Warning - Curmudgeon ahead
I hate disposable technology. I hate it with all the seething hatred of a hating thing.
Firstly, one of our phone chargers has died. It's less than one year old. Yes, we picked the cheap phones because we don't need to text "War and Peace" or find the best steakhouse in Brazil, but that doesn't mean we don't have a need for the devices to perform reliably for a reasonable length of time. So. Need a new charger. That's one.
Secondly, I need a new watch. I have two watches, one for work that gets covered in paint, and one for not-work when I'm disguised as a respectable human. Granted, "need" is a relative term because technically if I've got my phone on me I can tell time that way (even though its charger is dead) but still. I've lived with a wristwatch practically implanted on my arm since Elementary school, and I bloody well like it. So that's two.
Thirdly, our less-than-one-year-old vacuum needs repair. Despite being a model touted for its internal thermostat designed to prevent overheating, it overheats. Enthusiastically. If I use it for more than a five-minute stretch, not only does the motor get hot, but the entire power cord up to and including the plug gets hot. Somehow I don't think that's a good thing. The good news is, it's still under warranty, but the bad news is that I need to hijack a vacuum from the scene shop in the meantime if I want to clean house. And be prepared to tell the jackass at the vacuum store that no, I couldn't have just bought the super-spiffy oh-so-reliable $500 model he tried to sell me back when I was looking for a vacuum cleaner because that's ten weeks of groceries we're talking about, you f&*^-ing insufferable &@*$!-^#&$%.
*deep breath*
Now our printer has died. I suspect one of its little plastic cogs is missing a tooth or three, because when I tried to fire it up a while back it made a new and really unpleasant rhythmic "ker-chunk"-ing sound and insisted quite vehemently that it could no longer see its color cartridge. Do we reallyreally need a printer? No. We can print the few things we need at work, if it came down to it. On the other hand, a printer at Target costs as little as $40. On the gripping hand, that's the whole problem to begin with.
It's no longer a matter of "getting what one pays for"; it hasn't been that way for years now. Plastic parts that cost hundreds of dollars will break just as readily and be just as irreparable as plastic parts that cost two dollars. The only real difference anymore is that things aren't even lasting one year. And we're all so insanely overbooked and overstimulated with all this plastic crap that we don't even notice until we wonder where all our money went.
I suppose if I were to look for a bright side, I could say that all this is making me take a much closer look at my definition of "need". I can very likely be perfectly happy without a whole slew of things that most people think they have to have.
*sigh*. I live for the day when compulsive acquisition is classified as a disorder rather than touted as one's civic duty.
Firstly, one of our phone chargers has died. It's less than one year old. Yes, we picked the cheap phones because we don't need to text "War and Peace" or find the best steakhouse in Brazil, but that doesn't mean we don't have a need for the devices to perform reliably for a reasonable length of time. So. Need a new charger. That's one.
Secondly, I need a new watch. I have two watches, one for work that gets covered in paint, and one for not-work when I'm disguised as a respectable human. Granted, "need" is a relative term because technically if I've got my phone on me I can tell time that way (even though its charger is dead) but still. I've lived with a wristwatch practically implanted on my arm since Elementary school, and I bloody well like it. So that's two.
Thirdly, our less-than-one-year-old vacuum needs repair. Despite being a model touted for its internal thermostat designed to prevent overheating, it overheats. Enthusiastically. If I use it for more than a five-minute stretch, not only does the motor get hot, but the entire power cord up to and including the plug gets hot. Somehow I don't think that's a good thing. The good news is, it's still under warranty, but the bad news is that I need to hijack a vacuum from the scene shop in the meantime if I want to clean house. And be prepared to tell the jackass at the vacuum store that no, I couldn't have just bought the super-spiffy oh-so-reliable $500 model he tried to sell me back when I was looking for a vacuum cleaner because that's ten weeks of groceries we're talking about, you f&*^-ing insufferable &@*$!-^#&$%.
*deep breath*
Now our printer has died. I suspect one of its little plastic cogs is missing a tooth or three, because when I tried to fire it up a while back it made a new and really unpleasant rhythmic "ker-chunk"-ing sound and insisted quite vehemently that it could no longer see its color cartridge. Do we reallyreally need a printer? No. We can print the few things we need at work, if it came down to it. On the other hand, a printer at Target costs as little as $40. On the gripping hand, that's the whole problem to begin with.
It's no longer a matter of "getting what one pays for"; it hasn't been that way for years now. Plastic parts that cost hundreds of dollars will break just as readily and be just as irreparable as plastic parts that cost two dollars. The only real difference anymore is that things aren't even lasting one year. And we're all so insanely overbooked and overstimulated with all this plastic crap that we don't even notice until we wonder where all our money went.
I suppose if I were to look for a bright side, I could say that all this is making me take a much closer look at my definition of "need". I can very likely be perfectly happy without a whole slew of things that most people think they have to have.
*sigh*. I live for the day when compulsive acquisition is classified as a disorder rather than touted as one's civic duty.