You're thinking of this with a modern viewpoint, which holds that tech is inherently useful and a socially-worthy pursuit. This is a very recent cultural ideal:

You're thinking of this with a modern viewpoint, which holds that tech is inherently useful and a socially-worthy pursuit. This is a very recent cultural ideal: Even when I was growing up (in the 90s), it was way more the 'weird passion project' territory unless you were an academic. My grandfather was born in 1919, and the parts of TVs he liked weren't the entertaining or cool parts. Furthermore, his obsession was actually detrimental to fulfilling his social role: My father says that his father wasn't good with money in part because he spent too much of it on things to tinker with, and he was socially not the most ept guy. It was this way for other classes too: My class background is complicated because my mother is from a decently well-off family but cut off contact and bailed at 15. One example from her childhood/family, however, is that one of her relatives was a tenured academic who helped found the academic study of pop culture. On the other hand, this was something he did after winning a Pulitzer and getting tenure for more serious work. It's easy to forget, but 2-3 generations ago a tech interest was seen as a potentially useful eccentricity at best outside of a very few select sectors.