I feel like the problem now is the overwhelming number of choices we have. If a new programmer wanted to write a desktop app for windows he would be directed to

I feel like the problem now is the overwhelming number of choices we have. If a new programmer wanted to write a desktop app for windows he would be directed to VB, web app Perl, or games Turbo Pascal. Sure there were plenty of other languages but the zeitgeist of the time made these decisions pretty easy. Even in small town libraries, there were books available on these environments and the book stores had tons of books.