My electronics instructor still uses his amplifier from the 70's because he can rebuild it with common parts...nowadays if an amplifier section breaks chances are that it is a chip which may or may not be available (many manufacturers keep no backstock of one off chips, therefore there is no way to get replacements).
One of the things I really took with me from his instruction is a disgust at the "Death of the TV repairman". People would rather throw something in the garbage instead of having it fixed...not that it is always their fault. It has become cheaper to purchase an item than to have it fixed, that combined with the fact that most manufacturers typically do not release schematics until the item is out of production (if they do at all) and an increased effort by manufacturers to not allow anyone other than their techs to work on things (i.e. special Iphone screws, warranty voiding tape, part numbers removed from chips).
Remember, just because it is small and complex does not mean it cannot be fixed. If it was built it can be rebuilt (or unbuilt, see ifixit).
I'm not so sure it's like that. Consumer electronics have gotten more and more integrated, and the bits that are assembled rather than integrated are assembled with a higher and higher density. The point is, the time spent finding faulty components and fixing and / or replacing them (or jerry-rigging something like the article here), multiplied by the hourly cost of a person with sufficient training to do that job, at this point usually exceeds the cost of replacing the complete component.
He could have found the same SMT diode as he was replacing had he tried...he rigged it because it was the same part (electrically) just a Through-hole part.
Just because a device is "dense" or heavily populated does not mean it cannot be repaired if done properly, if the schematic is provided (and accurate per revision) and you can still source the part it can be repaired. Even IC's can be removed it just takes different tools (i.e. solder pot, hot air pen, hot plate, etc).
I assure you there is no difference between troubleshooting old tech and newer stuff its just different. An IC is just that an "integrated circuit", meaning they just took what used to be an entire daughter board and made it on a silicon chip. I would actually argue that it could be easier in some cases to find an issue on newer stuff since if a chip is failed you just replace it (if you can get it, which is the real problem).
It's just like he said in the article use the datasheets if you don't have a schematic typically they are just using some circuit that someone designed 20 years ago and put in the datasheet as an example.
I understand the labor cost involved in fixing an item but I would argue the long term cost of replacement/improper disposal (even recycling...have you seen the little kids with the campfires of circuit boards in india/africa that are trying to reclaim the valuable metals...that is the cost I am talking about).
As an electronics tech I can tell you that I have worked on many complex circuits in the field and in production and I have never had a problem with the complexity...but I have had many issues with finding "one off" IC's and schematics.
Things are not always about money...sometimes its best to fix things just to fix them (and hopefully learn something at the same time).
Also, consumer electronics are built to fail. If they were not the manufacturers would require some IPC class, nobody wants quality though...they want cheap.
It's not just consumer electronics that suffer from integration -- it's pretty much all appliances.
We have a fantastic old (probably 10+ years) clothes washing machine. The lid switch went dead about 2 months ago. We looked at (possible) replacements at a retail store and realized that there was absolutely _no way_ to repair many of the newer models -- a process you can count on given the MTBF of many electronics components. A $10 replacement lid switch from Ebay and a 15-minute solder job and the old machine was back to working beautifully.
It's sad... despite having a professional electronics lab in my home (including hot-air rework, stereo microscope, and a great oscope), I doubt I could repair many (most?) modern electronics failures.
Nice, we had a 2 year old range stop working in our condo...it wouldn't heat. So since we were upgrading appliances one at a time that was obviously next (it sucked anyways). So I traced the problem back to the control board...$500+ online, so I ripped into it, found the burned solder connection (admittedly very simple fix, but still a very simple circuit otherwise), resoldered the connection and now we have a working stove to sell/trade/donate. Total cost: 2 hrs and less than a penny worth of solder.
BTW, I am jealous of the stereo microscope and hot air rework station...those are on my list for my shop (Just got a Rigol oscope to hack a few months back)...Sometimes, I miss working in production and having access to all that..although I have better handtools now.
One of the things I really took with me from his instruction is a disgust at the "Death of the TV repairman". People would rather throw something in the garbage instead of having it fixed...not that it is always their fault. It has become cheaper to purchase an item than to have it fixed, that combined with the fact that most manufacturers typically do not release schematics until the item is out of production (if they do at all) and an increased effort by manufacturers to not allow anyone other than their techs to work on things (i.e. special Iphone screws, warranty voiding tape, part numbers removed from chips).
Remember, just because it is small and complex does not mean it cannot be fixed. If it was built it can be rebuilt (or unbuilt, see ifixit).