It's the 31st day of not being able to buy anything new--and it won't all be over tomorrow. Waaaah!
Not that there's anything I really, really, really want to buy--well, except the cell phone battery since I am dragging my power cord around with me everywhere because the current battery goes dead after 3.25 minutes of "talk time" and I apparently don't know anyone who talks fast enough. Which would really boggle your imagination if you knew some of my friends.
The latest "Possession Casualty" is Andy's iPod Nano, which lasted about 3 years. My cell phone is about 18 months old. My last cell phone barely made it 2 years. And I didn't expect it to last any longer. Why don't we expect more from products that we buy? I have a blender that I inherited from a great-uncle when I was in college. I have had the thing 18 years and it can still crush up ice for margaritas faster than any cocktail blender--er, not that I did that when I first got it and was underage, or course.....Heaven only knows how old it was when I got it. Andy, not having a great-uncle no longer in need of a blender, has been through at least 4 in the same time frame. Obviously, at some point we HAD the technology to make a blender that could actually crush ice and do it successfully for over 18 years, but companies now choose NOT to do so. Think of the implications--it might really be possible to make a car that doesn't develop a strange clunking noise the week after it's paid off. Maybe there really could be a cell phone that lasted as long as the service contract. Maybe there's a toaster that actually combines "toasted" with "not launched across the kitchen." Or a blow-dryer with a "high" setting that can actually run on high without exuding a smell of burning plastic. Or a double-capacity ink jet printer cartridge that DOESN'T clog up before it's half empty. Or a remote control that lasts at least half as long as the television set does.
The possibilities are staggering.
(And now that I have bragged about it, you may begin placing bets on how soon the blender will break)
4 comments:
Dear Sloopy: Thanks for the early birthday wishes (it's tomorrow) and I hope you don't go insane recharging your cell every 3.25 minutes! Couldn't find an email so I went for the comments. :)
Since I am in a grumpy, cynical mood today, I will leave you with a very short phrase:
inbuilt obsolescence.
Oh, this topic will set me off on a rant too! The appliances I have bought used (vintage toaster, blender, mixer, etc.) have last OH so much better than the newer ones I bought. Veddy annoying.
On the bright side- 31 days! Wow. One month down, and you are totally doing it!
My first cell phone lasted 3 years of being dropped banged and thrown around. It was stolen but I am sure it had a long time left to go.
Companies these days would rather build it cheaply sell it for a lot then when it breaks you have to go get another one.
Halfway through our phone contracts and 1 of the 2 phones does not work anymore. If I didn't have kids I wouldn't have a cell phone anymore.
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