Planned Obsolescence

Planned Obsolescence

Worthwhile
means
maintenance.

Lots of stuff, maybe most stuff in today's day and age, is built...not to last.  There is a ton of technology that becomes obsolete...on purpose.  Computers, tablets, cell phones, cars, appliances, and other items that are effectively built to break.  There are products that come out...but then the new model, with new parts, is released a couple of years later, so when the original breaks...the parts aren't made anymore.  Similarly, our generation is becoming less "handy" and DIY all the time.  I've got friends who feel that painting a room in their house was too complicated.  Recently, several large manufacturers were embroiled in a legal battle over the "right to repair" or forcing customers to use expensive, in-house maintenance to fix the items they'd already purchased.  

Understand
systems.

Finance YouTuber Zac Rios had a recent video post that talked about subscription-based printers from a major brand...you had to pay the monthly fee to...drumroll please...print from the printer you bought, on the paper you bought, with the ink you bought, via the WiFi that you pay for.  A year or so ago, leaving a hotel, a lady asked if we could help her find her car battery.  Not being entirely unhandy and happy to help, I took a look...and couldn't find the battery.  The vehicle had the battery hidden up under the cowling against the firewall.  When she called the dealer, they said they could "remote reset" it and then she'd have to go directly to the dealership... no jumping... no nothing.  

Normalize old
& new things.

The point here isn't to talk doom and gloom.  The point here is to push back.  When we get habituated, like the old Yellowstone National Park "don't feed the bears" conversations, we fall into the "how we do one thing is how we do all things."  If we're surrounded by a culture and constant practices of subcontracting out everything...we rapidly become the human characters in the Disney Wall-E movie.  Today, like no time on earth, we can be waited on hand and foot like only royalty of yesteryear.  From your couch, you can "voice command" food of any variety to be delivered or that you get shuffled from place to place...all for a relatively small fee.  

If you're going to have
things come and go...pass
them along to another
good home.

The good news is...you can push back.  You can say "no" to the constant comfort above all else lifestyle that becomes a slippery slope trap.  With the internet, chances are, any DIY project you can imagine has dozens of how-to videos along with pretty detailed instructions.  Couple this with the average big-box hardware store...likely a few miles away in your neighborhood has about every gadget under the sun conveniently next door...and many deliver.  We can use these combinations to, whether we need to or not, get back to being handy.  Work with your kids to build a _____ (fill in the blank here - treehouse, fort, shed, porch, chair, you name it)...not because you necessarily need that particular thing...but rather so that you (and your kids) are capable of doing so.  Often, our perceived inability to fix instead of toss is a psychological barrier or mental hang-up...not a physical one.

Most anything
can be reused.

This return to DIY helps you re-normalize what our forefathers all were able to do.  It also helps reassert the idea that we don't throw things away when they get a little less shiny.  If we're constantly bombarded and told that "imperfect = landfill," what happens when your sweet little kid becomes the unruly teenager?  What happens when your spouse puts on a few extra pounds?  If the only thing we've practiced and internalized is a "toss it out" mentality, that's who we become.  I'm not telling you to be a hoarder...but I am suggesting the constant river of new-stuff-in, garbage-out cycle at most modern homes is not only a costly and environmentally unsustainable practice...I'm saying it changes us, fundamentally, who we are, for the worse.  

Teach skills.
Teach liking
new skills.

If you want to fight back on this internalization of trouble, in the vein of "those who fail to plan, plan to fail," we must get very intentional about planned longevity.  We are able to, from the get-go, plan on staying married.  That looks like solid communication, concurrent values, shared desired end states for the future, and a series of daily choices to serve your family.  Raising kids isn't intended to get them to eighteen...and toss them out.  With intentional design and commitment, we can help prep them to "launch" successfully into life on their own.  Perhaps the easiest metaphor for marriage, parenting, or probably any other facet of life in this space is a toolbox.  If we've done our due diligence over the years to fill up the toolbox with tools and experience, when a problem comes, we've got the know-how necessary to solve it.  If our only tool is a trash can...we're not left with a ton of options. Go build some tools...whether you need them or not this afternoon.  Good luck!

With you in the arena, from ours to yours...Happy Trails!

Call to Action: 

• Pick out something that will be built to last in your life.  Now take three actions this weekend to help it get sticking power. 
• 1 - ___________________ 
• 2 - ___________________
• 3 - ___________________
• Discussion: Consider what you/your family could/would/should (level of commitment) and start/stop/sustain (action) in terms of the "toss it out" lifestyle.  

Further Reading, Motivation, and References:

- Wiki Article

- Built to Break