Yeah, they were always moving toward it- I acutally liked it better in first edition, though, when you could hack a computer without your deck or your programs, but it was MUCH harder. Enough so that you would only do it if there was no other choice.
Now we have old fogey-otaku and bright shiny new technomancers, and I'm not even sure what that progression is supposed to lead to- some sort of Techno-spirit? (I'm thinking more like Deus than everyday sprites)
Of course, I'm not a fan of 4th edition, so I can't really say I'm looking at this as an unbiased commentator.
-kv