While the internet was probably a good source of information I'd play it down to mentorship as the decisive factor. In all of these cases, the successful teenagers seem to be lucky enough to either have a good private mentor, be enrolled in a mentorship program, or be enrolled in a highschool famous for the encouragement and resources that it provides to it's enterprising students.
In contrast many of us would have been told to "aim for a simpler project" if we proposed something like that to our computer science teachers.
In contrast many of us would have been told to "aim for a simpler project" if we proposed something like that to our computer science teachers.