Yes, that late 90s/early 2000s nirvana. I could perfectly browse the web and write documents and send emails on a PowerMac G3 without too much fuss. Only things like photo/video/audio manipulation were really lacking from machines at the time compared to today.
I don't know if it's the baby duck syndrome, rose tinted glasses, or 'back-in-my-day-ism', but I agree with you wholeheartedly.
Computing for me peaked in about 2002-2005 (I'm young, sorry), coasted okay until about 2010, then began gaining weight until today where I have a sense that computing latency is like a type 2 diabetic man having his midlife crisis. Either he loses some weight, or he has a heart attack and dies.
I agree on your point re: number crunching for rendering videos, manipulating photos, audio DSP etc.
