Virtual Confetti

Not too long ago, we used to fix things.  Or rather, things were able to be fixed.  As technology moves higher in complexity and smaller in form, the ability to repair various gadgets has moved toward replacement instead of restoration.

In the 1950′s, television sets were large, boxy appliances, often used as centerpieces in living rooms.  The back of the sets were readily removable in order to replace electronic vacuum tubes, fuses, and other “user-serviceable” parts.  Radios, amplifiers, electric organs, and other electronic appliances also fell victim to popping the lid.  There were repair shops for those not adventurous enough to unscrew the back of a high voltage device.  One better, most cities had repairmen who would make house calls, armed with boxes of vacuum tubes, tools, and the latest catalog of new appliances.  Most people, however, had a relative or family friend who was savvy enough to wield a screwdriver;  the only complication encountered was the occasional lost screw.

Although it may sound strange by today’s standards, user-based service was both practical and economical.  Flaws due to constraints in technology were confined to parts intentionally designed to be replaced.  The rest of the appliance was generally robust and would last for years without trouble.  Replaceable parts were installed in sockets or screwed down to where a user could easily access and replace them.

Today’s complexity of electronics has restricted service to manufacturers or authorized service centers where specialized parts, knowledge, and tools are required.  When electronics fail, individual parts are no longer replaced — the whole unit or main board of components is replaced instead.  Repair personnel rarely make house calls, unless expressly defined in a service agreement, paid for by the purchaser.  Independent repair shops still exist, but service now consists of replacing main component boards, plugs, and knobs, or up-selling the owner into a new appliance.  Frequently, the cost to repair exceeds that of a new appliance altogether. Appliances throughout the 1970s and 1980s even carried a label that read, “No user-serviceable parts inside.”  This phrase has altogether been retired from modern day appliances.

When new technology fails, it fails hard — no simple “replace a fuse” trick.  Appliances are no longer built with intentional maintenance in mind; there is now an expectation of high quality and reliability.  Whereas a ’50s television set may have required tube replacement every two years, today’s consumer expects a television monitor to last five, seven, or more.  It is more common that the owner will replace an appliance due to wanting newer technology and not because of malfunction.

This “upgrade technology” behavior poses a quandary that did not exist years ago.  Consumers now have garages, closets, and basements full of perfectly good — but obsolete — electronics.  We have an aversion to throwing out perfectly working things, and likewise lack a market that seeks them out.  We turn to eBay, CraigsList, and even the local paper to try to find homes for our old friends, but then run into the dilemma of having to accept pennies on the dollar for electronics that we once shelled out hundreds of dollars for.

I predict that we will soon have a used electronics crisis, if it isn’t here already.  Junkyards, not unlike those seen on TV’s Sanford & Son, will feature living room electronics rather than kitchen plumbing.  In California, we are already taxed at purchase for the future disposal of electronic goods; removal of “e-waste” is controlled by strict recycling and disposal programs.  Aside from the psychological aversion of having to throw out perfectly good merchandise, regulations and disposal concerns will likely having us storing this “nuclear waste” in our attics for years to come.