I'd say hardware for sure. In the early 2010s a Dayan Guhong that you'd bought as a kit and stickered with your choice of shades was the height of innovation.
Then torpedoes came along and blew everyone's mind. Magnets would have been science fiction!
Also, as @Zagros has said, there wasn't...
David Singmaster's "Notes on Rubik's magic cube" perhaps?
I have the fifth edition, dated August 1980 which has a blue cover and it does sound a lot like you describe.