For people with a self-perception of not being programmers (in other words, most people) spreadsheets are often the easiest and most flexible way to leverage a computer's ability to automate whatever their novel task is. Without spreadsheets, they'd either need to learn how to code or hire a programmer. Hiring a programmer to solve your special problem is a high bar to clear, and most people will never become programmers for various reasons. If you took spreadsheets away, I think most spreadsheet users would begrudgingly go back to pencils and pocket calculators.