Free time didn't evaporate. People stopped (broadly speaking) trying to do constructive hobbies in their free time. Radio Shack's high point was when there were

Free time didn't evaporate. People stopped (broadly speaking) trying to do constructive hobbies in their free time. Radio Shack's high point was when there were only ~3 TV stations available and movies were an event. In parallel, the range of products available exploded, and the complexity of hobby-type gadgets increased beyond hobbyist capability. Used to be one could, say, go to Radio Shack and buy mundane parts to build a computer from scratch - now you can get an HD-screen wireless-broadband dual-camera tablet for a 2-digit price tag ... what's the point of building? Yes, there is a healthy & robust community of builders, hackers, & gadgeteers - but they're outside of the mainstream, different from when people at large built things out of boredom.