Current stacks are much bigger and much more opaque than the 90’s hardware was. On top of that computers are fast enough that the need to go lower lever is significantly lessened. Because of this, it is likely a much smaller proportion of current programmers will get to learn about low level stuff, despite the much greater availability of learning material.
Cutting corners is not the only reason why software slows down as hardware speeds up. Many people just have no idea how fast their computer is supposed to run, and their "fast enough" is often much slower than it could be. And in some cases that’s the difference between "fast enough to make a smooth animation", and "slow enough that I need a spinning wheel".
Cutting corners is not the only reason why software slows down as hardware speeds up. Many people just have no idea how fast their computer is supposed to run, and their "fast enough" is often much slower than it could be. And in some cases that’s the difference between "fast enough to make a smooth animation", and "slow enough that I need a spinning wheel".