[qsera]

As computers grew more powerful, they became less interesting.

There is a lesson in there somewhere that humanity has not yet woken up to.

[bluefirebrand]

I don't know if it's that quite it

I think they became less interesting because they became more homogenous, more standardized, more commercialized

It's like the internet. It was more interesting when everything was spread out and you felt like you had to explore it. Now it's all the same content collected on the same 5 sites, and it feels like there's nothing actually interesting out there anymore

[qsera]

Not sure. Computers where pretty homogenous back then as well. Every time I find myself infront of a computer, I would do "cd games", and there would be games...

I think it started becoming less interesting as it grew more powerful and with it came more capable displays and GUI interface, and before you know it, computers are indistinguishable from a damn television.

At least for me as computers started showing more realistic graphics, it became less abstract, less magical, less interesting. After all, reality is pretty boring...Not sure how we collectively missed that fact...

[bluefirebrand]

That's fair.

There's probably also an aspect of "The computer used to be a place you would go, now it's a rectangle that comes everywhere with you"

It's definitely less magical when it is everywhere and in everythin

You're not alone in missing the magic though. I miss it too

[jz391]

I think many of us miss that feeling... For me, the level of complexity of the computers in my childhood (TRS-80, Spectrum) made them interesting but still possible to fully understand. I think we have lost that - modern hardware and software has complexity on a scale which makes it impossible to fully follow. After decades of computing, I only have a high-level understanding of many components of a typical PC. So for my son, any understanding of what's going will be difficult...

[joarv0249nw]

I think part of the magic was that I felt I could get to understand how the system works on a deeper level. I wonder if it is now too hard to get to that level of understanding. One would spend most of the time just scratching the almost impenetrable surface of todays systems

[qsera]

Abstract things stimulate the imagination and guide them. That is why reading a book is a lot more enjoyable than watching a movie.

When computers started showing reality, that is true color, high res photos, realistic movies etc, they became less capable of capturing the imagination.