Not every change is for the better. You gotta admit that TVs used to be able to switch channels much faster then they do now. And analogue controls in cars are safer and better then touch screens for everything.
A lot of change is for the better, but quite a lot is a regression.
For one thing, the clicker seems to work instantly for analog TV because it will sync up on the next frame, which is 0.03 sec which is less than the 0.2 sec it takes the human mind to perceive two events as two different events.
With digital broadcast TV and cable whenever you switch to a different carrier there is a long delay (at least 0.5 sec) for the radio and the rest of the processing train to sync up. With streaming you have to do multiple network round trips to establish a stream. Either way you don't have the immediacy that old TVs had.
The question of UI in modern TV is interesting. 15 years ago the 500 channel problem looked difficult, my impression was that Comcast Xfinity (2010) was the first really good STB interface for the digital age.
I have a NVIDIA Shield which has an Android TV interface that convincingly makes FAST services like Pluto, Plex and Tubi look like linear TV on an STB. What you find though is that going "back" from one of those channels can put you, disorientingly, in the app for those channels, and also that you can usually navigate better if you start out with the FAST app (and have a more consistent experience watching FAST on a computer, tablet or XBOX) Except for those things which, for some reason, are easy to find in Android TV but hard in the app.
> 15 years ago the 500 channel problem looked difficult
Knowing what was on 500 channels may have been difficult, but that's equally difficult now. The problem of navigating 500 channels was solved more than 25 (not 15) years ago by remote controls that had numpad buttons on them. You navigate to channel 351 by pressing buttons 3, 5, and 1 in sequence.
Now you have to log into Netflix, check Netflix. Then log into Hulu, check Hulu. log into prime, then check prime. Then log into Disney plus, check Disney plus. Then check live tv, then find out it’s not in live tv but the tv stations app. So you log into peacock, navigate their insane UI. Finally get to watch what you want
Modern TV interfaces are way better at navigating 1000 channels, but whether or not having 1000 channels available through one TV interface is highly debatable. It's also not a given that the current way most TVs use is anywhere close to the optimal one (especially when you have multiple devices that all have to work together because the cable provider insists on their own box, made even worse when a helpful family member installs a sound system with its own dedicated remote).
It takes ages till the channel switches. I had already more channels then I needed, so more channels add nothing to it. There is no difference between having 800 vs 1000 channels. And when the TV is slow to change them, the discovery process becomes painful enough that I just go to do something else.
"Better" and "regression" are purely subjective.
I have access to around 1000 "channels", if you include live broadcasts and network-like apps. How exactly were old TVs better at helping navigate that?