The advancements in hardware have been dramatic since I entered my programs composed in FORTRAN, put them on punch cards, and ran them on a Cray 1 in NSA’s basement in 1976. Now I carry a powerful computer in my pocket, and it’s even got a camera! When the Internet came along I remember the optimism that this would be an opportunity for everyone to connect to anyone around the world. Sadly we failed to anticipate the effects of capitalism on this new medium. In many ways I consider the Internet another failed social experiment. So while we have ever more capable hardware with which to access the Internet, the Internet has become a less than ideal destination.
The advancements in hardware have perhaps been most beneficial in allowing us to record family memories. We can also take photos and process them without the need for a fully equipped darkroom.
I’ve pretty much given up hope that the Internet will ever fulfill the hopes we had for it in the beginning. Meanwhile, thanks to the advancements in hardware, computing could become much more personal, isolating us from each other instead of what we once anticipated.