I have to agree with the comments made about the positive influence of ARFs. They are the gateway into the hobby these days.

But I also see a trend that is already solidly in place in areas like free flight and maybe even C/L: that of the small home-based operations that cater to special interests. For the last ten years I built nothing but free flight models. Almost everything I needed I had to order from one-man businesses and small companies that I can't imagine made much of a profit. They offered their products because they were passionate about quality and preserving a specific area of modeling. There are a number of such people in R/C that have decided to "keep alive" some aspect of the hobby that the giant mail order conglomerates long since cast aside (think vintage and early pattern).

The fact that what you need to fly in SAM can't be found in the Tower catalog (coils, plugs, timers, etc.) hasn't really hurt things. It just means you end up supporting other like-minded modelers with your hobby dollars instead of the internet giants. If R/C building does come to that, I think it will be ok. I'd rather buy a kit from someone I will likely see in person at a fly-in anyway. In other words, they almost always fly what they sell.

So, in short, it's as good a time as any to seek out those small companies that still have the modelers' interests at heart and support them. They may be all we'll have in five years.