I'm not sure whether you'd class me a first generation or not.
I'm 36 and went into the telecomms & electronics field when I left school at 16. The "sparky" side of my work grew because in the places I've lived since people couldn't get anyone else to do a good job at a reasonable price.
But although my professional work started "only" 20 years ago, I've been interested in everything electrical/electronic since I started playing with batteries and bulbs when I was about 5. That's an interest I inherited from my father who had also developed a similar interest at an early age (his work was only very slightly related as he was a cost & quantity surveyor for a heating & ventilation company).
On the subject of younger people entering the trade, I recall when I started working for the phone co. in 1982. I was one of about a half dozen apprentice techs who started at the same time, and I was surprised at how most of them had almost nil electrical knowledge.
Maybe I was naive back then or maybe it was my childhood background, but I just assumed that anyone entering the telephone engineering field would have already had enough of an interest to have learned at least some basic theory.
