If you make the person on the right to be the next generation over, this picture is pretty accurate. Take a simple example: watch repair shops have gone out of business due to electronics - that sucked for them, but we're actually in a better place because of them.
I'm not sure I understand what you mean. Would you think you'd be better off without electronics? Are you saying you'd rather live in a world where clocks were mechanical and you had to take them to a repair shop every now and then? Is your life worse because watchmaker is not a common trade anymore?
How can you prevent wide adoption of a cheaper and more reliable solution to a problem?
Some of them, yes.
There still are mechanical clocks. They're just not that common. Or rather, they're having a comeback as luxury/jewellery items since their functional aspect is not required anymore. And since they're not a functional widespread item, the need for clock repair shops has reduced drastically. But there is a need for other type of repair shops for which the current generation of workers is well prepared and educated to handle. Hence my idea that the silly meme that we're discussing is on a timeline rather than side by side.
Yes. I wasn’t able to get my great grandfather’s pocket watch repaired.
There are people who can fix those depending on where you live or how much you're willing to pay. If you can't find an artisan shop, try and talk to one of the big watch makers companies, they might help. When I needed something similar, Tissot pointed me to one of their local contractors in my area.