3 ms·

When did it become socially acceptable to throw things out rather than repair them ? When did it become economically rational ? Helsinki (for one) needs some r

When did it become socially acceptable to throw things out rather than repair them ? When did it become economically rational ? Helsinki (for one) needs some real repair cafés.

ethbr1 2mo ago
As someone quipped to me, there's a reason the environmental movement used an priority ordered list. reduce, reuse, recycle
spockz 2mo ago
The moment manufacturers started making products that didn’t last long enough, with replacement parts expensive enough, and raising hourly rates for labour which made it cheaper to buy a new product rather than repair the old one. Also the new product tended to be more efficient with electricity and water or marketed as such.
- euroderf 2mo ago
  My experience in the US is that you can take a broken item to a reputable shop and the guy will spend a minute or two messing with it and then he'll give you an on-the-spot estimate of repairability and price. In Finland, the standard line is that they'll take your gizmo and put it in the repair queue - and then just to have someone in the back room so much as breathe on it - it's gonna cost ya 50, 80, a hundred.
idiotsecant 2mo ago
Generally, and for small appliances and electronics especially, you can optimize for cost or repairability. Consumers largely do not consider repairability when purchasing but they hugely consider cost. It's easy to see why the market is disincentivized to create repairable goods. It's because that's what we collectively told them to do.
- ninalanyon 2mo ago
  That's because even people in industry have a hard time determining total lifetime cost and salesmen are paid commission based on shifting the product rather than supporting the customer over the lifetime of the product. This is a problem even in heavy electrical engineering companies where products can be expected to be used for fifty years or more and still be repairable at that age. Sometimes it makes sense but often we should as a society sacrifice a little upfront convenience and price in service of reducing total lifetime cost. Very often, perhaps always, this will only happen if governments step in and set enforceable targets.

When did it become socially acceptable to throw things out rather than repair them ? When did it become economically rational ? Helsinki (for one) needs some real repair cafés.

ethbr1 2mo ago

As someone quipped to me, there's a reason the environmental movement used an priority ordered list. reduce, reuse, recycle

spockz 2mo ago

The moment manufacturers started making products that didn’t last long enough, with replacement parts expensive enough, and raising hourly rates for labour which made it cheaper to buy a new product rather than repair the old one. Also the new product tended to be more efficient with electricity and water or marketed as such.

euroderf 2mo ago
My experience in the US is that you can take a broken item to a reputable shop and the guy will spend a minute or two messing with it and then he'll give you an on-the-spot estimate of repairability and price. In Finland, the standard line is that they'll take your gizmo and put it in the repair queue - and then just to have someone in the back room so much as breathe on it - it's gonna cost ya 50, 80, a hundred.

idiotsecant 2mo ago

Generally, and for small appliances and electronics especially, you can optimize for cost or repairability. Consumers largely do not consider repairability when purchasing but they hugely consider cost. It's easy to see why the market is disincentivized to create repairable goods. It's because that's what we collectively told them to do.

ninalanyon 2mo ago
That's because even people in industry have a hard time determining total lifetime cost and salesmen are paid commission based on shifting the product rather than supporting the customer over the lifetime of the product. This is a problem even in heavy electrical engineering companies where products can be expected to be used for fifty years or more and still be repairable at that age. Sometimes it makes sense but often we should as a society sacrifice a little upfront convenience and price in service of reducing total lifetime cost. Very often, perhaps always, this will only happen if governments step in and set enforceable targets.