A really interesting insight about the googleization of a generation.  I heard about a study recently that concluded that we are becoming less intelligent because of the ability to search for answers instantly.  My initial reaction was that they may be wrong.  Anecdotally, I have learned an awful lot that I never expected to learn, only because I could find people on the internet to teach me.  It's probably how I ended up here.

Then Ed makes the counterpoint.  All this knowledge is on the internet thanks to the pioneers who learned it and shared it.  If the next generation is learning from the internet instead of research, have we reached the zenith of human knowledge with the passing of the pre-google generation?

From the PCB designer perspective, the problem seems even more dire.  Education is hard to come by.  Companies don't see it as a separate skill set, so it gets pawned off on EEs who would rather be designing circuitry or sent to China where they are inculturated to recycle knowledge rather than expand it.

If it makes anyone feel better, there's a few out there.  My son is now seeking to take his EE/CE degree into the research arena (hoping to hear from SLAC any day now), just using what he already knows has become boring.  So at least there's one.

Pete