Boomers created the current system where you can’t “just fix” your dishwasher. The old dish washer at my parents can be fixed with a screw driver and a ¢25 washer from home depot. The newer ones are all glue, one way plastic clips, and stickers that say it can only be repaired by a certified repair shop. I get kinda what they are saying but the change didn’t happen in a vacuum. I used to repaired computers for a living and I noticed year after year computers became more difficult to repair. For most laptops you can’t just open them up and swap out bad parts. It’s all glued together and has micro components that need to be resoldered to the motherboard. Great for size but impossible to repair outside of the manufacturer. I mean for fuck sakes their are billion dollar military equipment that can’t be serviced without the manufacturers help. It’s all a scam to keep us dependent on corporations.
The pixel watch is so bad that if you crack the screen, Google tells you to throw it away and buy a new one. Apparently even Google themselves can’t repair that.
I can’t remember who made it, but some years ago before the big smartwatch boom, someone put out a watch that had a standard mechanism, but also a tiny one-line screen that would show information like texts to you. That seemed like a good middle ground. But I don’t see a lot of watches that fit that middle ground anymore.
And they’re awesome. Battery lasts weeks on a single charge, works like a watch should, tracks all sorts of things and gives you silent notifications like a smart wearable should.
Sometimes you have to kobayashi maru things in life.
Part of being a conscious consumer is having the willpower to forgo convience for something bigger.
Unfortunately, we are in hyper simulated/consumerist society, so I really only see this trend getting exacerbated until some global calamity happening.
That’s the logic behind every one of those decisions that made things harder to repair. The only fix really is government intervention, because capitalist logic by itself dictates that this is how you make more profit.
Boomers created the current system where you can’t “just fix” your dishwasher. The old dish washer at my parents can be fixed with a screw driver and a ¢25 washer from home depot. The newer ones are all glue, one way plastic clips, and stickers that say it can only be repaired by a certified repair shop. I get kinda what they are saying but the change didn’t happen in a vacuum. I used to repaired computers for a living and I noticed year after year computers became more difficult to repair. For most laptops you can’t just open them up and swap out bad parts. It’s all glued together and has micro components that need to be resoldered to the motherboard. Great for size but impossible to repair outside of the manufacturer. I mean for fuck sakes their are billion dollar military equipment that can’t be serviced without the manufacturers help. It’s all a scam to keep us dependent on corporations.
The pixel watch is so bad that if you crack the screen, Google tells you to throw it away and buy a new one. Apparently even Google themselves can’t repair that.
Proper watches >>>> wristphones
I can’t remember who made it, but some years ago before the big smartwatch boom, someone put out a watch that had a standard mechanism, but also a tiny one-line screen that would show information like texts to you. That seemed like a good middle ground. But I don’t see a lot of watches that fit that middle ground anymore.
Withings and then Nokia had this one. Looks decent
They still do: https://www.withings.com/mx/en/scanwatch-2
And they’re awesome. Battery lasts weeks on a single charge, works like a watch should, tracks all sorts of things and gives you silent notifications like a smart wearable should.
That might be the one I was thinking of.
If they made a mechanical watch that could control my podcasts and show me notifications without me taking my phone out of my pocket, I’d buy it.
Sometimes you have to kobayashi maru things in life.
Part of being a conscious consumer is having the willpower to forgo convience for something bigger.
Unfortunately, we are in hyper simulated/consumerist society, so I really only see this trend getting exacerbated until some global calamity happening.
Nah, I’m not willing to put a moral value on whether or not I own a smartwatch. Especially when a family member purchased it for me as a gift.
That said, it makes Google a hell of a lot more money if you keep buying new watches than if they have to keep repairing the old ones.
That’s the logic behind every one of those decisions that made things harder to repair. The only fix really is government intervention, because capitalist logic by itself dictates that this is how you make more profit.
Knock on wood, but I’m still rocking a fuckin’ Pebble. The build quality on these is fantastic.
I know a couple of people who got them and swore by them. I didn’t realize they still were compatible with modern phones.