I'm young enough that i'm part of the generation that the article is complaining about, but my first thought was also youtube. The amount of knowledge available there is amazing. Yes, it's full of stupid videos and conspiracies too, but if you ever want to learn how to do anything, it's a simple youtube search away. There must be thousands of excellent, clear tutorial videos for every point the author raises.

Additionally, availability of replacement parts is excellent. Whatever you need is only a $2 package with free shipping from amazon or aliexpress.

I don't see being helpless without the internet as a problem. I know how to find the information i need, and barring some apocalypse knocking out the internet that's probably just as good as actually knowing it.