I guess pinball will be around longer than any of us!  
Was at a country show a few months ago and happened across a heap of steam machinery on display.
Was blown away that this much stuff still existed, let alone the fact that it was all fully functional.
Just blokes with a hobby who would spend heaps of time keeping the stuff going.
Perhaps this is where pinball will end up, we might just have to learn to fabricate things a lot more as they become less common.
As for getting the kids to understand what we found so fascinating about the silver ball, I have no answers there I'm afraid!

Yes, but the steam machinery will fade away too...
The people that keep it going are a collection of the original engineers/farmers & families of those machines.....it'll all disappear, be afraid!
Find someone under 40 who has an active interest in steam-technology.....enuff said ;-)

MM.