This actually makes me miss those days. At that time it was possible to know EVERYTHING that was happening in micro computing. There was some comfort in that I think. Fun.
Limiting the scope of what you're seeing is no longer a luxury, it has become a necessity to get any work done but this tendency to want to understand everything is hard to get rid of and a huge time-sink.
Couple that with the speed with which formats, protocols and technologies are obsoleted and you end up with an even more frustrating situation.
I suspect the next level of major real progress will come from simplification or a total reboot.