I mean that a lot of low-level setup for embedded is done by tools now; for instance, Freescale has a set of design tools that let you design peripheral drivers by picking options from a pull-down list rather than writing code directly. Embedded is bottom-of-the-stack coding that is very repetitive. By all means, if you are interested, study low level programming. It's good for any developer to know those things, but in terms of career growth its probably better to develop higher level programming skills to rest on. Buy a beaglebone board to hack embedded stuff but don't invest your core skills there.