The end of carpentry

Used to be that one of the tests of a carpenter's skill was figuring out stair stringers. If you've never thought about what holds up a staircase, know that it is the stringers--calibrated, then cut with laser like precision from large pieces of framing stock. And if you've ever tripped or faltered on a staircase, it's because one of the steps wasn't the exact height or width of the others. Well, you can throw away your calculator and framing square because the GoPro Universal Stair Bracket takes the ciphering out of stairbuilding. Simply fasten the galvanized-steel brackets to the edge of a length of 2X8, and you're good to go. The manufacturer says that using the brackets enables you to quickly build stairs that are less expensive and less prone to squeaks. Seems like a good idea, even though it's too bad to see that one more of a carpenter's skills could be lost, as putting together a house becomes less about building and more about simply installing manufactured products.