With honestly a large number of general web searches being reddit results on virtually any topic, I think the need for login will gradually frustrate many into seeking out the fediverse. It could take a long time, though. It also may not have a huge effect passively, because there is a high chance that the information they want isn't here.
And the capability of those computer labs was purely educational (at least on paper, little shits like me were breaking the networks regularly, but that happens now as well).
If you were unaware, this is a baseline for a micro generation sometimes called the Oregan Trail generation (or Xennials). I'm in that cohort myself. My district was well-funded though and by the time I was in late high school, the computer lab looked like this.
Is this referring to computer labs in schools in general? This is at least Win 95 (and the school system didn't bother to update things in 98), so I would have been in high school with these, and thinking back we had very similar machines. I do kind of miss it because my friends and I had setup a hidden series of IRC servers on a few PCs. So, while we were supposed to be learning to type, we'd just chat. In retrospect, it was a good idea that was poorly implemented (people will eventually get around anything that they have physical access to) but the modern idea of kids in schools just having a ChromeBook, tablet, phone, or w/e is kind of fucked up. We had access to the computer lab for 1 period a day vs. the modern 24/7.
I think that in the end my real opinion is that I don't miss this, I miss my friends and I testing the limits of the security for both network and individual PC. We did some wild stuff with our TI-83s. One of my friends from that time was a certified Machine God and wrote an assembly program for his TI that would allow him (and by extension us) to surreptitiously plug in our calculators to those PCs via serial and effectively "dial out" bypassing the restrictions. It was a wild time.
And there is so much to that series of books in terms of complex topics that are dealt with in subtle ways that I don't understand how they think it is Y/A.
Honestly it is way better on PC. I don't think the controls translate very well to touch screen. It gets pretty damn hard, and I don't think I've ever been able to get very far on phone or tablet. That could be a me thing, though. The game is amazing nonetheless.
With honestly a large number of general web searches being reddit results on virtually any topic, I think the need for login will gradually frustrate many into seeking out the fediverse. It could take a long time, though. It also may not have a huge effect passively, because there is a high chance that the information they want isn't here.