[kbenson]

There's actually a lot more implied by the metaphor than just goto and constructs built upon it. It's about the art and science of programming, and advancements in the field. I specifically didn't say car or automobile because I wanted to evoke the feeling that the "new" thing being shunned is actually itself far behind the current state of the art. For loops and if blocks aren't very new and shiny either. You know what is (for some relative value of "new" that includes coming back into prominence or finally gaining some traction)? Static code analysis. Typing concepts beyond what C offered. IDEs and tooling infrastructures to assist development. Languages that support formal proofs.

Goto is essential, it's the glue that holds the instruction set together. That said, we must not fetishize it, just as we must not fetishize items of the past that are largely superseded by what they helped create. To do so slows us down, and we fail to achieve what we otherwise could. We must not forget them either, they have their places, and to do so would also slow us down.