The big assumption you are making is that we have already found all the 'algebra and calculus' models - i.e. the good mental tools - in computing.

You could do division in roman numerals and perhaps people even then justified it with 'math is just hard, learn and deal with it' but things can get easier when you have better models, better representations and better mental tools. A big advantage of the computers is that they themselves are dynamic and interactive and so they can actually amplify the mental tools.