[themal]

That's what I don't like about modern computing, there's too many layers of middleware. With web browsers you lose the link between the software and hardware, it's too abstract and theoretical.

That spark of interest comes from seeing something real (which is physical and easy to understand), and being able to control it by using code. Think arduino, not emulation.

All that said, I am a web developer, the main reason I got into it was the simplicity of technologies like HTML, PHP etc. Whereas nowadays, even web development is dominated by abstract ideas like OOP, APIs and frameworks, so it's becoming less interesting in that respect.