My dad is an old school EE and this post really reminds me of him. It doesn't matter that he lives comfortably and could much more easily replace the hardware.

My dad is an old school EE and this post really reminds me of him. It doesn't matter that he lives comfortably and could much more easily replace the hardware. He enjoys the process of taking something broken and making it useful again. I liken it to spending hours configuring and modifying open source software when a paid option exists, if you have the expertise and/or interest. And doing that with hardware has the added benefit of reducing waste, which is something I admire.