Where are the craftsmen of tomorrow?

[JohnnyRingo]

10. I don't think that's the point.

My grandkids, and what I call the X-Box Generation, don't get on their laptops, smart phones, or video games because there's profit potential. They don't learn how to install an app because it'll pay money down the road, so it has nothing to do with good pay

By the same token, when I was a boy in the mid-60s, I didn't build my first skateboard from a piece of board and steel roller skate wheels because I was eying a lucrative career in cabinetry. I didn't take an interest in building and flying R/C model airplanes because I hoped to land a high paying job as an airline pilot, and I didn't build a Tesla Coil because I thought TV repairmen ate steak.

Don't get me wrong, my grandchildren are very smart and much more informed than I was at that age, but as they spend their time absorbing data, they're doing nothing. They aren't building anything or tweaking anything. They have no other interest than soaking up more information (most of it trivial) and have no outlet for practical application. If I told them jet engine mechanics earn six figures, they'll learn no more about lefty-loosey than my pet cockatoo.

I got two of the more promising ones cameras last year. When I asked a month later what pictures they took, they had nothing. One of them wouldn't even figure out how to use it at all. Not caring about apertures, focal length, or f-stops, they figured a cell phone is better. They can put it right on FaceBook.