comprak.net

While I like to pretend that I’m fairly erudite, and maintain some level of decorum in public, in private practice I’m fairly crude. I have levels of crude: when completely alone (and especially in the car) I swear. A lot. Once (many years ago) I went off on a tirade that even shocked Lisa. When Jaya and I have a heated discussion (re: argument), we tend to swear quite a bit at each other.

When I’m in the car with Nora, sometimes she gets really quiet, and I have a moment of frustration, I get very close (but not quite) to the point of swearing. Usually I end the unfinished sentence with e-i-e-i-oh.

I do have a bad habit of saying ‘what the crap?’ and ‘god damn it!’ or ‘”f” that’ around Nora. Now, Lisa will usually get me on saying “‘f’ that” in front of Nora, with something like “Nora, why does daddy keep saying the letter f?” and I’ll usually say something like “because F is before G, and G is a terrible, terrible letter.” I am quickly realizing that regardless of my attempts at humor, Nora may end up walking around the house saying ‘F that’, and we can’t have that.

This all arose because today Nora decided when she hiccups, to say the word ‘yup’. Lately, and I don’t know how this started, when I burp I’ve been verbalizing the word ‘yup’. Disgusting, I know, and I do say ‘excuse me’ after that, but as Lisa so kindly pointed out, Nora can’t tell the difference between a hiccup and a burp.

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So, naturally I hack gadgets, buy used and try to extend the life of pretty much every device I own. This usually starts with seeing a new device like the iPhone, deciding what features I like of it and seeing if any older devices have those kinds of features and then hacking it to do what I want. Generally it’s much more rewarding because a) I’ve saved money and b) I learn something in the process. But, recently, the number of items breaking, failing or simply not working is increasing and I’m beginning to come around to the idea of overpaying for a ‘new’ item just so I can get the warranty. Case in point, the ique m3, which recently hit its “End of Life” with garmin; I probably should’ve bought a new device but instead I went with used. It’s working fine, but it’s borrowed time; once it breaks, I’m going down the same path yet again. Probably the better solution was to buy a new cell phone like the motorola q with a warranty, get a bluetooth GPS adapter that stays in the car, and when the device inevitably breaks or fails, I’m covered.

Incidentally, this is why I haven’t hacked the wii yet, even though I’m dying to. I don’t want Nintendo claiming that I broke it when it requires service (Nora has set her sights on the Wii, you see).

The inspiration of this was my Dell Pocket DJ, which died on Monday. Well, it hasn’t died per se, and it’s been dying for a while; it refuses to accept a charge (though the jack ‘senses’ the plug) and the headphone output is shot. And yesterday, my stupid car radio turned on with a horrible grinding noise. It could’ve been the heat, but I doubt it, since it’s been flaky for a few months now, too.

I’m going to estimate my absolute needs, and buy the most simple devices based on that, here on out. Further, when things break, I’m not going to replace them until it’s clear that they need to be replaced. The radio in the car? I still have the stock unit somewhere. Mp3 player? steal Lisa’s.

The term is called planned obsolescence. To this point, I’ve been dedicating significant resources to beating that system. However, these companies can’t continue to exist if their business model dictates that the consumer stays out of consumerism for years at a time. There’s almost no value for companies like Apple, Dell, Sony, GE, Frigidaire, etc. to sell you a device that lasts a lifetime, when they rely on volume for sales.

On the flipside, you have a company like IBM, that will sell you a device that costs 3-4x what the average device costs because the price has other companies’ obsolescence plans built in. You drop $3k on a thinkpad, you know it’ll last through at least three $1k dell laptops, and probably a lot more (the thinkpad 600 right now is functioning as the office server; it’s been on for about two months without a reboot, as a file and print server. In the same period, Lisa’s dell laptop, which is working as a remote desktop, has been rebooted at least five times, and has its own interesting issues). But, who has $3k+ to spend at once?

Going back to Dell, it’s interesting to note that in the early 90s, their 486DX 33mhz computer still ran close to $5K. By the late 90s, they were doing it packard bell style, and have been doing that kind of system since. That 486 Dell, incidentally, still works, with all of its original parts. Lisa’s Dell (2001) has had the keyboard replaced three times, and the power supply four times. The LCD is completely shot. Same with Jaya’s laptop (2003) – the HD replaced twice (the second time, I gave her a non-dell recommended brand), the power supply once, the keyboard once; it’s having some stability and overheating issues that I can’t pinpoint.

It’s hard to buy anything these days knowing full well that the manufacturer expects me to buy something new a few years from now. Perhaps I should start a vintage appliance and electronics store – something with the slogan like ‘works like the day it was made’… or something more catchy that I can’t think of at the moment.

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Nora’s teething woes have made me a ’2 cans of diet coke a day’ to ’4 cups of coffee + 5 cans of diet coke a day’. She’s getting her canines and the back molars, a few months early. And even after all that, I’m still completely wiped out at the end of the day.

Back to my coffee…

Related posts:

1. Gadgets, pt. 1
2. Sorta broken again