I want to learn C not (only) because I think it's useful, but because I think I might like it. I have a particular interpreted language that I like, enjoy and know inside out, now I want to know a compiled one in a similar way.
To answer your question: I get the impression from various tech news on "hot new languages" that C is the incumbent systems language that people put up with but don't really love, and yet I want to try and love it. I've developed a taste for minimalism, simplicity and a degree of brevity in programming, I have a feeling I might find C more suited to me than C++, Rust, Go, Java etc for this reason despite the lack of "modern" features.
To answer your question: I get the impression from various tech news on "hot new languages" that C is the incumbent systems language that people put up with but don't really love, and yet I want to try and love it. I've developed a taste for minimalism, simplicity and a degree of brevity in programming, I have a feeling I might find C more suited to me than C++, Rust, Go, Java etc for this reason despite the lack of "modern" features.