It continues to be as it always was - a small group of people interested in how something worked - same with car enthusiasts - just because it's ubiquitous doesn't mean people care to know about it. I don't think that small group has changed. Their interest was the special ingredient.
I think you can look backwards at technology and see what's really going to happen. How many people build an FM radio from scratch? Not many, that technology is 100% commoditized; sure, there will be some, but they'll be extreme outliers.
Many people I know got their first car via building it themselves from a junker. How many upper middle class kids did that? Those kids were building valuable skills that translated to a career. Same for people piecing together and fixing old computers. What skills do today's kids get? Expert level knowledge of emojis? The hacker mentality is gone for the new generation of computer users because everything already exists.
