Eletronics went from "components only" to "components and software" and that's much more difficult. You can't just "tinker" anymore once software enters the picture. There's an extra abstraction level that requires a lot more work with no reward to get over and that unfortunately filters a lot of people out.
It was microprocessors and then the IBM PC that dented electronics.
Note the difference in Popular Electronics from 1976 to 1982 to 1993:
https://archive.org/details/popularelectroni10unse_3
https://archive.org/details/PopularElectronics/PopularElectr...
https://archive.org/details/PopularElectronics/PopularElectr...
Eletronics went from "components only" to "components and software" and that's much more difficult. You can't just "tinker" anymore once software enters the picture. There's an extra abstraction level that requires a lot more work with no reward to get over and that unfortunately filters a lot of people out.