Don't Buy It

This may sound strange from the gadget guy, but - I think - to some extent this can be felt by long time followers of this blog. There are less gadget reviews, which reflects my personal shift away from pulling a "buy it" trigger whenever something cool or smart appears on the radar. This has partly been the result of the pandemic - more time with the nature, slower pace, more time to think and observe etc. And partly from the fact I have moved to a small rustical cottage in the woods, which is full of vintage items I try repairing in my spare time. On the photo here is the Standard Micronic Ruby SR-Q640F I listen to everyday. It is 55 years old, probably the finest, tiniest AM/FM radio of all times.

This hobby of rejuvenating vintage electronics has brought me the perspective of how long devices can last. And yes, some of them do last very long (which is always a relative thing). Out of computing accessories I have been using for many years - is the ScanSnap S300. Still as new after 13 years. Although - to be honest - there are less and less paper documents to be scanned these days. But still 13 years is something. Oh, I have just realized the ScanSnap is trumped by the WRT54GL - the WiFi router of all times, serving me here for 16 years. The Blackberry KeyOne has been my primary phone for 4 years, which is a far cry from 16, but still - I believe - way above average. I don't have a phone I've been dreaming of today. Maybe I will try an iPhone once it switches to USB-C (which, people predict, will be iPhone 16). This whole Apple-not-switching-to-USB-C saga has clearly been political. After all Apple is all about corporate profits, not caring about the Planet. And on the ultra-low-power front the sensors I converted more than a year ago to supercapacitors fueled by photocells have been running without a glitch, surviving the dark winter months and other weather extremes. Soon they will complete 2 years of testing out of the multi-decade test program. 

The bottom line here is: yes things (even consumer electronics) can be designed to work for many years. And when they deliver sufficient quality, there is no reason to upgrade / replace them prematurely. Don’t buy that shiny new iPhone, you probably don't need it after all.