Did you mean the computer literate, esp. excluding 7-year old kids? (I started young though)

All the good stuff nowadays generally isn't free (and the free ones are just awkwardly placed- uxtheme for example). We have awesome technology like Dreamscene and WB5 (though it's been some time) but both have a rather steep pricetag for people who do not pay through the internet. (Everything looks cheaper in real cash.)
Besides that, there are a few communities that are rather snobby on customization noobs and all- are you gonna bother when you're pestered by that reputation alone?
Also, we have the issue of "good/bad" taste arguments. There MIGHT be a LOT of people customizing, but dare not show off their desktops just because they are afraid of being judged (bring it to a larger extent, like the reason some people really despise Last.FM)

And if I wanted a long term usable style I wouldn't want to invest much time. My current setup just has a WB skin and 2 floating bars- anything else is rather redundant and is probably gonna make my OpenGL applications suffer. And there comes the 3 stars. (j/k, obviously. )

A little OT:
Skinning IIRC used to be more about the community, with several people collaborating to make great things happen. Now I find that it's rather bare with the newbies and snobby-ists. And all about a contest of who's "more talented". What happened?

(Edit: D'oh, when did money come into the picture.)

vStyler,

i think generally speaking this community is older then some of the other popular communities, i also think there is kinda a seniority thing, with the way stardock is designed which kind of doesn't encourage younger people.

As for my personal experiences, [everyone] i show my computer to, says how do i do that... show me... help me... mind you all the people around me are still in college.

I think within the younger community there is a fair desire for customization, this just my experience, anyways to bring it full circle (in reply to your Q) i think younger people as a whole have less things in common with this community, which is normal. Thus while it appears many younger people are joining other communities, i dont see that so much here.

Define "younger" jimmyyy?

I'm 24 (pretty young compared to the average age here) and this community is a HUGE step up from the last one I was involved with (average age had to have been something like 14, it was awful). This place has maturity and sense of community that the other one did not. Though the fact that I feel I have a better "fit" here might be because even when I was younger yet I still hung out with older people (the hell with the kids table, that's not for me!).

Sounds like Neowin to me   

i hope i didnt offend anyone, older or younger is neither bad or good. Um... age bracket i was thinking of was 17-24

im not to familiar with all the forms, never been to Neowin.

I've never been to Neowin either...sounds like a good thing.

well Bebi.., maybe when they see a customized laptop they might think.., "those poor nerd., what do they know?"

Hey, I like being a nerd.