I wanted to reply to this also... I think that the answer is:
People at the bottom will *not* get the education in electronics
that was afforded those who got all the experience from olden times.
People at the bottom learn "Plug and Play" instead of board level
design. People at the bottom learn Visual Basic rather than
assembly language. People at the bottom will only ever be able to
function at the level of networks and machines. They solve problems
with computer boards...by unplugging the bad board and pluggin in
a good one.