"John Smith I" wrote:

Like I say, because of past policy and the "damn the bands but save CW!"
crowd, it may be too late to save amateur radio ...

Completely unrelated.

Even if people had gotten licensed decades ago, amateur radio as a hobby
competes with many other things, some of which are much more technical and
rewarding.


However, one thing is for REAL sure, hams will continue dieing off like
flies--whether we can attract newbies to swell past numbers is the
question of the hour.

It isn't going to happen. Amateur Radio is a hobby of the past, the same way
horseshoes are a hobby of the past.


One bright light in all this, some of my students will now go for their
license. All colleges now need a program to make amateur radio known to
their students, high schools are not too young to start with ...

None of my students express an interest in ham radio. The code requirement
wasn't a significant barrier to entry for them anyway, since the tech
license would yield all the privileges they require for working in the GHZ+
bands, where most of their interests (consumer electronics) lay.