Gone astray? Astray from what? Text and forms? The web has gotten exponentially more useful. The fact that my computer needs to be trivially more modern to use

Gone astray? Astray from what? Text and forms? The web has gotten exponentially more useful. The fact that my computer needs to be trivially more modern to use it seems like a completely reasonable trade-off. You couldn't buy a fully functioning computer for $35 in 2023 dollars back before the web "went astray." That wouldn't even buy you a modem!