Old Computer Collecting vs Electronics Building

I was talking to a buddy of mine about this at lunch. He's an old ham and used to build a lot of stuff. We were noting how people don't buy their kids things like Tinker Toys or Erector sets or anything that encourages them to build things. I don't know all the reasons why but I've been noticing for years that FEW people build or repair things. I've tried to sell electonic companents and tools at the hamfests and no one is buying. I had a big box of top quality Utica tools for $3 each that I took to three hamfests and I sold ONE tool. When I was growing up MOST men repaired their own cars (at least minor repairs) but now very few people even change their own oil. I look at the modern hot roders and laugh. They hang a different exhaust tip on their car and think they have a race car! I BUILT my first car (Meyers Manx dunebuggy). I think the small size of the components deters SOME repairs/projects but I think that's only a small part of the problem. Most people are totally clueless about repairing or building ANYTHING. Joe At 01:12 PM 2/2/06 -0800, you wrote: