alt Hacker News1. This is the most optimistic, inspirational thing I've read in months :)
2. Are there kids like that still?? I would love to think so. None of the kids in my circle of parents are. There is one teenager who's going into computer science because they are smart and love math, which is great, but they never built or explored or been curious about anything on their computer as far as I can tell. There is a big ecosystem of wish fulfilment and instant gratification, and I think (right) limitations like the author insinuated are part of the allure.
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I thought it was inspirational as well. When he described making a folder called "Projects" it reminded me of that feeling I had after graduating from a TI-99/4A to a PC. The possibilities were endless.
Different computers definitely give me different feelings when I use them. Some inspire creativity and the desire to make something meaningful or beautiful, others feel like machines made for work or for play. All of the boundaries are fuzzy but, for me, computers definitely have an emotional valence.
To 2., yes - you just have to look in the right places. You're sure to find them in middle/high school or university robotics teams, for example.
When computing was niche, you really only got into if you had a real interest in it (I assume - I wasn't around back then). That's changed, but it doesn't mean that that category doesn't exist anymore. If anything, it's probably way larger in absolute terms, if a smaller proportion of people who work on software in general.