I was happy when home computers started becoming available, and when it became possible to put together your own PC clone from parts purchased through mail order I jumped into that. I still have a large collection of vintage home computers from the 70s and 80s along with computers that I put together from parts starting with XT clones.
I have to admit that I really did not get that excited about graphic based interfaces in the beginning. I didn't sense the advantages compared to just setting up a menu system. But as more and more Windows software became available it became obvious that this is where the future was taking us.
A turning point for me was when Adobe Photoshop became available for Windows and I purchased it and a scanner for a desktop computer that I had put together. Until Photoshop I hadn't cared that much about having more and more computing power and storage. But after you have had to repeatedly wait 20 minutes for a filter to alter a large photo, faster processors, more memory, and more hard drive space takes on new meaning.
Glad you enjoyed the article (I did too). We hobbyists were where it all started, a decade before Windows 1.0. My first couple years were with a HEX keypad and 7-segment displays, hand-entering my hand-assembled machine code. I still remember that A9 was the 6502’s LDA# (load accumulator immediate)... But don’t ask me what I had for breakfast yesterday, LOL.