Thought of this the other day. I bet a lot of us are like this, because in today’s world a lot of things we used to tinker with are gone (electronics are made to be single use and unfixable, cars are proprietary and can rarely be modified or worked on without many many thousands of dollars now, etc).
Sure, there are still hardcore electronics projects going on and people doing massive restoration projects and such, but i consider them basically geniuses, not just tinkerers who enjoy messing around and learning in their spare time while working 50 hours a week.
Im glad linux gives us a space to exist!
I feel your premise remains flawed with these examples. The average consumer is not tinkering in the ways you describe, regardless. The average person isn’t following traces, looking for broken pins, or guessing how devices work.
You may have an intimate understanding of the technologies of your youth/life but that is not a universal truth amongst people of the time you are referencing.
The same people repairing their VHS in the 90s are replacing their android smart phone screens or batteries today. As the other posters have mentioned, tinkerers today are even creating their own competition products or major revisions thanks to cheap compute modules, arduinos, 3d printers, and cheap electronic parts from China.
Check yourself, you are assuming life was better in the past when the reality is that today features far more opportunity at an affordable cost with copious resources/tutorials for any individual to manipulate their technology.
You right on some accounts! Don’t get me started on things that were better in the past lol, I can go on for days.
Ita true there’s still lots to do for those that seek it out! All I was originally saying is I love how linux hasn’t been corrupted by enshittification like everything else.
Also if you can fix any smartphone or laptop made today, you must have extremely precision tools avilable to you, because corps have made repair on almost everything impossible now vs how it used to be. I worked in a repair shop, I’ve experienced it.