Mechanic and Techs (Techs Mechs)

Back when I started in the Automotive industry the people working on the cars were called mechanics, because they worked on mechanical things.  

For instance:

If you came in the shop with a transmission issue, let's say trouble with 5th gear, The mechanic would drop the transmission, open it up and come up with a list of parts required to repair it, It usually ran along the lines of 5th synchro, dogs, 5th gear guide, 5th drive gear, 5th driven gear, plus gaskets, seals etc. Sometimes parts of the inner shift parts were required like shift forks and such.

The parts-man would go to the microfiche and come up with the numbers for ordering. Once they arrived the mechanic would rebuild the transmission.

Today the vehicles have evolved into more...electronic devices, the mechanic has been replaced with the technician. He runs a diagnosis, determines where the faults are, replaces the electronics or re-codes them. If the mechanical unit itself has a problem, it is replaced. There are no longer any parts to look up for the interior of the unit. Today you can get mounting parts, electronic parts, and the unit.

We have moved into a electronic age, if it weren't for the fact that the manufacturer takes the failed unit back, it could be considered the disposable age. 

The only problem I have with this is you have a lot of vehicles out there which are like this, and a lot of people who work on them who read code and replace items. The days where someone could drop a major component on the bench, rip it down, rebuild it, and get you back on the road are nearing an end. 

The entire nation has gone this way, if ever something where to happen where technology dropped out,everything will just stop. Not only would there be no technical support, but there would be a lot of people standing around with no clue how to fix anything.


This does not end with the Automotive industry, at one time there were cobblers, small engine repair shops, electronic appliance repair people, and a huge range of businesses that survived by repairing things. Today if something breaks we toss it out and buy new. Sometime, there may be a need again for people to know how to fix something instead of giving money to foreign companies for a cheap replacement. 

It wouldn't have to be a natural disaster, or a war, or nuclear plant melt down to put us in that type of situation, all it would take is another full blown depression. With no job, how do people pay to have some shop drop in something new, with no money how do you buy that new television or Blu ray player. With most businesses gone, how does the current generation afford to pay for cellphone or internet.  A nation of people who can't fix anything, and don't know how to talk to anyone in person to ask how to do something.

With no electronic communication, how do you look up an address?