There have been no real advancements since the desktop model of the late 1990s. We might have more animations and applications running in virtual machines for security purposes, but literally nothing new has come out.
Even all the web apps are reimplementation of basic desktop capabilities from the decades before, but slower and with more RAM usage. They might be easier to write (I personally don't think so - RAD apps from the 90s were quicker to write and use) but the actual utility hasn't changed; if anything it's just shoving all of your data from your microcomputer to someone else's microcomputer, and being tracked and losing control of said data whilst you're at it!
And we have easier access to videos on the Internet, I guess??
It all seems to be missing the point of actually having a computational device locally. There is no computation going on. It's all digital paper pushing.
The problem with “stuff we don’t need” arguments is they are fundamentally nihilistic.
Everyone needs a flying car so let’s get on with it.
I think it is. If they actually do end up finding a problem to solve, that would be serendipitous but I imagine the vast majority of the time they find themselves in the business of trying to convince the rest of us to buy a thing that we don’t need. And while the latter may drive the economy to some degree as I get older I detest it more and more.