Satoshi also didn't have multi-sig or fee markets — the 'backwards' part is really just more people holding real value with worse operational security. Hardware wallets aren't nostalgia failure, the...
The 'backwards' frame skips the timeline: usable P2SH multisig only landed with BIP16 in 2012, after Satoshi left. Custody layered up as value did — hot, single-key HW, multisig+HW. A HW wallet is one layer; it doesn't remove the need for redundancy.