Sorry, fronobulax, I should have been more specific with my explanation. Yes, when it comes to circuit boards, it has been "throw it away and get a new one" since the 1980s. On that I agree.
But, I was a Stationary Engineer. My line of engineering included HVAC work such as "Air Handlers" for hospitals (Fan units the size of semi-trucks and larger on hospital rooftops.) These used up to 75hp electric motors weighing 600 pounds and up. These would drive a shaft and would need bearings changed on occasion. Routine "preventative maintenance" stuff. The younger Engineers (in their 30s) would hand me, as the Assistant Chief Engineer, a quote for a $2,500 electric motor. I'd say "Are you telling me we have an air handler down?" "No, but it sounds like it has bearings going bad." "Ok, than get me a quote on the bearings and do a repair." They would sneer at me and say "This company has the money to buy a new motor, just order the motor." This would prompt me to explain the theory of repair vs replace and to explain that our job was to do "preventative maintenance" and keep the ship afloat, not "run to fail" and replace with new. A few hundred dollar one-man bearing repair vs a unnecessary $2,500 motor replacement, plus the manpower of at least 4 guys to remove and replace a 600 pound motor on a rooftop. That's just one example of many.
As to your comment: "I bristle a little bit when people seem to promulgate the stereotype that the older generation believes that the younger generation lacks a work ethic or similar work related motivations or skills." I can only tell you that I lived it as a crew supervisor. Not that there weren't some lazy slugs of my generation, but I noticed that it was like pulling teeth to get younger guys to read manuals and take notes while learning and that their minds didn't seem to grasp troubleshooting and problem solving, or there was a lack of interest to do so. Not all the younger guys, by the way.
I had an Engineer call on the weekend that a reverse osmosis unit was down for the Surgery department. I said "All right, to start with, go into the next room and on the back shelf about chest high is the manual for the unit in a white binder". He sputtered at me: "I don't have time for this manual stuff!" I said: "Well in it is a troubleshooting flow chart and a table of the alarm symbols explaining what the causes could be for each alarm symbol you see on the screen. How do you think myself or any of the other guys learned to work on this system?" He later apologized for his "I don't have time for this manual stuff!" comment and thanked me for helping him to troubleshoot the problem over the phone.
Now, this is really going to sound like an "old guy" observation, but I think one reason why guys my age were better troubleshooters is that when we were coming up, there weren't cellphones and smartphones. Back in my fire alarm days, when I went out into downtown San Francisco, I was on my own. You were as strong as your notes and the manuals and cut sheets you had collected along the way and had in the back of your truck. No cellphones to call your fellow Techs out in the field. No smart phone to get on the net to find answers. And early on, no internet anyway. You were on your own. You had to troubleshoot and problem solve and take notes of what you learned.
End of "old guy" rant. Sorry it was so long and not about guitars at all.
