I spent many years messing around with computer flight simulators from the wire graphics days of the Apple ][, the "microsoft flight simulator" and right up to the more recent offerings which provide much more realism.
As a flying instructor, I have noted how much they have helped my IMC students attain much higher standards much more quickly than students without their own computers. I have posted here before of the computer literate colleague I had in the mid 1980's who knew nothing about flying but found himself teaching computer studies in a foreign flying academy.
I loaned him a disc (yes a 5.25" floppy - remember those?) containing microsoft's flight simulator and he played with it every lunchtime for fun. After three months of this when we were back on leave in the U.K. I took him for a trial lesson. The first session we had he flew the aircraft as though he had had about 3 or 4 hours of flying experience. Then I put him in our full airways four seater where he tracked a VOR successfully, then proceded to accept radar vectors to the local ILS and successfully flew it down to a decision height of 200 feet! This was because he had got himself on his computer generated ILS at about 15 miles, saved his position and then tried to fly it. When he came off, he merely restored his saved position and tried again until he achieved success. Try and do that in a real aeroplane!
IMHO, computer based flight simulator programmes are an excellent adjunct to flight training, but cannot replace entirely actual air experience. This is now becoming a possibility with real full motion flight sims - but they are a little more expensive to operate!
The other thing I have had much fun doing was to develop the the trial lesson for "computer geeks": When a such a person has come along for one, I have established in the pre-flight brief whether he has ever tried a flight simulator programme. The answer has invariably been "yes" as they have wanted to try out flying for real hence the trial lesson. Thus I have taxied out and backtracked right to the end of the runway instead of the usual intersection takeoff. Imagine the squeals of delight when out of the windscreen they see exactly the same scene as they are used to on their monitor prior to getting airborne! Then the takeoff commences. I point to the lever which, when pressed fully in equates (in some simulators) to "F10". We tank off down the runway with me keeping it straight. Rotation speed arrives, and with a little hesitation, they pull nervously back on the control column. Assistance usually needed at this point, but they soon get the hang of it and lo - the (real) horison behaves exactly as it does on their computer. Confidence building now takes place rapidly over the ensuing 20 minutes after which, unless the weather is fairly nasty, they can have a go at landing it, often with a modicum of success.
P.P.