> Computers have gotten MUCH faster at user response.
No. It all depends on what you run on the computer. Maybe you used to run programs that were (relatively) more demanding than what you run now, maybe most programs are now relatively less demanding than most programs were, but it is not the general case that computers have gotten MUCH faster at user response. They've mostly stagnated, barely improved.
> these days the printer has it's own processor and RAM
They've always had that. Actually in the mid-90s my printer was more powerful than my computer. It's just that the printers processors and RAM have vastly improved, too.
I just bought a new PC, and was absolutely dismayed when I activated the AHCI (SATA) firmware to discover it added about ten full seconds to the boot time. I have no idea what it performs during that time (some kind of calibration? I sure hope it's not a stupid just-to-be-safe timeout).
Conversely, I have desactivated IDE support, and it has now become very hard to enter the BIOS since the initial screen goes by so fast. I get about a quarter of a second to press the right key.
The usability of the BIOS is exactly the same as it was ten years ago. It's a shame no progress has occurred in that area in such a long time. I want it to go as fast as possible when everything is settled, but I also want to be able to pause and look at everything step by step while I am installing hardware. Apparently no one cares about that.
"I am, therefore I am." -- Akira