I got into it through wanting some cheap radios to keep in my house, so I wouldn't have to go all the way upstairs when I needed to communicate with my daughter.
Well let me tell you Baofeng radios are extremely cheap but really flexible. I got these things for the simplest possible use case but after realizing their potential I just had to learn more about the space. You can adjust their configuration with a tool called Chirp and you're off to the races!
I attended a local severe weather awareness event where I met some hams who were part of an emergency response network. It's really cool to learn about how these communities operate. It's legal to receive even without a license - you only need the license to transmit.
I plan to take the technician test soon and get my license so I can help out at a nearby bike event. The area is incredibly rural so there's no cell coverage and the ham operators are really helpful in coordinating things.
Anyway, I feel like the hobby is a bit of a dying art, but it's something that seems like it would have a lot of appeal to the programmer crowd.