That's not necessarily a bad thing. If you want to build a blinking LED thing, a USB controller, or similar small IoT thing, I find microcontrollers to be easier and more natural than running an entire Linux single-board-computer to do it.

I might break it down as: if you know C/C++, I'd start with a microcontroller [Arduino, ESP32, RP2040/2350, etc]; if you know Python, there are still micros that run it, but a full Pi might be an easier starting point for you. (Either way, if you end up doing this for more than a year, you're going to eventually do both...)

Don't think of the microcontroller storage specs in relation to a modern PC. I use an EV CAN diagnostics tool that runs on an ATmega328 (32K of program storage and 2K of RAM).

For perspective, the original Apple II computer typically had 48KB RAM, a 140KB floppy disk, and a 1MHz CPU. Yet it ran VisiCalc (the first popular spreadsheet program), Bank Street Writer (a marvelously easy-to-use word processor), and plenty of now-classic video games.

Few (except maybe dmitrygr!) would recommend a microcontroller today if your goal were to build a spreadsheet or word processor app. But you'd be amazed how much business logic you can stuff into such a small space, as long as your requirements are focused.