Young People Can No Longer Fix Gadgets

I am all about building and fixing items where applicable, but some things the article mention:

The Lecturer said:
Ideas include using a magnifying glass and shoe box to turn a mobile phone into a rudimentary projector; how to use tin foil to make too small batteries fit correctly and how to turn a bottle of water into a lamp.
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Makes me think that they live in a house surrounded by old newspapers.

I'm all for handiness, but I'll take a standard lamp, even one I've fixed myself over a water bottle lamp, thanks. I understand the possible need for this in an emergency situation, but I know people who prefer the "quirkiness" of this type of stuff over conventional methods, and they're usually surrounded by shit that need to get thrown away. I'm sensitive to it because my dad is a pack-rat, and I've inherited it as well, and have done my best to reduce the amount of junk I keep around, and have to constantly assess whether something is truly needed or not.
 
nutzo said:
However it you have to pay someone to come out and do the repair, usually it's not worth it, due to the high cost of labor. Nothing worse than spending over $100 for someone to tell you it's not worth fixing.
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Well, why is it that so many people today think they deserve having someone come over to fix something when they could fix it themselves? People don't have some natural right to have their stuff repaired by someone else. People don't have some natural right to not have to use their brains while still getting the same benefits out of life as those who do use their brains. People today seem to have forgotten that real life is tough and requires using your brain, period.
 
dandragonrage said:
Almost any problem with a modern car is still easily user-repairable. Yes, electrical systems are getting harder, but the vast majority of problems with modern cars are still mechanical problems that are unaffected. Suspension stuff, brakes, clutch, fluids, timing belts, water/oil pumps, etc.
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Minor problems yes, major problems are another story.
Plus it really depends on a the car. Too often on newer cars, you have to reset a code on the computer after replacing/fixing certain problems. Not that easy for the basic garage mechanic.

In the unlikely event I have a major problem with my Hybrid, I doubt I'll even attempt to repair it. It can be a problem to even find a dealer with a good Hybrid mechanic who will actually fix it instead of just swapping expensive modules.
 
Meh, learn to fix some house crap, thats about it.

Oil change you might lose $10-15 by paying someone else to do it, every 6 months, unless you have a special car.

I wouldnt even bother with electronics and appliances. People say they are throw away, and only last 5 years. Well they also cost ALOT cheaper than when they came out. This isnt the 80's were you had a $500 vcr and $1500 27" console(in 1980's dollars) that lasted 10-15years+. Now a days buying a new tv/appliance, even pc's save so much on electricity costs it offsets the cost of the new set.

Hell cars are almost maintenance free. Again this isnt the 1980's were you needed 3k oil changes, tuneups, sparkplug replacements, and anything not made of metal dry rotted away. Hell new Vw's are good for yearly oil changes, timing chains for life, same with tranny and sparkplugs for at least 100k. How much money are people really losing by paying someone else to do theses every decade?

I change oil,brakes, and rotate tires, but i have a garage, which it seems alot of flat landers/renters do not.

Hell i wonder how many kindergartner's are going to be able to own houses when they grow up, or even worry about this stuff on modern equipment...

"Hey dad can you help me change the 360v cell on my old ass tesla, the batteries are 15 years old". Im gonna be like Fuuuuuuuuu
 
nightanole said:
Oil change you might lose $10-15 by paying someone else to do it, every 6 months, unless you have a special car.
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Yeah and you'll end up with low-quality SuperTech-or-comparable garbage oil, some junky filter like FRAM, and a drain pan bolt that is rounded off and/or stripped out from being tightened with a torque wrench. Also probably a few random scratches in your paint/wheels because the technician doesn't give a crap about any car that isn't his own.

No thanks. I won't even have someone else change my oil if it's free (like how some dealerships will sell you a car with free oil changes).
 
dandragonrage said:
Yeah and you'll end up with low-quality SuperTech-or-comparable garbage oil, some junky filter like FRAM, and a drain pan bolt that is rounded off and/or stripped out from being tightened with a torque wrench. Also probably a few random scratches in your paint/wheels because the technician doesn't give a crap about any car that isn't his own.
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Why did I say torque wrench? Why is there no edit in this forum still? Meant impact wrench.
 
nightanole said:
I wouldnt even bother with electronics and appliances. People say they are throw away, and only last 5 years. Well they also cost ALOT cheaper than when they came out. This isnt the 80's were you had a $500 vcr and $1500 27" console(in 1980's dollars) that lasted 10-15years+. Now a days buying a new tv/appliance, even pc's save so much on electricity costs it offsets the cost of the new set.

Hell cars are almost maintenance free. Again this isnt the 1980's were you needed 3k oil changes, tuneups, sparkplug replacements, and anything not made of metal dry rotted away. Hell new Vw's are good for yearly oil changes, timing chains for life, same with tranny and sparkplugs for at least 100k. How much money are people really losing by paying someone else to do theses every decade?
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You've definitely got a point--stuff is a lot better and cheaper than it used to be.

Conversely, the price of paying someone to fix your car is outrageous. About a year ago, I got a quote from a mechanic to replace a few brake components on my car: $850. I bought the parts for $155 at Autozone (and probably coulda paid half that much at rockauto) and did the job myself at home that night in about 3 hours. With nothing but basic hand tools.

Our dishwasher regularly has issues. But I can tear it down and clean it out in about an hour. Rather than paying a $65 or $100 service call to an appliance repair guy.
 
bucketlist said:
We might rule, but we're a dying breed. :(
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Yeah but we can afford better toys cos we dont have to replace things and can make other things too :p

I've recently fixed my car, a dishwasher, numerous PCs, a fish tank pump, subwoofer, guitar amp, rebuilt my guitar with humbuckers and made a fish tank light system for £40 that betters those at 5x the price and is waaaaay cheaper to keep running.

I'd hate to be brain numb.
 
bucketlist said:
Holy fuck, a grand for an oil change?
$25 tops and an hour on a day off for me.
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This is not the only example of this I've seen, my father has a friend who takes his BMW (3 series) to the dealer for maintenance. They want slightly over $500 for an oil change, which is crazy. I've told him to trade it in and buy a Honda, Toyota or Mazda (he is not a car guy). He could be paying less than he is right now, including the car payments. If I recall the Mazda dealer I bought my car from charges $45 for an oil change.
 
Part of the problem is also the 'bought it at Wal-Mart' mentality, where people buy the absolute cheapest stuff and then complain when it breaks. There is a place for cheap stuff sometimes. If I need a tool for a single use and don't really care about how long it will last, I'll get something cheap from Harbor Freight. But, I will expect it to be low quality. If I need to buy something that will last, I'll spend considerably more for it and do some research.
 
delsydsoftware said:
Part of the problem is also the 'bought it at Wal-Mart' mentality, where people buy the absolute cheapest stuff and then complain when it breaks. There is a place for cheap stuff sometimes. If I need a tool for a single use and don't really care about how long it will last, I'll get something cheap from Harbor Freight. But, I will expect it to be low quality. If I need to buy something that will last, I'll spend considerably more for it and do some research.
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Agreed. All of my electronics tools are Xcellite, Weller, AMP, etc. They're good tools, and I use them constantly. They definitely look like they're used constantly, but they also work as well as they did when I bought them. They cost more, but I'm not replacing them all the time either. I think my most replaced tool would be my small flush-cutters, and that's only because I cut so many leads and wires that there's really no way around it. (that said I've only replaced two pairs in the last 7-8 years of constant use)

I buy mid-range for power tools, because I don't really use them as much. It's still better to spend just a bit more though, and know they'll be working the next time I need them.

My mechanical tools are the lowest end of the bunch. I only really have them on-hand for emergencies, or just-in-case scenarios. When I work on cars, I usually go to my parents house as my dad has ever tool one could imagine.
 
delsydsoftware said:
Part of the problem is also the 'bought it at Wal-Mart' mentality, where people buy the absolute cheapest stuff and then complain when it breaks.
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Yep. On the one hand, they get exactly what they deserve. On the other hand, so many people are brainless enough to do this that those of us with brains find it much harder to even buy something that can be repaired. So their stupidity negatively affects not only themselves, but the rest of us.
 
bucketlist said:
Holy fuck, a grand for an oil change?
$25 tops and an hour on a day off for me.
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You should also see the video of shock absorbers that cost $1k per shock. And yea, Mercedes. That's not including the special computer needed to get it riding right first.
 
dandragonrage said:
Yeah and you'll end up with low-quality SuperTech-or-comparable garbage oil, some junky filter like FRAM, and a drain pan bolt that is rounded off and/or stripped out from being tightened with a torque wrench. Also probably a few random scratches in your paint/wheels because the technician doesn't give a crap about any car that isn't his own.

No thanks. I won't even have someone else change my oil if it's free (like how some dealerships will sell you a car with free oil changes).
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That's why I do my oil changes. FRAM is bad but some places use far worse. How do you like a filter that explodes and dumps paper all over your oil, plus it not longer filters when that happens?

I go to Walmart and get $20-$25 name brand full synthetic oil with either Delco, Purolator, or Mopar. If you think oil is oil and a filter is a filter then that car of yours isn't going to last, which isn't a concern if you just get another leased car every 2-3 years.

Doesn't matter what car I own, cause they all get the same treatment. My 90 Beretta gets the same oil as my 02 Vette or my 97 Jeep or my 04 Lexus. There's a reason why my 90 Beretta still runs today with original engine and trans. The transmission in my Beretta works better than my 04 Lexus cause before I bought the car the previous owner never changed the transmission fluid. Not to forget brake fluid and power steering fluid which is super easy to change and really good idea to do. Lots of family members with these newer Acura's and BWM's have a hard time steering cause the power steering fluid turns to sludge.

And I'm no mechanic, I'm a computer repair guy. I'm just really good at fixing things.
 
dandragonrage said:
Yeah and you'll end up with low-quality SuperTech-or-comparable garbage oil, some junky filter like FRAM, and a drain pan bolt that is rounded off and/or stripped out from being tightened with a torque wrench. Also probably a few random scratches in your paint/wheels because the technician doesn't give a crap about any car that isn't his own.

No thanks. I won't even have someone else change my oil if it's free (like how some dealerships will sell you a car with free oil changes).
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My baby gets rotella T6 syn and is garaged nightly. It doesnt feel right to watch other men touch her. I have a torque wrench set to lugs, and my drain plug was replaced with a fumoto valve the first time i changed it :)

I stopped at getting the plastic coated "soft" set for the lugs, they are just factory alloys, and im not air impacting them on or off.
 
I am teaching my daughter to fix things when they break. My father taught me to fix that which is fixable, and to attempt to fix that which is not purely to see what is inside when there is no risk of loss.

To see her eyes light up when the cover comes off of something and the questions start firing off gives me great joy.
 
When I was a kid my dad made me do chores with him on the weekend. We fixed sprinklers, cars, appliances, and whatever else needed done around the house. My younger brother never had to do chores so he's exactly what this article talks about while I'm fairly self sufficient.

Most people aren't handy these days so it's not just the younger generation. Society lives well beyond their means these days so we've become accustomed to racking up more debt rather than spending an afternoon to save a few grand. It's sad.
 
Quix said:
This is not the only example of this I've seen, my father has a friend who takes his BMW (3 series) to the dealer for maintenance. They want slightly over $500 for an oil change, which is crazy. I've told him to trade it in and buy a Honda, Toyota or Mazda (he is not a car guy). He could be paying less than he is right now, including the car payments. If I recall the Mazda dealer I bought my car from charges $45 for an oil change.
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Some BMW's you can't even check the oil level. That makes it very hard to change the oil when you don't know how much you're putting in. These cars so advanced they couldn't put an oil stick?

BTW the reason is obviously not because the cars are better, but because people buy these cars used and avoid buying them new. But this is just going to hurt their value overall as people will end up not buying them all together. But buying a used car means you expect to do some repairs and maintenance. Usually people like myself who don't mind sticking a wrench in their cars once in a while.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mGE6roEThig
 
steakman1971 said:
My dishwasher was having problems: sewer smell and the front door started leaking. I replaced a drain hose to fix the sewer smell. The front door, wasn't sure about. I figured what the hell - take it apart and see what's in it.
Long story short, I fixed the leak and now have a working dishwasher again. Spending a few hours tinkering saved me cash and hopefully lets my dishwasher work for many years to come!

Some stuff is not easy to fix. I had a Panasonic plasma tv that failed. I found the repair manual and ordered a new board for it. It changed the error code, but I ran into another problem. I gave up. At that point, it made more sense to buy a new TV. I did not know how to troubleshoot the board - I looked for blown capacitors, but did not see any.

Moral of my story (I think): I do try to fix stuff and/or salvage it. A lot of the newer items are hard to repair - they are built to be disposable.
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I am with you on this..
Fixed our fridge that was leaking and left a pool at the bottom - the hole from the freezer to the fridge was frozen - cleaned fixed

Washer was draining too slow - 1 year old, took the sucker apart and found a large label that had managed to block the drain hose, took it out, good to go

Plasma T.V at work - half screen went black, was a controller board, found one on ebay - Fixed good as new.

You name it, i will always try to fix it first, repair men in CR are expensive!
 
Ashbringer said:
Some BMW's you can't even check the oil level. That makes it very hard to change the oil when you don't know how much you're putting in. These cars so advanced they couldn't put an oil stick?
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That's ridiculous. I've heard of cars without transmission dipsticks, but no engine oil either? WTF.

I'd just add a dipstick myself - if I were willing to buy such a car to begin with, which I likely would not be.
 
Cars are complex machines and I can understand most people not wanting to fix them, be it changing oil or washer fluid. But I mountain bike with some guys who can't be bothered to work on their own bikes. One guy I knew took his bike in to have service put on new tires. Another guy brought his in to put on a new fork.
Most people and especially the younger gen can't be bothered to get dirty when they can pay someone else to do it or buy a replacement. They are above manual labor.
 
Ur_Mom said:
I heard from someone that does their own oil changes all the time that he tried to change his oil in his newer VW and found that it required a trip to the dealer to do it. There was no way to do it yourself...
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There's always a way to do it at home, he just never figured out how to do it. My Cadillac has a reset procedure for the oil service warning. It requires holding down the trip reset while you start the car. My wife's Lexus has something similar. The dealer swore up and down that there was no way to reset it at home but a quick internet search revealed otherwise. There's always a way to do something as easy as an oil change at home. Always.

As for the Mercedes. There's a reason they depreciate like mad. They're horribly constructed cars and service costs an arm and a leg. If you want to see depreciation hell take a look at the used market for the $150k+ AMGs. For the price of a used Ford Mustang you can have an AMG. It's sad.
 
Yes, but how many people in 1st world countries could start a fire if their life depended on it?

And that's without the aid of electricity.....
 
Mohonri said:
You've definitely got a point--stuff is a lot better and cheaper than it used to be.
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I don't agree, especially when it comes to appliances & displays

You'll never get 20-30 years out of a modern washer or fridge like you could 30 years ago. Even the high end stuff uses lower quality parts that will fail after several years. You don't have to worry about stuff rotting out or rusting because something major like the motor or compressor will fail way before that happens.

As for LCD's, they never seem to last as long as many of the old Tube TV's and monitors. I still have 20 year old 17" monitors at home that look/work like new, yet I've had a couple less than 10 year old LCD's fail. Same at work. We got rid of all the old tube monitors (many over 15 years old) a couple years ago. Most still worked fine, but now I'm dealing with LCD's that are failing after 3-5 years. I have a full shelf of dead LCD's but so far haven't gotten them fixed, because it would cost almost as much as buying a new one. I could fix them myself, but I don't have the time, and considering my pay rate, it wouldn't really be worth it.
 
Blown 89 said:
As for the Mercedes. There's a reason they depreciate like mad. They're horribly constructed cars and service costs an arm and a leg. If you want to see depreciation hell take a look at the used market for the $150k+ AMGs. For the price of a used Ford Mustang you can have an AMG. It's sad.
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I agree with you and I have always felt this way. Nice engines in an otherwise piece of crap car with terrible suspension, no traction, fugly looks, terrible interior, and as discussed, overpriced service from a company that goes out of its way to make it known that they don't give a s*** about you, the customer that keeps their company running.

I do like Audi in particular, and servicing them is kinda crappy too. I did a TON of work to my A4 including a turbo replacement, timing belt and chain, clutch, CV joints, control arms (including having to drill out the friggin pinch bolt), and lots more, all done by myself. But at least Audi cars are GOOD when working. Best AWD on the market, great traction in general, engines that are easily good enough (even if they don't have the low-end grunt that MB engines do - but at least they also don't weigh 5 tons).

MB is a crappy car with a prestigious name. Audi (and to a lesser extent - in my opinion anyway - BMW) is a great car with a reasonably prestigious name.

I'd buy Volkswagen if they would stop BSing that their 2WD differentials are good enough to make AWD unnecessary. As someone who lives in New England and who has driven many FWD, RWD and AWD cars in the snow, all I can say is LOL NO. Bring back the AWD.
 
nutzo said:
You'll never get 20-30 years out of a modern washer or fridge like you could 30 years ago. Even the high end stuff uses lower quality parts that will fail after several years. You don't have to worry about stuff rotting out or rusting because something major like the motor or compressor will fail way before that happens.
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I agree. We've been through three refrigerators in our kitchen since I bought the house in 2006. THREE! They suck. The drawers break, the hoses leak, the compressors fail. It's ridiculous, but obviously there's not much choice. We have a horribly ugly 70s refrigerator in the basement that holds extra food, drinks, etc. and it has never failed. The thing is older than I am, and it just keeps working. It's too ugly to put in our kitchen, but there you have it.
 
nutzo said:
I don't agree, especially when it comes to appliances & displays

You'll never get 20-30 years out of a modern washer or fridge like you could 30 years ago. Even the high end stuff uses lower quality parts that will fail after several years. You don't have to worry about stuff rotting out or rusting because something major like the motor or compressor will fail way before that happens.

As for LCD's, they never seem to last as long as many of the old Tube TV's and monitors. I still have 20 year old 17" monitors at home that look/work like new, yet I've had a couple less than 10 year old LCD's fail. Same at work. We got rid of all the old tube monitors (many over 15 years old) a couple years ago. Most still worked fine, but now I'm dealing with LCD's that are failing after 3-5 years. I have a full shelf of dead LCD's but so far haven't gotten them fixed, because it would cost almost as much as buying a new one. I could fix them myself, but I don't have the time, and considering my pay rate, it wouldn't really be worth it.
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You can pick up a lcd for $100 all day long without even trying. That 15-20 year old monitor cost waaaaay more than $100 back then, even in back then dollars.

That was my point, yes stuff only lasts 5 years or what ever now, but it cost a lot less up front, and the replacement in 5 years will be even cheaper, better, and not suck as much electricity.

I will agree with you on the washers and driers. If its got a lcd display, i feel sorry for ya. You can still get $300-500 washers and driers with knobs, and they will out last those $1500+ units with an automotive pant job on them.

I just had a guy spend $3500 on a washer drier pair, to do a couple of loads a week...
just thinking about the ROI...
 
dandragonrage said:
Almost any problem with a modern car is still easily user-repairable. Yes, electrical systems are getting harder, but the vast majority of problems with modern cars are still mechanical problems that are unaffected. Suspension stuff, brakes, clutch, fluids, timing belts, water/oil pumps, etc.
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This is fairly true, but good luck working on them, in many cases without specialized tools. For example, I own a 2011 BMW 335D. The battery died, I swapped it out at $200 (incredible how battery prices have skyrocketed). After calling my BMW dealer to make sure I got the right battery, they said I had to bring it in for reprogramming to the new battery and another $250 to do that. Neither of which is covered by my factory warranty or extended warranty. I'm just using this as an example. But the reprogramming part really irked me for some reason.

Yeah, I've worked on cars since I was a wee lad, but it's getting harder and harder. My 2000 F150 4.2L V6 is awesome to work on and easy. For a fairly modern vehicle, it's pretty good. Brakes, clutches, fluids, etc are no problem, but the electronics to drive them if you change anything might become a pain.
 
I didn't realize that BMW was as bad as it has gotten. It has been added to my do-not-buy list (which already has Volvo on it). I would never have bought one anyway, though, because Audi is both better and cheaper. BMW has some of the worst AWD out there. Absolutely unacceptable for what it costs.
 
J3RK said:
What did you get?
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Can't answer for him but I absolutely love the JBC soldering iron I bought recently. Made my old Weller WES51 (a well-known iron recommended by many) seem like a $10 Radio Shack special. I'm not even exaggerating.
 
I'm still using the WES51 actually. :D I've been thinking about getting something new though as it's getting harder to find tips now. I used to be able to go five blocks away to pick them up. Not anymore though.

I've been looking at Hakko, but might check out JBC too. I've been using the WES since 2002. No issues with it really, but I'd like to give something else a whirl now.
 
Does Hakko even have soldering irons that compare with JBC? JBCs are $400+. I know Hakko is well-liked for relatively inexpensive units around like $50-150, but I'm not aware of them making anything that compares with my JBC. My JBC does not struggle with large ground planes or with anything else that my WES51 had trouble with.

Hakko units and the WES51 are generally considered good enough and good value, and you don't NEED a JBC, but it really makes soldering a lot easier and more fun.

I did not go check Hakko's catalog when writing this post, so if they do have comparable (and high-priced) units that compare with JBC, disregard this post.
 
dandragonrage said:
Well, why is it that so many people today think they deserve having someone come over to fix something when they could fix it themselves? People don't have some natural right to have their stuff repaired by someone else. People don't have some natural right to not have to use their brains while still getting the same benefits out of life as those who do use their brains. People today seem to have forgotten that real life is tough and requires using your brain, period.
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That depends on where you define your battlefield to be. Real life being tough does not mean that all parts of real life have to be tough. That kind of mindset confuses me. As one of the younger generation (probably, at least I'm sure that I am younger than most of you), generally speaking there are much more enjoyable things to be doing than embarking on a possibly futile mission to save some money that you're actually partially forgoing due to your own labor costs. The amount of money I can earn in my lifetime is in much higher possible quantity than the amount of time I have. Because my time is actually finite and can never be reliably extended. Everything is a cost benefit analysis and to me time is FAR more valuable than money. Very far beyond its "I get paid this much per hour" value.

That is, I can learn to weld, I can learn to solder (though I won't... I don't like breathing the fumes from that crap), I can learn to do a lot different little skills to fix these things. Generally, they're utterly useless to me in my current profession (programmer). If we suppose that life is a perpetual battlefield, what is defined as winning? More material goods? Better lifestyle? More cars? More money? All of those can be binned under the last category anyway. When you repair something, you're saving money on repair costs and possibly saving money off of having to buy another one. You're also learning skills that will be more useful to you in further doing these type of repairs and saving money in a similar manner. On the other hand, you could also be learning to do things that are useful to your profession, which will generally make you more money anyhow (rendering skills in repair work to be relatively moot as an end result). I'd say that generally speaking considering I could be out having fun instead of attempting this possibly futile mission, the repair job I am doing had better be enjoyable or at least have a high chance of success. I could either be learning something I actually enjoy learning, or just enjoying myself otherwise. Both of which would (to me) be more valuable uses of my time than raising my "repairman" rpg stat.

In order to have a high chance of success, though, you need a lot of information. Either that, or easy to digest information. You can go on and on ranting about how people need to use their heads, but in terms of end results using your own head as a sole operator and then random tidbits on google is much less reliable than combining your own brain with a competent instructor (hence I think that people pointing to the "parenting" aspect on this forum are very much on the mark, though I do I wish they would also instruct their children on proper cost efficiency of the repair job. Tinkering is not always productive). Things are only getting more difficult to repair in general anyhow because they're packing more and more into a smaller space. The best you can really do these days is replace modules (ie bits that are clearly distinct from the whole), in order for any homebrew repair job to actually be remotely cost-effective (supposing absence of a very competent and intimately knowledgeable instructor).

So I don't think it's the current younger generation is necessarily <insert negative qualifier here>. It's an evolution based on the current state of things in modern times... and the only people to blame, if anyone, are the parents fathering the generation. Without competent teachers that instruct younger individuals on proper methods and techniques, what incentive (outside of money savings and enjoyment) are there to an individual picking up these things personally? It's a hell of a lot harder to learn to be handy rather than having handiness passed down in the family. The time benefit analysis is simply against the choice, depending on the current pay grade of the individual in question. You can point to "Google" and "Youtube" as being competent instructors, but they're really not. They don't necessarily fully know what they're doing. They simply have tips and tricks that worked for them. They're not actually experts. And there are experts, but you have to sift them out of the useless people.

Now, I do fix things where it seems like it's easy enough and I have access to sufficient information. For instance, I opened up my Playstation Vita because of a malfunctioning joystick. I checked the connection and the internals of the joystick and ultimately fixed the problem very quickly and easily (the connector for it was simply slightly loose). I had tons of picture information on ifixit on how to start opening it up and what to be careful of. Clear path to victory. In ad-hoc repairs, you need a lot more expertise. So when I open most objects up, I just see if I can spot anything that is obviously fried, or any connectors that are a bit messed up. In my car, I replaced the headlight. Because it was easy and fast. And that's where it usually ends. Past that, repairing is not time and money efficient. If someone taught me how to work on a car quickly and efficiently... perhaps I would. Current products are also generally made with planned obsolescence in mind. They want you to upgrade frequently enough to keep them raking in money. It's hard to make cash when no one is buying anything.


I also think that people are on the mark when they say buy things that last. This is important. Much moreso than being able to pick up random repair skills. Human society builds off of its predecessors, and luckily reviews are very easy to obtain. Agreed wholeheartedly on the appliances thing, too. Old appliances are built like tanks. Newer ones are cheaper but they're basically made to break. Both of the washing machines I CHOSE (I had plenty more to spend) are very simple and cheap ones with knobs.

TL;DR, This is the information age and I think you'd be surprised to find out how many people don't repair things simply because they don't feel information is sufficient and that the choice is not time efficient. Also it's the holidays and everyone is off at work so I have way too much time to waste considering I just typed up a several paragraph essay in like an hour...
 
the-one1 said:
Cars are complex machines and I can understand most people not wanting to fix them, be it changing oil or washer fluid. But I mountain bike with some guys who can't be bothered to work on their own bikes. One guy I knew took his bike in to have service put on new tires. Another guy brought his in to put on a new fork.
Most people and especially the younger gen can't be bothered to get dirty when they can pay someone else to do it or buy a replacement. They are above manual labor.
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Part of the problem is high schools themselves. When I went to high school they had just removed the auto repair shop in there and turned it into a gym. Very disappointing since I was looking forward to learning about carburetors. Luckily they still had an electronics class which taught me basic electronics and soldering. Still a skill I use today.

Nowadays everything is made with surface mounted devices. No longer do you put resistors in tiny holes and cut off the access with a wire cutter. Gotta heat it with a hot air gun and pull it off with a tweezers. But I doubt high schools teach about SMD based electronics, which are the majority of newer devices now.

Don't get me started with RadioShack. They basically just sell phones now. They do have some basic electronics but nowadays I'm better off with Digikey.com or even Ebay.
 
Whatever you are choosing to do with your time instead of being responsible and not creating 800 tons of garbage per week is not of any value. I understand where you are coming from, but you are wrong because your values are in the wrong place to begin with.
 
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