If not a bicycle for the mind then what?

The best analogy? opium. The only "beneficiaries" are the makers.

So be a maker of great things.

Every one of us can make software the great tool for empowerment and creativity that it was meant to be.

To quote early Apple employee Guy Kawasaki: "Don't kvetch; Kick Butt"

As to what technology wants: Ask Kevin Kelley This is the earlier version of what he wrote:

https://kk.org/thetechnium/what-technology/

But in short (summarized with human intelligence)

Extrapolated, technology wants what life wants:

Increasing efficiency

Increasing opportunity

Increasing emergence

Increasing complexity

Increasing diversity

Increasing specialization

Increasing ubiquity

Increasing freedom

Increasing mutualism

Increasing beauty

Increasing sentience

Increasing structure

Increasing evolvability

Somewhere between tv and an infinite filing cabinet for bureaucracies; not to mention the holy grail of false productivity for the NYSE-conscious, an 'activity treadmill' for rosters of highly-credentialed people to seem concerned about.

There’s a documentary that should be released soon named “Message Not Understood” that covers the history of personal computing, with a heavy emphasis on Xerox PARC and its contributions, and how modern computing has become less about user empowerment these days. There is a publicly-available trailer, and I’ve seen a 30-minute preview (disclaimer: I was one of the Kickstarter donors).

https://messagenotunderstood.com/

There is no broad analogy for "software" because the concept is too general.

Obviously, there are plenty of examples of software being a "bicycle for the mind," and plenty not.

Make your own software, and find yourself not wanting.

A hamster wheel for the mind. A tricycle with training wheels for the mind.

Snake oil