> Well HDMI came out a couple years later and didn't really blow minds.
Of course not. All of those improvements were, taken on their own, iterative and evolutionary – as nearly all technological development is. But taken together, they make a big difference.
Except I'm saying all those other things already worked fine. Your scenario is an incremental change between then and today. If you want that super impressive effect you need to compare against longer ago than 2002. If you do that in 1992, wow.
You could still do a 20 year comparison if you wanted, 1992 vs. 2012. Since the experience has barely changed in the last 10 years.
Of course not. All of those improvements were, taken on their own, iterative and evolutionary – as nearly all technological development is. But taken together, they make a big difference.