The core thing is that some people STILL like it -- including people who never lived in that era, and could trivially buy 3 30" monitors.

And not because of primitivism reasons ("who needs fancy IDEs" etc), but because of a quite concrete reason: increased focus.

In the era of 1000 distractions for programmers, it's perhaps more valid than it would have been in 1984. Then, if you had dual monitors, they'd still show just your code, some log, some documentation, etc. At best, xeyes.

Use an OS that doesn't attack you then. Ubuntu with i3 and I never see a single OS screen. On a 34" wide monitor it's editor, terminal, browser. Pixel edge to pixel edge. No fluff. No bullshit. No battling window sizing. It's like focus mode, only with more windows :)

+i3 life changer for programmer productivity!