I also remember well the days of dial up although it I may have I started using modems at an earlier time. This was a time before the internet and even email using Compu-serve, AOL and bulletin boards. I used to have two phone lines with one dedicated for modem use. But to get faster speeds I had modems that could use both lines at the same time. My neighbor and I buried a cat5 cable that allowed us to play Microsoft Combat Flight Simulator together when it came out. I purchased some new toys myself recently. I bought a used controller for my drone with a built-in screen which has a USB-C based video out port. It allows me to plug in a pair of AR (Augmented Reality) glasses that I also acquired recently. It literally is like having my eyes in the sky.
The glasses worked so well that I purchased an almost 5-year-old Samsung S20+ phone that the glasses also work with. Despite its age the phone looks new. When you plug the glasses into the phone it basically goes into a Chromebook like mode which looks like a standard Desktop. I installed the Android versions of Word and Excel and use a Bluetooth mouse and small keyboard with, although the screen of the phone is used as a capable touch pad in this mode. The glasses have speakers built in, but I prefer to use a Bluetooth headset for a more immersive experience.
This mode also works great for watching videos or web browsing. I was using it in the car yesterday after dropping my wife and her sister off at the mall. I have a full-blown VR headset but the nice thing about the glasses is that they use far less power, and you can actually still see some of the outside world in the periphery. The VR headset has cameras to bring in the outside world, but they are very noticeable to others, while the glasses look sun glasses.
nice lookin shades lol=- stylin while flyin- i haven’t looked too much into VR- but want to once i get the new comp up and running- i did have a sort of vr for my auto racing games- where i could look around to the side to see cars to the side of me- it worked ok- but a little slow- couldn’t move too fast- it used the webcam to track which way i would look- it wasn’t full blown vr like oculus or anythiong- can be used or flying too-
here’s a site talkin about it-
https://www.flightsim.com/forums/topic/44956-aitrack-and-opentrack-use-your-webcam-for-head-tracking/
(I think i mighta showed this software to you in a thread awhile back? maybe it was someone else-)