Not everyone has the same ability to utilize those hours. People have children and/or pets and/or loved ones to tend, different cognitive and physical limitations, different economic challenges, different social expectations, different living conditions which may impact all of the above.
Speaking for myself: between caring for a puppy, cognitive impairments from ADHD, sustained impact from burnout, and financial responsibilities for family… my ability to carve out free time for a very long list of things I’d like to do extracurricularly is limited to a few hours a week at most. Achieving a “months of work” project in my areas of interest and applicable talents is easily going to take 10x as long. And that also means being much more circumspect about where I choose to focus those interests.
Maybe I'd feel differently if the comment ended with :) instead of :(.
But I mean, obviously, yes. Different people can do different things for a zillion different reason. I'm reacting negatively because it sounds like a criticism against the author just for spending a lot of time working on a hobby project just for the sake of it.
See also: "why are you having fun when cancer still isn't cured yet?"
Wow! I took it entirely differently (and still do). I read it as being disappointed that they don’t feel as capable to pursue and invest significant time/effort into their own ideas. Essentially I saw the :( as an admission of envy, not as a judgment.
Admittedly, that could very easily be me projecting. I have tons of envy of people pursuing their ideas without the limitations I have to take seriously in my own life. It doesn’t make me sad to see them succeed or use their time the way they do, it makes me sad to have a brain full of ideas and limited ability to reify them.
Speaking for myself: between caring for a puppy, cognitive impairments from ADHD, sustained impact from burnout, and financial responsibilities for family… my ability to carve out free time for a very long list of things I’d like to do extracurricularly is limited to a few hours a week at most. Achieving a “months of work” project in my areas of interest and applicable talents is easily going to take 10x as long. And that also means being much more circumspect about where I choose to focus those interests.