OrangeCoat

I'm not saying that everything disposable is bad, just that people seem to have a bloated appreciation for "new." And too many equate "new" with "better" and then attach some sort of status to that.

I almost get offended when a company like Apple doesn't make a replaceable battery for their iPod. I try to take care of my things. If I had an iPod, I'd try not to drop it or leave it baking in the sun. I'd almost have a little competition with myself to see how long I could keep the thing in working order. If 10 years past and it was still spitting out music, I'd be delighted. This of course can't happen because Apple decided that iPods will disintegrate after 2 years or so. And that's one reason why I bought the Creative Zen Micro instead (and a titanium protective case for it as well). I'll make a post in 5-10 years about how well she's doing.

On that same topic, assume MP3 is still the defacto standard for audio compression in ten years. Now pretend you're sitting in a coffee shop somewhere listening to this functional but decade old and outdated mp3 player. How do you feel? Like a jamook, right? You know someone's walking by thinking, "look at Uncle Rico over there with his old walkman thing. That should probably be in a Smithsonian archive." Why is that? If it was a classic car or vintage shirt or old ball cap it would go unnoticed.

p.s. Yes Bear, my phone crossed the line into "crap" when the battery started to only last for a day or so (early April 2006). It's been in the cell phone nursing home for a while. I don't mind putting her to rest now. She had a good life. A productive life. I will miss her. It's the euthanization of perfectly good phones that annoys me.