Even watching is a daunting task

I have been dreading watching this movie all week. I am completely turned off and intimidated by the mere mention of sci-fi. It's not my thing. I think it's silly and uninteresting and I am out of my depth in discussing it. I've also seen The Shining and can only handle Kubrick in small doses.
So now I've watched it and, I confess, out of all things to be feeling right now, I'm confused. I thought it was an extraordinarly difficult movie to follow. The plot seemed vague, unfocused, and unclear. And what was with all those landscape shots and the dozens of scenes of the space ship just floating through space. It remined me of that one signature shot of the Enterprise from Star Trek that appeared in every episode.
That being said, I do have a few observations. I liken the director of a film to a cruise director. The film director, like the cruise director, sets the tone. And the director has lots of tools at his disposal. It's been a while since I've taken a film class so it was kind of fun to look for these revelatory director aspects.
One of the first things I noticed about the film was the music. In the opening scenes I realized that I had heard the music dozens of times but never realized it was featured in this particular film. I thought the music throughout the film was humorous and playful. I particularly enjoyed the classical music during the scenes in space.
I think the opening of a film is probably the most important scene in the movie. And in the opening scene of 2001, I felt a sense of absolute and finality. Like a tide of something was on the way and it was unstoppable.
In the chapter we read there is mention of casting as yet another way for the director to put his stamp on a movie. I thought the casting in this movie was safe. Nothing about the casting, with the notable exception of the very ordinary and small roles of women in this film, seemed to stand out.
For some reason I thought it was both funny and sad that the technology that seems to be displayed with a sense of pride in the film is now so hopelessly outdated, and we're only 6 years past the imagined year in the movie!
I noticed that Hal has a slightly creepy voice--not by accident I'm sure.
I wondered, while I was watching, if part of my boredom was that I simply couldn't relate on so many levels. Not only do I really not enjoy this genre, but the imagined world of 2001 seems to have little in common with the real-life world of 2007. That being said, I think man's fear about where technology where lead us will be as valid in 2028 as it was in 1968.
One last thing that I kept thinking about when I was watching this movie. Was it popular when it came out? Or was it like so many movies that fail to capture the imagination of the present-time audience and are instead saved for later generations?