Sounds like a grumpy old man article.  Fact is if you go back even 80 or 100 years, my grandparents were working in the coal mines at age 11, 6 days a week and spent Sundays digging through the tailings to get enough coal to keep the stove going through the next week.  Hardly enough time to ice fish as recreation.
 
We do enjoy modern convenience, no one makes their own mocassins before going out to hike through a forest so dense you can't see 50 yards or hunts deer with a spear.   

If the technology makes for a better experience than so be it.  If you choose not to use it, more power to you.  The most important part to me is that by participating and growing the interest in the outdoors, we are more likely to preserve what we have for future generations. 

If ice fishing with a flasher reminds a kid of playing a video game and that leads to them having a relationship with the outdoors, then I say give them all flashers!

Maybe the guy should have printed his article on parchment or better yet written it with a quill pen and handed it to the town crier instead of posting it on his web blog.

Very nice set up.  And don't worry John, he has already caught plenty of fish through the basement floor in his head.  Looks like ice by the first weekend of the new year.

Some may already know this, but some don't, so without being too specific...
The small individually owned shops carry specifically what we may need, a special jig that works locally, a set of auger blades when we make a trip and find out ours couldn't cut anymore etc...
They are individually owned AND financed, via loans or someone's life savings etc. to try to make a dream work. 
They don't  have the buying power of large chains or big box stores.
Most importantly, they don't get the terms that the large stores get.  Little if anything on the floor at a large retailer is paid for as it comes in.  They have terms that allow them to sell through inventory and then re-order before having to outlay the cash for the initial order.  That is where they make their profit.

No one minds a good deal, but consider dealing with your local shop before you click on the send button online or walk into that major retailer.  Know that none of these shop owners are getting rich, and as IBJ said, many of them struggle to keep the doors open.  They are working on very slim margins and yet still manage to stock tons of inventory. 

Sometimes they can compete or beat the prices at the big places too.  Bring cash and ask, they all pay an extra percentage to the card companies who we all know, are not hurting.

Support local, and of course our site sponsors as well, spend some of that Christmas cash at your local bait shop. 

Disclaimer...
I do not own a shop, but have worked for and owned small businesses of my own.  I know from my own experience that they will make things RIGHT if anything goes wrong, reputation is everything when you don't have national advertising.

As long as you get the portable ice ducer from the manufacturer, they are set up to have appropriate angle when fished stationary through the ice.   The one Technician would be using is 20/60 degree, 200 or 83 khZ.  Bright sunlight can be a pain on any display, which is why Vex and others come with the sunshade over them.  The newer units for boats have all went to LED backlight which should almost eliminate that problem.  My decision to go all the way up to an 8" for the boat was influenced by not having another unit that I only used during the relatively short months of ice compared to 9-10 months I typically get out of the boat each year.   
If money is tight, for $100 you can be using "boat electronics" plus anyone who knows me, knows I have a pretty bad history of destroying phones, so it's a good idea for me not to be using mine as a gps 

Is there any way to easily show someone's location on the left side next in the profile info when they post?  Since the weather and conditions vary so much by location it would be nice to glance over and know if someone is in Cleveland or Columbus area etc. without having to go to their profile page.  Plus I made 4 new friends on here that all live within a half hour from me, it's all about building a network, meeting new people, staying safe and catching some fish.  Of course if you don't fill in your location it could stay private like it already can on the profile page in case you are some sort of federal agent, or stealthy fish charmer.  But then again those people are more likely to lurk than join and post anyway. 

6" is much more common than 5" that being said, it is the outside diameter of the blades when mounted, if the 6" mora blades are sticking way out from edges of the "screw" part of the auger it is a 5".  Knowing all that however, had a chance to look at the HT blades in person, the only ones they had were 8" and they are made in China.   You are probably better for all of the trouble to buy a new mora or eskimo 6" for around $50 with brand new blades cover etc. and be set for a long time.  I've had my 6" for 10 years.  A few new sets of blades, now they are now up to $30 to $40, for $20 more you get a new auger too.

Well it should at least harden it up so you can walk/drag on top of it.  At least we aren't worried about losing it. 

The Mora's can be sharpened, if you look through old posts here you'll find that if the inside edges get bent from being dropped on end or bounced on the ice, they will walk all over and not cut.  Make sure you have a blade cover or fab one up out of something.  They will cut anything they touch when new, but it doesn't take much to dull them.  Plus with 10+ inches of ice everywhere it will be a hell of a struggle to drill with dull blades.  Guessing if the Mora blades work, they will outlast the HT.

BTW plastic coffee can with a small elastic bungee works as cover in a jam, new one is $15-$20 by the time you buy a cover and blades you can have a new 6" for another $20