We think alike! I have done the same as you - designing boards in my own home-lab using the same 0.5mm pitch SMD parts. Yes, it geeky, but we do what we love. The same stuff that we see in the past issues of Byte.
Excellent writeup. Thanks for posting it.
In the end, we have created a bunch of tools that others are using. I guess you might say we're a victim of our own success. Our baby has grown up and left the house and we're kinda lamenting it. But I suppose if you look at the tools we as engineers/geeks have created, we should be encouraging more of the same.
I was just re-thinking about this 'experimentation' thing. It's probably not as bad as we're thinking, as you say - there are probably even more geeks out there than ever before. If one looks/Googles for home hobbyist things, one can find a lot out there. It's not dead, other things are now in the forefront. Having the past issues of Byte available makes me long for those good ol' days, but now that I think about it, it's probably better than it ever has - one can create electronics artwork with PC tools, many of them free. Parts are readily available, many different types of parts can be in our hands within a few days. Plus we can do all this stuff, including ordering tools and parts, off-hours thanks to web commerce. Research and learning is much easier these days and you don't have to go to the library.
On top of it all, we can easily find what others are doing via the internet.
One cool thing is that one can design an n-layer board with tiny traces/holes (as long as you pay$ for them) and get them in your hands in relatively short order. Heck, getting 2- or 4- layer boards isn't expensive. Then, one can use a toaster oven to do the reflow with parts from Digikey and Mouser! How fun is that???!!!!
As for the perception that little experimentation is happening, it might be because there are so many more and bigger goals out there. The boot code, where it once was the main point, is only the means to another end. It's hard/impossible to find someone that writes PC BIOS code, but this is due to the complexity and scale of the PCs we have now. Such is progress. However, it's easy to find people who write their own code for simpler electronics, like for 8051s, Freescale parts, and the like.
So, in the end, I guess the geek activities haven't let up, it just looks and feels different. We've scampered off to our own little corners, but at least it still goes on...
Again, thanks for posting your response. It was fun to read.