The thing I remember most about the tech is how unreliable it was. Windows 3.1 through to me were terrible compared to what we have now. Also we had to pay for tools like compilers.
Yeah, but on the flip side, you bought software and then used it. You didn't have a subscription to use XYZ on the following terms for the following time periods, unless otherwise changed.
And it was about software, not "behavioral surplus data collection pretending to be useful to you."
You win some, you lose some. But I'd take that era back in a moment.
There's gotta be more one-time-purchase software for sale now than there was in the 1990s.
I agree it was mostly better software, at least in terms of respecting users.
I bought my first Linux distro (Mandrake). It was worth it to avoid the huge download on 56k, and the hassle of writing a CD. Plus Mandrake played pretty well written my system thanks to the '3dfx' drivers.
And it was about software, not "behavioral surplus data collection pretending to be useful to you."
You win some, you lose some. But I'd take that era back in a moment.