I think part of it is definitely a generations thing. There are plenty of younger people who would still sound as clueless as some of the people you talked to but as these people who are growing up with the internet and especially all the hacktivism in the news, eventually the perception will change.
A perfect example, I just saw a story today about a 10yr who was at Defcon, who found iOS and Android security bug. Gizmodo story
There will always be misconceptions and uneducated assumptions by people who have no interest in learning the reality. I think eventually that will change with the generations growing up with more technology. A personal example, I first got access to the internet when I was 17 and I learned how to do a lot of basics with using code via IRC without any realization the application of learning it beyond inserting sounds, going invisible, and bunch of other misc things into IRC chat. So of course when i stopped using IRC I didn't retain that information after not using a computer for months upon entering the military and had no idea that I was already building a foundation for my eventual career in IT.
Most of us who work in IT know how the perception is with family and friends who assume you have the magic pixie dust to fix all their computer problems and how, provided they can retain it, showing them some of the basics demystify using the computer and/or internet.
The biggest obstacle has been and will always be breaking that perception to people who have zero interest in anything computer/IT based. Eventually they will be the minority and it won't be as big of a deal as it still is.
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