1. 80s computers were basically a mechanical keyboard connected to a low resolution CRT display (typically a TV). Text entry was the default. There was no GUI o

1. 80s computers were basically a mechanical keyboard connected to a low resolution CRT display (typically a TV). Text entry was the default. There was no GUI or pointing device. For smartphones, text entry isn't the default. 2. In the 80s seeing your choice of text on a screen was something really new to most people. Teletext would not be universal until the end of the decade. Nothing in the house had even a text display. Calculators were numeric only. These days, everything has a display. 3. There were no polished programs to compete with. A lot of early games were very simple. There was no App Store or Steam. You could write a Tic Tac Toe game never having seen a commercial implementation. Even if it was bad, your friends would be impressed. If you want inclusive coding, Scratch is the world’s largest coding community for children - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35373052 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35373052 . The 40 characters wide Basic terminal was of its time.