Built to last

The Disposable age

It is sad to say that we live in a disposable age. Lots of things we buy are just not built to be repaired. If it breaks you just buy a new one. Even if it doesn't break, the rate of technological change, means for a lot of things your force to replace them just to keep working.

Case in point, we had a Canon LiDE 20 flatbed scanner. When we updated Windows on our PC we discovered there were no drivers available for Windows 7 :-(. Result, we had to throw away a perfectly good, working scanner and buy a replacement simply because there were no drivers. I'm sure Canon were very happy with this, but it is most definitely not environmentally friendly.

Similarly, we a photographic printer, a Mitsubishi CP3020DE. It's a great printer, but the latest drivers you can get for it are for Windows 7 32-bit. You can't get 64-bit drivers for it and Mitsubishi are not going to produce any.  Result we have to keep a PC with Win 7 32-bit just so we can continue to use the printer, but eventually we're going to have to replace the printer.

Built to last

Thankfully some things are still built to last. Dualit toasters for one thing.

It has a wonderful, solid feel to it. Here is something that you feel has been built with some pride and the expectation that it will still be toasting bread in your kitchen in decades hence. Note the use of screws to hold the casing on. This is a) unusual in modern appliances, and b) implies something quite interesting. It implies that this object is built with the expectation that it is going to be taken apart at some point in the future. It can be repaired. It is built to last.

I'm not sure how old our is, it must be 10 or 15 years, but still going strong.

It is very difficult in our modern lifestyle not to be disposable but it is worth trying.