"Modern" is a relative concept not an absolute one. Each age thinks of itself as an improvement over the previous one and by some measures it is. My grandfather was born to a world of the steam engine and lance wood rods and we live in a world of the Internet and 60 gazillion modulus graphite. Advancement? Certainly. Improvement? That is a value judgement. What do you value? The feel of bamboo or the feel of graphite. Which is more fun, a hammerlock black powder or the latest synthetic stocked tack driver.
If our age is an improved one, it is because we have more choices.
I know a guy who works oxen. 3,000 year old technology . He loves it.
AgMD