I’m not sure that RadioShack’s decline is entirely due to society’s change. All specialised shops have been under pressure from internet mail order. Shop retail has become increasingly about providing customer experience rather than stock, since they can’t possibly compete with the net on range or price.

Firstly, the difficult challenges are usually those generated by the environment around us (i.e. Mother Nature) and not those generated by humans — these latter I think are by definition bounded in complexity by the ingenuity of the human mind.

Secondly (and more importantly), it is difficult to do “hands-on” problem solving with computers. Humans, and especially children, are very good at handicrafts, but less good at more abstract things. I can, for example, understand things much easier once I can _physically_ grab them, or even just draw them. Show someone a graph, explain what connectivity means, and he/she will immediately understand it. Show the same person a proof that infinite number of primes exist. The latter I think is a trivial proof, but most will give up at the definition of a “prime”.

(PS: I was in the US in 1988, so it makes sense I have that 160-in-1 set ;) )

Now that I live in Mexico, I’ve begun to see more of a “Can we build it? Yes we can!” attitude evident around me. Electronic repair shops are quite common here–a growing rarity in Wichita.

For a while now I’ve had a growing interest in learning to “make” more of the things I use in daily life. I’ve been “making” fuel (biodiesel and WVO) for my car for several years now. Learning to do my own auto repairs comes out of the same motivation; as does learning to cook more things–and I mean *real* food, *from scratch*.

I hope I can still find a crystal radio kit for my kids (whenever I have kids)… If not,, maybe I’ll learn how to make my own resistors out of raw materials… :)

Now as to people losing there desire to tinker. I don’ t think that is completely true. Children are more curious it is easier to get into tinkering as a kid. You have no fear of breaking things and “need” to know how things work.
Also when you are a kid and you and your best friend tinker that could be a large percentage of your known population. When you get older you just know more of the non-tinkers. You run into more people who are interested in fashion or sports or beer. How many kids do you think actually got and used that 160 in 1 experiment kit in 1988. I’ll tell you I didn’t do all 160 experiments, admittedly I got mine used and dealing with fried components cooled my interest. There is even a model equivalent that puts components on interlocking pieces with a picture of their circuit diagram symbol so that you can build the circuit diagram and the circuit at once. I saw it over on amazon for $75. Maybe it does get less usage than the 1988 model, but that is because tinkering has moved to SW. in the professional would people have moved to more design in SW. you have even indicated that you do more tinkering in SW. it is just a more interesting place to tinker in is the cutting edge. Imagine how dull the modern wire your own device would be. spending all you time wiring up address and data lines for 64-bit wide buses for a BGA packaged IC that’s been soldered to 1000 little springs. and then still having to write
the software.
One class of components I always thought was under represented in these kits was logic gates. you could wire up a lot of interesting projects with a handful of TTL gate chips and a couple of input switches and output leds. But it’s time has probably already passed. It would need to integrate with a pc over something like a USB controller, like a phidget, to support projects that would stimulate modern young minds. Maybe a USB connection to a simple programmable FPGA connected to electrically isolated I/O terminal set that could be connected to various sensors or outputs.

Yes, we pull out sealed iPhones from our pockets. But WE build the apps on them, not Apple.