The days aren't gone at all. 6 years ago, I purchased a Dell PowerEdge 2900 off of ebay, stuffed it with eight 1TB drives, and installed VMware ESXi (FREE). I used it to run a domain controller, exchange server, file serer, and media server all from my home and 100% virtualized. More recently, I wanted to get more proficient with SANs, so I purchased a PowerEdge C2100 as a SAN head using Server 2012 R2 (has iSCSI targets built in). I stuffed it with twelve 2TB drives. I also purchased a PowerEdge C6200 cluster server with 4 server nodes from ebay. I stuffed it with twelve 1TB drives, 96GB of RAM, and 32 cores. With my new setup at home, I am able to run VMware ESXi on one of the cluster nodes, and I also setup a HYPER-V triple node failover cluster with the other 3 nodes. I have enough hardware horsepower to completely emulate my work environment at home. As a college student, I enrolled in the DreamSpark program, giving me licenses to any Microsoft product I could ever want or need (FREE). I also started my own consulting firm. As a result, I was illegible for the Microsoft BizSpark program which also gave me licenses to any Microsoft product I could ever want or need (FREE). I also use CentOS (Free redhat clone) to learn enterprise class Linux environments.
If you think "the days are gone", then I would suggest that you look at things differently. The hardware is out there, free lab environments are out there, and even the software you need is out there whether it be 180 evaluation licenses or licenses made available through other programs. It's all within your limits; all you have to do is reach for it.
Because mobile websites are designed to have a reduced set of features. Why would a company spend thousands or millions to produce a mobile website that functioned EXACTLY like the full featured version? They wouldn't; they would just show you the full featured version on the mobile phone (as many sites already do). The problem here is that companys build a shitty ass mobile site and then force you to use it when they detect you're surfing from a mobile device.
If you want a full featured web experience on a mobile platform, get the Dolphin browser and set it to "desktop" mode.
You and I are in nearly identical scenarios. I bought a Galaxy Note 3 and Galaxy Gear watch together. I agree with everything you've said, and I also run my own exchange server. To build on your helpful assessment of Galaxy Gear (on of the only helpful ones here), and to give other people an idea of how the device is helpful, I'd like to add:
The device is extremely convenient in settings where having your phone out is considered rude. This is because you can continue to stay informed by using the watch without giving the appearance that you're playing/working on your phone. This is great for meetings or conferences, dinner with the wife/girlfriend, college classes, etc. As a motorcycle rider, I can tell that I will never go without a smartwatch again. It is much faster and safer to check messages, make/answer calls, and check notifications from the watch rather than taking my riding gloves off, pulling the phone out of a zipped pocket. You can safely stay informed while you ride by glancing at the notifications on your wrist. I no longer have to stop what I am doing at home/work and go pickup my phone off the charger/desk. I can answer calls, and respond to text messages without going to get my phone. As somebody that works full time for the state, runs a part time consulting business, goes to college part time, and runs a household filled with a woman and children, I can tell that TIME IS PRECIOUS to me, and the smart watch is a huge time saver.
I think most of the smart watch haters here either can't afford the $300 convenience fee for the device, or they are disappointed by the lack of "...sunshine up their butts." as you said.
"Little else matters than to write good code." -- Karl Lehenbauer