Jantje:
I never really considered things like Constantin explains.
As far as I can see he has a point that there is a relation between the "culture" (in casu geeks/nerds not being popular/well paid) versus "electronic shops disappearing".
Imagine following situationSon: mom I want to be a electronics guy.
Mon: No, you won't.
Son: Mom I like electronics, why would I not do electronics?
Mon: If you want to earn your living you'd better become a banker.
Reminds me of the first lecture my Computer Science professor gave us as incoming Freshmen. "If you want to make money and enjoy your job, go to school for software engineering and teach yourself to be a hardware engineer".