You were a kid, everything seems magical then. As we get older the magic disappears. Happens to every generation. See for example how many people are nostalgic of (objectively worse) 80s, in countries that were much poorer than are today and had much worse living conditions.
I'm not sure that's completely true at least for me. There's multiple instances of new technology I first tried as an adult that seemed amazing, I didn't get online till my mid twenties and that was an amazing experience. Switching from my 8MHz Atari ST to an 800MHz PC happened at the same time and suddenly getting access to all these new games and new software was magical, I marvelled at all the little graphical and audio details games suddenly had. I got my first camcorder and digital cameras as an adult and thought they were great.
The magic started to wear off later when technology started feeling hostile. Instead of me being in charge, my technology started doing things against my wishes and I had no power to stop it. There's been this increasing sense of technology constantly pushing and clawing at my boundaries, trying to spy on my and report back from me unless I check a dozen options and even then it may not be enough. Technology updating itself when its inconvenient, or breaking itself, or installing stuff I didn't ask for, want or consent to.
There's also the fact that this creepy boundary pushing technology is feeling more and more mandatory and a built in part of society, so its becoming harder to avoid and the sense that 90% of people have just shrugged given up.
But even now in my 40s I occasionally find a gadget or bit of software that seems magical, so I don't think for me its an age thing.
I'm sure lots of people disagree and have a very different experience, but for me that's a big part of why technology has lost its magic.
The latest craze for 2021 kids is "pop it" game. We are just too old to be amazed by that. Do you think these kids will prefer living in 2050, working in a cubicle, facing midlife crisis, even though they are living through a pandemic now?
As for your view on technology, while many of us here share it, let's not forget how small HN crowd in general population is. Like you said, people shrugged, but most probably never even thought about it.
Depression is up, house prices to income ratios are much worse, education and healthcare costs are both way up while quality (measured by test scores and healthy life years) has barely changed, social connections and number of friends are down...
Just because you can now afford 10 computers rather than 1 (who would even want 10?) does not mean you are better off.
The 80's where pretty much fucked economically in a large part of the world. And the way Reagan fixed the American made things worse due to increased interest rates for countries highly indebted
Also when you are young you don’t know how much the world can suck.
There is also the fact that when you are young the world is your oyster, so many possibilities ahead. Then you get old, you are now over the hill, your life has pass you by, and you don’t really have much to look forward to except deteriorating health and death.
But it’s not all solely age dependent IMO. I think a 90s teen would be happier - or at least more excited - than today’s. While as a stupid kid you likely won’t pay attention to politics, at least not back then when all that stuff was “hidden” in stuffy newspapers, but you probably felt the more hopeful “end of the Cold War” zeitgeist. Things were looking up. Consumer computer technology was advancing at a neck breaking speed. Video games became mainstream and midway through turned 3D. The Internet and the Information Age with all its (overly) optimistic promises were upon us - while the negative effects never crossed our minds. We were all (supposedly) headed into an amazing future.
Today … I personally can’t find anything to be excited about.
