Reply #104: You make a most excellent point, with which I agree wholeheartedly. You may have heard

[farmout rightarm]

the not altogether apocryphal engineer's "motto"........."I just design the damn thing, I don't have to work on it"

There's a lot more truth in that than we'd like to admit. I'm not much impressed with either the ingenuity or the ethics of many younger engineers in America. Many of them can read back a handful of equations but have absolutely no 'seat of the pants' understanding of how they relate to the real world. Your oil filter comment sure does ring a bell with me...I overhauled the engine of my 1962 Mercedes 190SL 40 years ago in my mom's driveway...nowadays anything beyond filling up the windshield washer tank almost requires a diploma from some factory (and the guys who have those scare me more often than not)

For what it's worth, during all the years I was actively doing design work, I did consult with end users and worked with them to figure out how to make our gadgets not only useful, but usable. That philosophy did lead to some conflicts with top management but one makes the case and does his or her best (maybe one of these days I'll expand on that particular period as it relates very directly to contemporary politics) :-)