[sheldonwt]

"But his shop is a lone outpost; in a single generation, the American who built, repaired, and tinkered with technology has evolved into an entirely new species: the American who prefers to slip that technology out of his pocket and show off its killer apps. Once, we were makers. Now most of us are users."

So humbling and true. Most people will throw out any given piece of technology rather than try and repair it. And speak of building something yourself, that's practically unheard of. Maybe it's only people around me who think and act this way, but I'm 22 and all these people aren't going anywhere.

[yesimahuman]

I really don't agree with this. Maybe we were able to fix simple electronics. Now, you really have to know what you are doing to mess with an iPhone (and willing to void the warranty). I don't see anything bad with the trend. Most people wouldn't have "made" anything before, and they won't now. There are just more users in general.

[joezydeco]

So you're probably too young to remember Heathkit, then. That's what separated the men from the boys.

[rimantas]

I doubt that is true. What would the ratio number_of_people_capable_to_repair_TV_set/number_of_people watching_TV compare to number_of_people_programming_for_smartphones/number_of_people_using_smarphones? My guess is that the latter is much bigger.