Tossed away.
As a kid, I was always taking things apart. Before I threw any broken device away, I would disassemble it and see what made it tick. Sometimes I took things apart before they were broken and ended up tinkering with them until they were defunct.
Sadly, these days most things are glued shut or pressed together with invisible clips and pins making home repairs near impossible. I'm sure it's to make these items easier to manufacture and more disposable.
Whoever hears of getting a TV or radio repaired anymore?
I still catch myself trying to repair things myself, but suffice it to say, if it's even possible to find and order the right parts, it's often more expensive than just buying a new appliance.
I remember a color TV used to last about 10 to 12 years, A washer, dryer or Fridge about 15 to 20 years and everything else somewhere in between. If something broke, a repairman would come out and fix it for about $40.
I guess with all the cheap stuff coming from overseas these days, things just get hauled to the dump at the first sign of trouble.
It's still difficult for me to let go of an old toaster that only toasts one side, a TV that only shows in green or a radio that only picks up one station.
It just seems so damn wasteful, but this is progress. I think...
posted by Bill Rowland @ August 19, 2007
28 Comments
28 Comments:
I understand completely. We keep stuff here till it's beyond salvaging. I've noticed that nothing works for long anymore-which is probably because the company doesn't make money if people don't have to replace the appliance for 10 years. That doesn't stop me from hanging on to VCRs that don't work anymore. I don't know why I keep them. It just seems such a shame to put them out with the garbage.
I'd prefer to fix things too. I guess I was very influenced by my grandmother's habit of saving EVERYTHING. She was a product of the depression.
I wish I had the ability to fix things...but I pretty much suck at repairs. I have no patience...such is my life...LOL.
I so agree. Only within the past 3 or 4 years I had no choice but to surrender a television with a channel changing knob (i.e sans remote control) that you had to actually get up off the couch and turn the dial on.
I hold onto shit as long as I can, mostly because I can't afford the luxury of upgrading...heck, I still have a working phonograph and 8-track player...as well as records and 8-tracks.
You gotta pry that stuff outta my cold dead hands, too, if you expect me to get rid of them.
I would feel better about that kind of progress if we could recycle the used and broken stuff instead of just tossing into some kind of landfill.
I know, I know... now I sound like some Earthfirst! nutjob. But really, it does seem wasteful, no?
It is so awfully strange when our world, more than ever, knows the value of recycling that items are made obsolete and irreparable intentionally. My Dad took apart old radios and saved the good bits for other radios that might break down. He built radios out of these leftover parts.
And even the packaging of stuff now - plastic within boxes within plastic for some small item that at one time would have been in a bin with 1000 others the same and put in a little paper bag to take home.
I have a son who constantly took things apart and fixed... even sometimes when they weren't broken! His fav thing to do was go to goodwill and take his pennies and buy broken electronics and work on them forever! He did fix more than not... but it is so true that most times it is cheaper to replace. Chit...
I have some friends that owned a TV where the power button fell off. Only their youngest son could turn it on/off by sticking his finger in the hole where the button used to be. They finally had to get rid of the TV when even his fingers got too big to fit in the hole.
What a sad commentary on how little we have progressed. Just because it's "easier" doesn't mean it's better. Look at how many imaginations were fueled by "tinkering", and look at how many small, independent businesses were created in the home-repair category.
When something is well and truly broken, there's no reason the parts can't be recycled into new products. That way everyone benefits...comapany and consumer.
Veritas et Fidelis Semper
hammer - we live in a disposable world. everything from diapers to babies. sad state of affairs we've gotten ourselves into.
i, too, used to take EVERYTHING apart as a small child - would fix toasters, lamps, radios, and put new cords on everything in the house - and still try to fix everything - my very first microwave bought in 1984 finally gave up the ghost about three years ago after i'd replaced the fuses in it twice - 20 years, that's pretty good.
Janet: DVD players can be had for $25 now. It took Thirty years for VCRs to get down to $90, maybe that's why we feel the need to hold onto them :)
Terri: the depression taught at least two generations not to be wasteful, It looks like that legacy is wearing off.
Canadian: Even if the item can't be fixed there are usually some cool magnets and shiny bits inside that can be used for xmas tree ornaments ;)
Erica: I love records and 8 tracks, although mine bit the dust a long time ago, Sometimes I'm still tempted by that big box of 8tracks at the flea market :)
Queen: It's so expensive to recycle electronics for the metals inside. The cost of picking up, trucking, smashing and sorting usually negates any cost benefit. The only exceptions are the huge high tech places that are near stockpiles of discarded computers.
Even then, they barely break even.
Jeannie: You are so right, I would rather reach into a bin of something than spend 20 min cutting through the plastic and unwrapping 8 layers of crap. What a waste and expense.
Cheesy: I used to buy computers from goodwill for 5 dollars each, I could take several and make a few working PCs to sell or give away. Now they got smart and jacked up the price to where it's not worth it.
Sounds like your son is pretty ingenious.
Jerry: That's funny! I used to use a pen for that :)
Deborah: It seems things become obsolete so quickly too. It's sad to see all the good stuff people throw away in my neighborhood. They leave exercise equipment, computers, furniture etc on the curb for the city to dispose of. People from mexico often come by with huge trailers pick it all up and drive back south of the border and sell it there.
Nanc: I know what you mean, I saved many lamps that way. I've been through 3 Microwaves in 15 years, mostly because the control panel stopped working. I found myself with only the coffee button working, so I just used that until it broke too :)
I get upset about the *still functioning* stuff that gets thrown away. This summer I've recovered four children's bicycles and took them to the Salvation Army. The kids just outgrew them, so out they went next to the trash, curbside, on Garbage Day. I got a lightweight adult's Ross cycle for a backup for myself that was in perfect working order except for dry rotted tires.
My parents, raised in the Depression, taught me how wrong it was to either carelessly bust stuff up or throw away usable things. Someone less fortunate can always appreciate it.
Does no one know how to restring a lamp, or replace a switch, anymore? Half the time, as has been mentioned, they make stuff where you have to shatter it open to get inside (so you cannot claim you didn't void the "do not open" clause of a warranty), and little is of simple design with standardized parts anymore. But for a lot of stuff, well, dang.
My microwave's panel got fried sometime this past winter, but the 5 and 0 still work, so I have a $3 digital egg timer to time my cooking, and turn it off manually. The device still works fine, though it's 25 years old, so there it stays.
I have a pile- probably miles of old Coaxial cable, splitters, short phone cords, ac power converters, splitters etc. I keep them in cae I need them. Well after twenty some odd years of NOT needing them I still have them.
There's just something about that special gadget box- or drawer that has so many piecy parts in it that it's like a Treasure Chest or something. Almost a shrine of sorts. Funny how we want to hold on to the past isn't it. Maybe that's the draw- it's a little bit of the past when times were simpler, slower, you did have things repaired etc.
Maybe we just don't want to let go of the last vestiges of "the Good ol Days". I mean heck- we are still making commercials using the Old Maytag repairman!!!!
I think it's kinda cool to packrat stuff- and then pull it out and play- "Remember when?????"
John
It's funny to me that you should bring this up today. I dropped my (Apple) wireless mouse today and it wouldn't power on anymore. Rather than run out and buy another I dissected the thing and repaired (and cleaned) it. $60ish bucks saved.
I was thinking that it'd be nice to charge a tariff on Chinese, Mexican, Brazilian, Singaporean, and other prominent trading partners goods, based only on the costs per unit of properly recycling the items. Being a computer nerd, I know that the mercury common in LCD backlights is almost never handled properly, and then we wonder how it gets in the soil, runoff water, etc. Alternatively, we could arrange a deal where the manufacturing nations agree to take all the stuff back when it's played out. Outsourced landfills. Although, pictures I've seen from China suggest that they are already a big landfill...
how very true. i remember going downtown as a kid and seeing repair shops for electronics and also shoe repair shops. if you had a good pair of shoes you might replace the heel. this seems unimaginable today. good post!
Good Sunday evening Hammer.
We could blame built in obsolescence as the reason behind the short lifespan of manufactured goods but the truth is we as consumers get what we want. What we want is cheap and cheaper and the manufacturers are always striving to make stuff even cheaper than before. How is this possible? Cheaper parts go hand in hand with mass production process. If you lament the passing of the old days where stuff was made to last a lifetime or two, you as a consumer would balk at the price. For example do you want a watch that will last for many generations then buy a Patek Philippe. Who wants to spend $30,000 to $100000 on a watch? You can get a digital one for $50 and it will tell the time just as well. We can still buy goods that will last a lifetime, but are we willing to pay the price?
Is is progress or is it "Spend your money faster"???
Peace
I don't own a gun and probably never will but I can certainly see the value of reloading, however, how many times could a casing be reused in general before metal fatigue would set in - and how dangerous would that be?
Is there any value in saving up the unusable casings for scrap? or possibly getting a crucible and molds to make your own?
mts: I've been salvaging stuff from the side of the road too it mostly goes to charity.
John : I've got the same tote full of stuff. I know as soon as I throw it away I'll need it.
Stucco: What do you have to lose. It's great that you were able to save it.
Third world counties are becoming big waste dumps for the quick cash it generates.
andromeda: I see very few anymore, I wonder how the existing ones stay in business.
annie: Welcome back :)
lex: I think it ends up as a zero sum game. Old stuff was expensive and lasted longer new stuff is cheaper but breaks relatively quickly.
Odat: Quick money seems to be the name of the game. slow and steady base of loyal customers no longer suits the board of directors, they want immedaite numbers.
Jeannie: some low pressure ammunition can be loaded ten or more, eventually,I have to discard some that begin to crack.
Rifles are a different matter they need to be scrapped after 5 or so firings. Lots of people recycle the brass once it's no longer usable.
Yea, everything's made to be broken and replaced. Costs more to get almost anything fixed than it does to buy new.
FHB: Sadly it seems that's the way it's going.
well, there's something edifying about just throwing old junk away. I've slipped into packrat mode and am trying to break self of same. My goal is to take a carload of crap to Goodwill today.
And after all of that I tend to keep them, just in case I get a magic idea on how to fix them. Consequently, there are always vcrs and stuff under beds and in closets waiting for me to "fix" them. Eventually Lovely Wife gets sick of it and throws them all away. I say, "what happened to that vcr under the bed?" and she will reply, "I threw it away six months ago" with a look that dares me to complain.
Oh well. I have to troubleshoot and repair electonics at work a lot so I get my fill of fixing things there I guess.
China pretty much owns America now anyway, so I guess I should stop all hobbies and learn Mandarin.
Mate, I love taking things apart but can never put 'em together again. Can I bring 'em round to your place?
You know, some people actually replace stuff BEFORE it breaks, its called an UPGRADE. If my 7 year old TV breaks, I will buy a new, better one, for a lot less than the old one has cost me. I don't care if the manufacturer makes a TV that works for 30 years, because I won't want it that long anyway.
And actually, a lot of things in "The Good Old Days" broke a lot more often. How often does your car break down today? How long do your tires last? How long will an engine last? Why is it that most TVs don't break down for years? (old ones used to) The watch repairmen disappeared. When did your last watch actually break (other than the batter dying)
Old cameras required tune ups. They broke every so often. New ones, unless they get dropped or wet, rarely do....
yeah, by the time I was 12, I could make a dead TV comeback to life and work for a few months more.
It is such a feeling of accomplishment.
Letting go of things is freeing also.
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