I think people don't really realize how little actual computing has changed. From the inception of programmable computers that only nation states and huge compa

I think people don't really realize how little actual computing has changed. From the inception of programmable computers that only nation states and huge companies could afford through the mid to late 1980s, computing changed significantly, in all of size, affordability, capacity and actual functionality. What happened in the mid to late 1980s? Relatively affordable computing became available which fit a lowest common denominator which still exists today: * CPU * MMU * access to mass storage * access to communications The Macintosh II came out in 1987 and Amiga 2500 in 1988. You then had a true and proper 32 bit computer which could run a real Unix or Unix-like OS. Everything modern outside of microcontrollers matches this lowest common denominator. The same is true of 80486 machines (80386 is mostly the same, but modern toolchains now require certain atomic instructions which the 80386 doesn't have). What's amazing is that you can run a real OS on them NOW. You can run NetBSD on them and run tens of thousands of open source software packages NOW. These are 33 years old. We're one-third of a way to 100 years.