I see startups like Codecademy beneficial in that they are providing an easy and streamlined way to learn programming fundamentals, with the added fun of accomplishments and badges. You'd be surprised at how something as trivial as badges provide a great deal of motivation for people starting out, encouraging them to continue learning.
>> "I'm fairly convinced that those who love Codecademy and see it as the great new way to learn how to code already know how to code."
I'm not sure I fully understand that statement. From my experience, people who already know how to program are out there forking stuff on github, asking/answering questions on Stack Overflow, or reading material on Safari Books Online, not perusing the beginning Javascript tutorials at Codecademy.
