I think a very similar article could be written for the RC (remote-controlled) community, specifically the rise of the multirotor (i.e. "drones": quadcopters, hexacopters, etc.). I was late to the game, so my grasp of the history isn't enough for me to write such an article, but I know this sort of thing has happened in the last several years. There are extremely active communities where people repurpose electronics designed for RC airplanes and (traditional) helicopters, flash microcontrollers to give better flight characteristics for multirotors, use Arduinos to create flight controllers and autopilot systems, etc. Even over the last 3 years all the technology has become extremely accessible. The RC community is probably the most helpful, curious, and resourceful online communities I've ever spent time with.