> but that is misleading in an educational context where there are much simpler computers that are definitely fully understandable.

Are there any other projects or resources in this space that you'd recommend?

A friend and I cut our teeth on those AlphaSmart word processors that ran BASIC. I might could wrap my head around that.

Ben Eater’s 6502 series (and whole channel) is the gold standard (imo) for understanding how a computer works in every detail.

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLowKtXNTBypFbtuVMUVXNR0z1...

I cannot recommend Code by Charles Petzold enough, especially the new second edition.