Young people are useless at fixing gadgets and appliances

[ChrisSmolinski]

Young people are useless at fixing gadgets and appliances because they live in a 'disposable' world, claims engineer

Professor Danielle George, of the University of Manchester will give this year's Royal Institution Christmas Lecture Series
She hopes to inspire young people to fix and invent electrical devices
Professor George thinks most under 40s can't mend their gadgets
This is because they've grown up in a disposable society, meaning they simply buy new devices rather than fix the old ones

If you have ever watched a child using an iPad with expertise eclipsing that of some adults, you may be forgiven for thinking young people are more tech savvy than ever before.
But one engineer has dubbed young people a ‘lost generation’, incapable of fixing gadgets and appliances because they have grown up in a disposable world.
Danielle George from University of Manchester said people under the age of 40 expect gadgets to ‘just work’ and consequently are useless if they go wrong, replacing them with new devices instead of mending them.

The professor of Radio Frequency Engineering is giving this year’s prestigious Royal Institution Christmas Lectures in London.
She claims most devices can be mended or repurposed with just a little knowledge of engineering and electronics and hopes to inspire television viewers who watch her lectures called: ‘Sparks will fly: How to hack your home’ to make, do and mend.

In the lecture series, beginning tonight at 8pm on BBC Four, Professor George will examine three British inventions - the light bulb, a telephone and a motor.
She will then show viewers how to transform them into extraordinary things, using everyday objects, as well as 3D printers, new materials and coding.

Full article: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2889988/The-lost-generation-Young-people-t-fix-gadgets-appliances-live-disposable-world-engineer-claims.html

[nsojac]

Technology today is also much more advanced and complicated than that of the past. Gone are the electrical designs made up of mostly discrete, readily available IC's in hobbyist-friendly packages, or even discrete semiconductors. Everything nowadays is done with a SoC the size of your thumbnail in a BGA package. In fact, many manufacturers explicitly design their products such that they are not hackable or serviceable by an amateur.

[ka1iic]

Surface mount can be a blast... I haven't mastered it yet because I sneeze too often and lose the parts <sigh>

Oh well... back to using those 2N2222A's ...

[John Poet]

Youngsters are better "operators" of the new technology, but the stuff they are using-- most of the layouts are too damned small to do any kind of repairs anyway, without having some kind of special equipment.  Imagine trying to solder a part onto the microboard of a smartphone... it ain't no E.F. Johnson.  It is, however, easier to carry--- and easier to drop into the toilet.

Even with desktop computers, practically no one does any real "repairs" to components--- it's usually a matter of plugging in a new one.

[redhat]

I see echos of this in the ham community too.  Everyone is now an 'appliance operator' and few make their own gear anymore.

I do see some hope in the 'makers' community.

+-RH

[Pigmeat]

Yup, the days of "give it whack and see what happens" have passed us by.