Yes and no. Things were different, for sure. Hell end 80's I hung around a random polytechnic school at age 14, where I played to my hearts content with their professional CAD stations and programed their robotic arm. I had no reason being there, where it not that we visited once because my mom knew someone there, and the IT lab guy took a liking to me.

But I'm reasonably sure that if today I bumped into some random kid that was obsessed with anything 'geeky' that makes me fondly remember when I was that age, I'd jump on the opportunity. Wouldn't we all?