Perhaps ossified attitudes are more to blame than technology shifts for extended inability of people in outmoded crafts to adapt. The boom of the horseless carriage gave the buggy whip maker a new market — in crafting upholstery. But old buggy whip makers and new upholstery manufacturing management both had difficulty in thinking outside of the box.
As I stated in a previous post... I think the government isn't helping matters any with regulations to protect a dying sector or extending unemployment benefits. It only encourages displaced workers to entrench and sit out a while and "hope."
And those extinct manufacturing jobs aren't coming back any time soon.