The first UNIX was announced outside of Bell Labs in 1973. In 1976, pretty much every tool was “the new kid on the block”.

Phew, I was so worried. So for 48 years out of Unix' 53 years of existence (90% of that time), make hasn't been the new kid on the block. Oh, let alone the fact that we're talking about stuff from 48 years ago, when their "screen" was a paper printout of the output.

I have no idea what that comment is supposed to mean.

That your comment was hyper-pedantic.

You could around 1976. Who's ever going to need make.