My gadgets tend to work and not break.
A lot of people seem to have constant issues with their phones, computers, printers, hard drives, and other technology breaking or failing.
None of my technology ever breaks at the rate that I see from other people.
Even though it’s a bit presumptuous, my best guess is that I just treat my electronics better than most people.
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When I hear people complaining that their iPhone screen cracked or their aluminum laptop is dented or they left their BlackBerry in a taxi, I can’t help but silently blame them and be glad that I’m more attentive and careful with my belongings.
Amen. My PowerBook G4 is now over five years old, and though it’s now in my mother’s possession, and is still in near-perfect condition, despite going through four years of college with me. This is to say nothing of how it compares to the one-year-old MacBook Pros I saw everyday on campus that looked as though they could have been on a hunting trip with Dick Cheney. My nearly two-year-old phone still looks brand-new, and works that way as well. My list could go on and on. But most people’s could not, as you suggested. The reason is quite simple, in my mind: Electronics are treated as commodities by most people, which makes me sick.
Sure, they aren’t going to last forever, and their useful lifespan may be considerably shorter than their physical lifespan, but that’s no reason to act as though they are without value. Very few people bother to even fix anything anymore, even just software problems. I often have people asking me what they should replace their Pentium 4 computer with, because they’re “too slow” for Facebook and GMail, when a reformat and reinstall easily solves their problems, albeit (and unfortunately) temporarily.
If this kind of care were exhibited with the likes of automobiles, everyone’s car would look like it spent decades in New York City traffic. At least for most of each car’s two year contract…
