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A lot of people I know simply throw away things. It hurts sometimes. However, sometimes it is tough given that technology simply becomes old so fast. I do thi

A lot of people I know simply throw away things. It hurts sometimes. However, sometimes it is tough given that technology simply becomes old so fast. I do think that there are certain electronics that can last along time. In particular, it annoys me when people buy LCD TVs and one year down the road throw it away because it stopped working. The manufactures give limited warranty and suggest to buy another one. I purposely bought a TV with a much longer warranty, three years. It did cost 3x as much as a cheaper one from costco. It does look wonderful and function nearly 4 years after I bought it.

wladimir 14y ago
Right, it's a matter of perception and quickly changing "fashion". Many people regard devices of a year old already as very old. So they choose in favor of replacing it, even if it is a minimal problem that is easy (and cheap) to fix. I do suspect that financial pressure (due to increasing resource prices) will cause this to change around in the near future, and make people hold on to their devices for longer. In some circles, like described in the article, I'm already seeing this happen. Also, many skilled people are out of a job and have time enough to do basic repairs for each other. Hopefully this will reduce the e-waste problem...