I feel another reason why discrete electronics isn't as 'trendy' now as it was before, is because of how products seem to be 'seamlessly integrated' nowadays. T

I feel another reason why discrete electronics isn't as 'trendy' now as it was before, is because of how products seem to be 'seamlessly integrated' nowadays. There is nothing to take apart or repair. A side benefit of hobbyist electronics was the ability to repair broken electronics lying around the house (simple radios, alarms and what-not). With stuff increasingly becoming a single 'product' instead of an assembly of discrete pieced together parts - both in terms of their circuits and their mechanical construction, there is little incentive for that kind of exploratory learning.