Becoming a programmer/developer

Last year, around April or May, I asked my friend (who is a very talented developer) how I could get started with learning how to program and code. He said, "Don't. It's taken me several years to get to where I am now and by the time you get up to speed, the industry will have evolved and you'll spend more time playing catch-up." Well, the interest has sparked again and I thought maybe he was just being an asshole. Is it kinda pointless to start learning this late in the game?