Why isn't it? I'd say as a markup language, it touches on a lot of computer science topics: data structures, semantics, abstraction, etc. Also, I think it's a great entry point that could lead to an interest more "serious" CS topics.
Completely agree - it's an incredibly easy first step in understanding the abstraction of code -> results.
I've actually had the privilege of walking a recently released inmate with 0 computer skills through the process of writing their first lines of html. The excitement he experienced seeing "hello world" transform just by changing it to "<h1>hello world</h1>" was incredible. I think it boils down to realizing the power of - to put this in the simplest terms possible: "typing some jargon and making things happen."
the point of this entire post is not to argue semantics. this inmate wants to get involved with programming, and the best way to start (in my opinion) is to pursue HTML.
