I work in the tech industry as well but in a more hands-on division (hp inkjet) and in a small town (Corvallis OR). Here it's the norm to work on your own stuff

I work in the tech industry as well but in a more hands-on division (hp inkjet) and in a small town (Corvallis OR). Here it's the norm to work on your own stuff, build your own structures or fix cars, really mostly for fun and out of pride than for economical reasons. I think this attitude does carry over into our product design efforts but only to a degree - in consumer tech it makes sense to make your product somewhat robust and serviceable but a device from 10 years ago, with lo-speed Wifi, no bluetooth, no USB, etc. just isn't useful anymore. On the flipside, the manufacturing tools we design for our own use are so robust and reconfigurable that they are still cranking out product 20+ years later.