It's Weird that Zoomers are Nostalgic for Beta Minecraft
Lots of zoomers are nostalgic about Beta Minecraft.
When speaking to a whippersnapper, the elderly zoomer is very predictable. He will first say "I'm getting on in years, so let me give you some advice. You've still got time. Don't live like me. I'm 19 years old and I've already wasted my entire life." After another puff of his stogie, he will declare "Beta Minecraft: now there was a game."
One can debate the merits of Beta Minecraft.1 But, it is unlikely that our elderly zoomer ever experienced it. If he did, it was long after the vanished springtime of his life. In general, youthful zoomers did not grow up with personal computers.2 If we had one, it was probably a locked down school Chromebook. Far more people played Minecraft on consoles or on Pocket Edition. And these are very different games from Beta. From the start, I believe console versions had sprinting and hunger -- they certainly did when I first played one. Legacy console edition is its own thing, but it's more like early release than it is like Beta. Old Pocket Edition is a bit more like Beta, but it also had finite worlds and the fabled neon grass. And it lacked caves, wolves, and the nether. If it resembles any old Java version, it's Indev.
So, the aging zoomer's attitude is mysterious. Part of it is that you can just boot up the Java launcher and play Beta. Playing an old version of Pocket Edition is harder (and it often involves, uh, expedient means). But you also have to tinker with Beta if you want it to be fun. It often doesn't start up with sounds and you really need quality-of-life mods. Personally, I will continue to have nostalgia for old Pocket Edition, for it is the mediocre game I played as a child.