I don't think hobby electronics will ever die and fade away.. there will always be people with an interest and a market to cater for that interest nomatter how small. Years ago most large towns had a component shop, where now most parts have to be ordered online / mailorder from places like RS / Farnell / Rapid (in the UK) and Digikey / Mouser etc in the US. Having said that Maplin here in the UK still offer the option to buy most common components at most of there shops throughout the UK.

Agreed as far as consumer electronics go we are in a throw away world, and that has killed of the service industry in countries where labour rates are fairly high by comparason to what the units can be imported for. having said that I've always been interested in the challange to keep things working and will always source out a part to keep the washing machine / tumble dryer running. And as Mel said you get that nsatisfaction of knowing that I did that

I'm new to PICs and for me I still find it exciting when you type some words into an application on the screen and then after a few clicks load the code into a small device, plug it in to my breadboard and it works first time (well most of the time )

I also echo Mel's comments about knowing that something you've made or developed your way is in use somewhere in the world. With the help of then guys here I've just completed a project for a local club. True we could of gone out and purchased a commercial unit for about twice the cost of the component, and it would of saved me hours of head scratching (both mine and those who helped with the code).. but it gives me a nice feeling to know that something I built is working better than any commercial unit and is giving pleasure to others who don't have any interest or understanding of these things.

Also, there is the learning aspect. A few years I had no idea how a PIC worked (still don't if I'm totaly honest) but I've picked up enough understanding and learnt from the guys here to be able to program a PIC to do most things that I have an interest in - some having no real use commercially or to anyone else, but itsn given me a lot of fun in developing each project and learning along the way.

Mel also commented on the advancement of technology, from strip board to PCB's. We've also seen the PC enter the home and now its possible for anyone to use a free application to produce some really good PCB's using either toner transfer method or UV photo. We also use the PC to author our PBP programs, and load the HEX to the PIC via suitable software and hardware... I don't see this as being detrimental to hobby electronics... just that where in the past we used to work out the type and array of logic chips etc we needed, now we look at doing the whole thing in a small 8 pin package instead