In 1950, apart from a small number of ready-made products, if you wanted something out of the ordinary, you designed and built it (I was a ham radio operator at the age of 13). I would build my radio gear out of the salvaged parts from neighbors' discarded TV sets (which in those days were very short-lived).
Decades later I saw people lose interest in either understanding technology or building/repairing their own. I found this change discouraging, but I failed to see where that was headed.
Now corporations are using the political/legal system to forbid people from closely examining their technical purchases or changing them to suit new needs. For most people the level of required knowledge is quite beyond imagining, so it may not seem much of a burden, but for a shrinking minority with technical skill, it nips creativity in the bud.
It's a variation on the classic Time Machine plot (H. G. Wells) -- the minority Eloi live on the surface, designing and building IPods for the troglodytic Morlocks.
To me personally, the real tragedy will be when people can't even imagine understanding, repairing or building their own equipment.