

If you think computer science is only about manually writing lines of code yourself then goodness me you have SO MUCH to learn.

> Was this, then, done to impress others rather than enrich the coders skills and experience?

So coding is only valid when it “enriches the coders skills and experience”? How do you define those? Better yet, WHO is defining those? Are you so narrow minded and decidedly contrarian that you simply refuse to think of any other reason the dev might’ve done this for? I don’t wanna tell you you need to touch grass but goodness me you really ought to consider opening your mind to the fact that you are not the centre of the universe.

> The futuristic equivalent of pressing the “demo” button on old electronic keyboard and pretending to play

These two things do not equate in the slightest and the fact that you think they do is utterly depressing.