[Coco] An interesting computer repair story

[Paulo Lindoso]

I'm Brazilian, so this is going to be something "seen from the outside".

Part of the "problem" you guys mention is also part of "solution" for which
the American society is so admired.

The fact that producing NEW stuff has become cheaper and cheaper made it
more affordable to more and more people, which, in turn, increased sales
volumes and in turn made things even cheaper as fixed costs became diluted
among a larger marketbase...

Take a pair of jeans, for instance; you can buy a regular size 38/34 in
your nearest Walmart for almost less than USD10 + tax.  If you really want
to show off, you can buy it with a nice brand (Tommy Hilfiger,
BrooksBrothers) in an outlet for something around USD 20 + tax.  Here in
Brazil, the SAME pair would cost USD 100 (tax included) or more.

Now, I grant that this rationale (mass consumerism and the "throw-away"
society) is perhaps NOT the best option for a number of segments in the
economy and that same rationale is destroying a number of values the US is
also very admired for, but overall, this is the essence which made the US
the nation it is today.

I think that the answer, as Buddha would put, lies in the "middle".
 Somewhere, a line must be drawn between what is "discardable" and what is
"fixable" and how much one is willing to pay for the two things.

As for myself, being an Engineer in formation, I love fixing things, but I
need to balance this "urge" with time with the "better half" and the kids
and also time to make money, because very much like in the US, Brazil is
shifting towards become a "full-time consumer society"....

Maybe this whole "eco-stuff" that is trendy these days is about finding a
new balance between "make" and "fix"... Go figure...

My $0.02 of philosophy here... ;)

Cheers,
Paulo.

On Thu, May 3, 2012 at 11:07 AM, Louis Ciotti <lciotti1 at gmail.com> wrote:

> I totally agree with you Mark.  America has become the throw away society,
> and many of todays youth have no ambition to learn how things work or how
> to fix things.  I grew up wanting to know how things works, and was
> constantly taking things apart, sometimes breaking things in the process.
> Part of the problem today is that some items can be had for such a low cost
> many times it is just not worth reparing the items.  Take my lawn mower, a
> simple push type mower, nothing fancy.  Well I clipped a rock a while back
> which was large enough to cause the shaft to bend just enough to cause it
> to vibrate.  Well I looked into the cost of a new crankshaft,  around $125
> + shipping/tax.  For a few bucks more a new one can be had, and involves
> far less labor on my part.  Old electronics are the same in many peoples
> eyes.  Why fix the old one when a new one can be had so cheaply.  Lets face
> it if a new monitor was in the $500-$600 range  you would see far more
> people opting to repair the older ones.  Same goes for computers.  When was
> the last time you seen a company offer an "upgrade kit"... Remember the old
> evergreen processor upgrades?  When a new computer can be had for $300 at
> walmart why would anyone upgrade an older one.
>
>
>
>
> On Thu, May 3, 2012 at 9:49 AM, Mark Marlette <mmarlette at frontiernet.net
> >wrote:
>
> >
> > Not singling you out here but this is the problem with society
> today....It
> > is easier to just throw it out and go buy new. I can't, I can't.
> >
> > Robert could have done that as well, but he wanted to see what 'made it
> > tick' and was successful. Nice job Robert. I look at it as, heck it is
> > already broke, so what harm can I do to take a look? I can fix anything,
> > that was evident by just getting rid of a TV from my Grandmother that
> past
> > away many years ago and I fixed for her several times. I couldn't let it
> go
> > and it had to be 25+ years old. It was her gift to me after she past, but
> > eventually I had to let the old Zenith go. :)
> >
> > Had a brief conversation with my son this past weekend as he commented to
> > me 'that he isn't as smart as Dad and can't do these things'. I replied,
> do
> > you think I was born with this knowledge? I work hard and spend many
> hours
> > learning, the same things you could learn, if you truly wanted to. He
> > didn't want to talk anymore about it. :) He is 27.
> >
> > Electronics are electronics, just packaged differently for it's final
> > application. What is learned in a monitor can apply to many electronic
> > items.
> >
> > Mark
> > http://www.cloud9tech.com
> >
> >
> >
>
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> Coco at maltedmedia.com
> http://five.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/coco
>



-- 
-------------------------------------------------------------
Paulo Lindoso
paulo.lindoso at gmail.com
http://about.me/pbal<http://email.about.me/wf/click?c=e86tqVWFYsEogZdu8cwmbpAZwRtFkPjZS8Z3nwSDfjU%3D&rp=TDQggGXPgxMn1%2FQoMR%2F7Bsr00fO9wne%2B4zDSBQ93vWI1BH%2FOlrnU7zrQ0H0iAWgQyYyB6YfryJhLcifwbBLZ98yd6yex7cp06Yzq3Q1SplHrq%2FIu7OFPSwv8LqPdUbWL&u=njPbVRRXSvmg3PMz9cXBSg%2Fh0>