So, I think the spirit of kits lives on, just in a different way :)
[0]: https://www.matrix.one/products/creator [1]: https://konnected.io/
Like Adadfruit, SparkFun, Jameco, Seeed Studio, Tindie, etc?
Oddly, flat-pack furniture has become the norm and self-assembly is expected for most products. Obviously this has to do with size, weight, shipping etc.
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To me the sequence of events in the RepRap (self-printable 3D printers concept) space is very telling: the middle ground between hobbyists and professionals seems to have hollowed out. You can design a part and have it printed and shipped to you within days, of pretty much arbitrarily high quality, involving plastic, metal, rubber, etc... Or you can get a kit for a 3D printer, but it will take time before you can actually print well enough to do anything useful, in the sense of being economically competitive with the 3D print shops or e.g. the Daiso chain.
Daiso is incredible. You can outfit an enter household with quality items for just a dollar or two each. Average item price is about $1.75 I'd guess. That covers the entire thing: raw materials, design, manufacturing, distribution, profit, etc... You're just not going to beat that with a toy 3D printer on your kitchen table, eh?
"back in the day", it was hard to get anything, computers were expensive, electronics (except very basic) were hard to source, and prebuilt software (for whatever custom use) was non-existant.
Now, a microcontroller with wifi and bluetooth is <$5, a computer/server for running code is ~$50 (if you manage to find a raspberrypi, or a bit more for a micro pc), wireless interfaces (zigbee, bluetooth) are cheap, prebuilt code for sensors (tasmota, esphome,...) is very mature and stable, central management systems (home assistant,...) are stable and support pretty much everything...
The only problem I see is, that a lot of people have lost their tinkering capabilities and don't want to get their hands dirty compared to "back then" when a lot of stuff needed getting your hands dirty and more people went along the DIY path.
The Heathkits and even things like the Radio Shack spring-wire 250-in-one type kits had you build circuits from all individual components: resistors, capacitors, diodes, transistors, inductors, etc. If lucky, maybe a few basic ICs like triple-nickels, op-amps, comparators. After hours of soldering/wiring you had something that did some very basic function - not a microcontroller/SBC with full programming language support and more power than a supercomputer a few decades ago.
In 1980 I got one of these kits for my auto repair shop, and yes, it was quite a challenge to build, but it saved me hours of automotive diagnostic time.
A comparable automotive ignition analyzer scope at the time was thousands of dollars.
Heathkit CO-1015 Oscilloscope Engine Ignition Analyzer Tool
https://www.ebay.com/itm/144853683301?epid=1323946549&hash=i...
Jameco Electronics https://www.jameco.com/
The Electronic Goldmine https://theelectronicgoldmine.com/
All Electronics https://www.allelectronics.com/
Back in the 60's through the 90's we also had Haltech and Halted Specialties, electronics supplies and surplus in Sunnyvale/Santa Clara, each about a mile from each other.
Many folks confused the names.
As I recall, both of them had resident cats as well.
My High School electronics teacher turned me onto them in 1969.
It appears Haltech is defunct, and not surprising since the owner was OLD when I was shopping/browsing there in the 70's - 80's.
Oh, looks like Halted changed their name to HSC and may still be in business.
https://www.scrapmonster.com/company/hsc-electronic-supply/3...
Aside from many parts, I also bought my first of several surplus HeNe LASERS there in 1974.
Back in the day, business computers were the most powerful systems. Nowadays, it's consumer electronics that is getting more powerful. Which is great for consumers. But not so great for startups who want to build their company on top of these systems.
Nowadays it's mostly reversed, so many gadgets can be just bought for cheap, hell even if you want DIY what you will DIY changed massively.
Back in ye olde stuff like signal generator or power supply was probably the stuff you DIYed or made from kit, nowadays they are so cheap and so much better than whatever you'd make first. On flip side dev boards or breakout boards with various "fun" devices are aplenty so your first projects might be something actual EE might've spend week to build in the 90s
The "everything is a breakout board" might make people not start with the basics at first but in the end I think that lower barrier to entry is a good thing here
I think for people willing to put in the time — things have certainly become much easier. I started with AVR microcontrollers about 20 years ago, and couldn't even dream of accomplishing things I am easily able to to today. Raspberry Pi, Arduino; have changed the scene for sure.
But at the same time; maybe there is less inventive for someone to really dig into something, as you say: with soldering iron in hand. As so much is available as a product or service already.
My first "serious" soldering was a few PCB kits :)
Got me thinking about some business things, and apologies if this goes off topic....
50 years ago there were a wealth of books for electronic hobbyists to build things like this - home automation, home security, plant irrigation systems and suchlike.
Later an industry sprang up to make products for this market which was initially niche and geeky. Small companies became big companies. Big companies became shitty, extractive, exploitative monopoly companies as the author describes.
Today we lament an apparent choice between "convenience" and "too much work to do yourself". The cynics and naysayers are always keen to point out just how few people can accomplish anything like this - and that is indeed true.
But between the lonely hobbyist with soldering iron in hand, and the big technology company was an era that seems almost dead today (for many reasons like customer support and reliable sourcing). It was the kit movement. Many of the early microcomputers were in fact kits. Clive Sinclair first offered the ZX80 as a "solder it yourself" job. Heathkit hifi and music synthesisers were a big thing for a while.
Many people who couldn't build a home system like this might be interested in a DIY solution if they had a big helping hand up. I wonder what happened to the kit economy and why it doesn't work as a business model any more.