As we continue to advance, we are realistically falling behind. Our throw away mentality makes it increasingly difficult to maintain old equipment, save newer technologies or make decisions that are economically feasible and good for our world.
Last week, I had a set of headphones gifted to my son in December for the holidays. When I reached out to Apple to get help with the power button which is a known issue, they wanted to charge $145.00 for repairs. I could go to Target and get a brand new pair on sale for $149.00. I could also get a refurb pair on Amazon for $119.00. It took three chat sessions and an hour phone call to get these set up for repair. I had to convince them that it was the right thing to do.
How many things could I have done to make it easier for me? Unfortunately, the world we live in makes it easier for us to do things that are more convienient and faster vs doing things that are more in line with doing the right thing.
Sunday came and went, I was jamming on repairing something else. I find now that I need to produce parts or spend a lot of time to find alternatives in our throw away society. It takes me 3-5x the amount of time to repair vs replace but I think we should be fixing things instead of throwing them away.
What do you think?
We seem to have accepted throw away as the way forward because we think that is the answer to a technology driven societies as obsolescence is why we innovate. This same issue is IMO what is major with conservatism and liberalism. Conservatives seem to want to savor the past while liberals want to move into the future. We need a balance of both and until we find that balance, we will be restless and frustrated. I just heard, without checking if it is true or not, that the French leader has just passed a bill that would require no products be sold in France that are designed to be replaced because of bad designs or that the company wants them to be obsolete rapidly, so more products can be sold. I don’t know how they will enforce such a law, but I think they are on the right track.
A society built on convenances and comfort is doom to fail as we think of only our individual selves and not the overall ramifications of what that leads us to. More waste in our dumps and polluting our oceans, etc. Ever product has a life cycle and certainly we have build business around these cycles instead of looking for a more inclusive solution that would bridge our product development (maybe IA will helps us there). I right now as of May 1st, cannot use my iPhone because it is an 8 Max and the IOS cannot be upgraded to the later systems and all my apps on the phone will be non-functioning in a couple of days. Apple knows that my phone will be obsolete, but they think, just upgrade to a new phone. Soon if not already, they will offer plans to rent phones so you will always have an upgrade by paying a continues rent each month. This is where our society is headed in continuing product development at the expense of the individual users, kind of like insurance that the products will work down the road you pay for it up front. Maybe that is the way of the future but it doesn’t solve the waste and environmental issue we create.
I could go on much more about this subject, but will stop here. Thanks Howie for you thoughts.
Shalom
Ron
The iPhone is an environmental cost wrapped in a desirable product, and people respond to that fact like voters: some vote no, some vote yes despite the environmental cost, and some avoid reading the ballot (most people)…
Check out your states right to repair legislation here https://www.ncsl.org/technology-and-communication/right-to-repair-2023-legislation
I often wonder if things are made to be unreliable because of our economy: With the largest disposable income per capita, we Americans pay for things that should (and could) last, but are built to break. W. Edwards Deming must be rolling in his grave!