[qxamak]

Not only was that sales clerk bad at his job (discouraging you from pursuing something that you're already interested in), but he was also very wrong.

I'm an electrical engineer who develops hardware similar to the Arduino for a living. I'm still constantly amazed by the things my friends, mostly artists and web designers, make using Arduinos and Raspberry Pis. I remember buying one of the first Arduinos and thinking, "Why did I even go to school? They've made everything so much easier." My friends still ask me questions and help them troubleshoot things; but for the most part, there are tutorials and forums that often provide more information that I can. Sparkfun and Adafruit have a lot of great beginner level tutorials, but they also have some really complex and challenging projects too.