We never left the mainframe. The bubble did but not the rest of the world. Most fortune 1000 companies still have active mainframe installations running. And so do most governments.
What has happen is computer power has become much more accessible. No more time sharing. No more Comdisco. No more running down the hall to pick up your printed materials. And no more 1m+ price tag (unless you need it).
The mainframe is no longer the front and back ends (which is was). Now it's just the back end - running huge data stores. In other words, it's perfect for the cloud (which by the way, is also nothing new).
The computer industry isn't regressive; it's circular. So is fashion, by the way. Oh and Hollywood and - well you get my point.
