If you want to remember feeling hopeful for the future, you can read over 200 issues of the legendary Byte magazine for free on the Internet Archive

Man looking at computer screen viewed from behind showing recursive images of himself looking at computer screen from Byte Magazine cover illustration by Robert Tinney.

Thanks to user DamnInteresting on Hacker News, I've found my latest rabbit hole obsession on the Internet Archive: A significant portion of the English back catalogue of Byte Magazine, the granddaddy of personal computing periodicals, stretching all the way back to 1975.

If you're unfamiliar with Byte, the magazine basically grew up alongside personal computing. It was spearheaded by Wayne Green, editor of an amateur radio magazine⁠—there's a fun parallel there to how tabletop roleplaying emerged from the earlier, grognardier wargaming scene at almost the exact same time.