I do find these things go out of their way to /not/ offer what Buxton called a "self-revealing interface"; most of the apps I use don't even have a basic help page or even a legend for special symbols on their display!
Maybe it really /is/ a generational thing. I recall being similarly amazed when my gradeschool son demonstrated (matter of factly) the 'hidden' chambers full of coin in Commander Keen, like jumping in a tunnel because, you never know, the ceiling might be an illusion, and kids think the character's cringe and bleep of hitting a hard ceiling is funny. They were priming my kids...
"I have always wished for my computer to be as easy to use as my telephone; my wish has come true because I can no longer figure out how to use my telephone."
- Bjarne Stroustrup, inventor of C++