Amateur Radio is NOT primarily about the hobby (sorry Hunter). While it's true you need to pass a basic test, over the years it has become much easier as it was clear the hobby was in trouble and they needed to do something. There is discussion on just about anything you can think of: Weather, travel, high seas nets on low band, obviously computers, etc.. There are plenty of truckers that are now hams trying to get away from the low class on CB. While it's true the tech types maintain the repeaters and links, the normal folk are FAR less technically oriented than years past.