Magic vs. Wonder: memories of a distant future

In the last 5 years computing has given us access to unimaginable wonders. modern AI systems let you turn ideas into reality in a short time, and get amazing results. Each of us is now able to develop our own projects alone: all it takes is a subscription, clear ideas, and in a reasonable time you get results that until only 5 years ago required teams of experts and investments within reach only of companies with generous budgets. And yet something has been lost: we have become architects, designers, but we have lost the magic of control.

In the 70s-80s the old alphanumeric terminals from DEC, Wyse and others had something magical: you pressed the keys, you heard the "clack clack" of the keyboard, the electric hum of the terminal, the warmth of the CRT monitor, and you could almost feel the electric pulses that represented the bits flowing through the cables. You could watch the screens form character after character, and you had the feeling you could control every single bit.

Nostalgia for the old days? Partly yes, because today when you write you no longer know what happens, and sometimes you have the feeling that the AI is deciding for you, and you no longer control what happens in front of the monitor. I don't miss the past, because of a series of problems that luckily are gone now, but a certain sadness for the sense of magic that came through from those warm and noisy machines, yes.