Do you ever wonder if that's because of the growing up part and not the phone part? Growing up for most people tends to be pretty fun and exciting compared to adult life. And with or without phones, the 80s and 90s were a very different time when it came to kids being able to go out and play outside on their own. Move to a country where it's common for kids to play outside and you'll see that times aren't much different even though kids all have phones. In a way, it's easier because now you're just one text and location share away from meeting up with them.
Growing up in the time where Palm and Windows CE were a thing, I knew having a capable pocket sized computer was an inevitability, and couldn't wait for it. And it's great: I would fucking hate not having modern mobile banking, communications tools, maps, calendars and the ability to look anything up immediately.
The internet was more fun pre-smartphone, but that's because of the demographic change brought on by a new Eternal September, not the existence of mobile computers. We went from the internet being the domain of interesting, creative people who made things for fun to "basically everybody."
