I work with a lot of young people, and am even a parent to two.
A broad brush generalization of an entire generation with overall disdain is unfair. Just because they find importance on different things than baby boomers does not make them less valuable to society.
Yes they buy $1000 phones, and so do I. They know that that phone is the lifeline to them to finding work, staying employed, paying bills, making medical appointments, keeping in touch with their parents, keeping in touch with their friends and families, navigating roads, navigating paths, buying airline tickets, buying movie tickets, buying groceries, banking, managing money, researching records, as well as playing movies and music. If you ever watched StarTrek you know that a smart phone is a communicator, tri-corder and ships computer all rolled into one.
Sure, some of them may drive "buckets" and less than beautiful cars, but that's because they do not look at cars as a status symbols of success. They see it as transportation from point A to point B. Yes, they do not embrace the riding lifestyle of us Boomers, but that does not mean they do not embrace any lifestyle. Many are truly concerned with environment, and education. Just because they do not ride a motorcycle through Yellowstone does not mean they do not appreciate Yellowstone. They are among those hiking ,biking, canoeing, and kayaking.
Yes, young people today will never know how to drive a stick, field dress a deer, milk a cow, change oil, or rotate tires. But they will know how to fix a PC, code a program, work a CAD program, design software, speak multiple languages and more.
Placing blame on young people for not riding, and assigning partial blame on them for the decline of HD is as unfair as blaming the boomers for the death of the horse and buggy. Why spend $35K on a motorcycle when that same $35K will buy a used Honda Accord, a mountain bike, a kayak, a surfboard, and pay for Spanish lessons, so you can surf or Kayak central and south America?