One of my colleagues' family runs such a tinker shop in rural Vietnam. It's their family business, they have been doing it for some time. Mostly, it involves m

One of my colleagues' family runs such a tinker shop in rural Vietnam. It's their family business, they have been doing it for some time. Mostly, it involves making simple machines from scrap electric motors sourced from Japan (they know how to get the good ones). For example, they make a very good wood splitter. These often work by just pushing wires into open electric sockets -- not even a switch or plug. This puzzled me so I asked about it, it turns out the clients just don't want those things. More advanced technology is available, the farmers are aware of it (e.g. most have smartphones), but they equally realize that the latest IoT agritech startup adds less than zero to their productivity. In Ho Chi Minh City, tinker shops like this are rare, but there are a couple across the main road from the industrial electronics market. In Ha Noi last I checked we still had at least one actual blacksmith operating, with a tiny furnace and anvil -- not sure about now though. Anyway, it's true that overall we still repair a lot of stuff here and it's a valued skill. You can make a modest living running a repair/tinker shop, and most neighborhoods have someone doing so -- although it's mostly smartphones, laptops, and televisions.