I disagree. That would the case if I were to say: "Please take away this Mac Pro and all the wonderful software because what I really want is a Z-80".
I'm not saying that today's processors are too complex to understand, I'm saying that the software running in the machine in front of me is too complex. I wouldn't mind writing assembly code for a modern processor at all.
But if we are talking about what's likely to make me happy, it's probably a relatively simple CPU, some I/O ports and a soldering iron.
That's probably like the farmer wishing a had a kitchen garden and was growing enough food for himself.
That's precisely the feeling that drove me to free software - I wanted to regain some of the understanding of how the computer worked before Windows took it away from me.
While I like to mention my much beloved Apple II, even a 8088 PC running DOS is somewhat understandable.
I'm not saying that today's processors are too complex to understand, I'm saying that the software running in the machine in front of me is too complex. I wouldn't mind writing assembly code for a modern processor at all.
But if we are talking about what's likely to make me happy, it's probably a relatively simple CPU, some I/O ports and a soldering iron.
That's probably like the farmer wishing a had a kitchen garden and was growing enough food for himself.