Quality vs Cheaper & Disposable
Posted on March 27, 2006
Filed Under A to Z, Economy |
Things don’t last like they used to. What seems odd is that we’re fairly relaxed about it, so much so, we no longer have very high expectations. It’s sort of like, “oh well, it’s broke, go get another one”. Annoyance is the height of our discomfort.
From lawn equipment to electronics and everything in-between, it’s all become mostly disposable. In the past, when something broke, we’d usually get it fixed, but not so much now, because it’s just not worth it.
Lack of time is a large factor. We can’t be bothered going to the effort to get something repaired. It’s a lot easier to throw money at the problem to make it go away. Then again, the repair cost is often more than half the cost of replacement – that is if you can even find some place offering the service needed.
Cost is the other consideration. As things become less expensive, it’s inevitable they get to the point of being disposable. I mean who wants to spend money repairing a VCR or DVD player when new ones are so cheap? Same goes for coffee makers and nearly every other small appliance.
And cell phones? Forget it. Throw it away and get another – usually for free or nearly nothing, except for committing to another year on your calling plan.
So back to the original statement, is our new stuff better than the old? In terms of durability – doesn’t look like it. On the other hand, reliability may actually be a wash. As for features, the new excels. How about price? Is the new stuff really cheaper once we adjust for inflation? Perhaps, I’ll let the economists debate that point.
But is cheap and disposable a good thing? Simple observation reveals the impact on us as consumers. We’ve just gotten used to it, and adjusted expectations accordingly. In fact we’re so acclimated, we no longer get upset at the now standard practice of quality being sold as an add-on.
Once upon a time, it wasn’t so. We bought quality backed with a decent warranty. However, now you usually get an extremely short or partial warranty as part of the purchase, and are expected to shell out for an “Extended Warranty” to cover what should have been there anyway. How lame is that?
Beyond how we’ve changed, is the question of “what happens to all this stuff that gets disposed of?” Well most of it goes out by the curb and ends up in landfills. Now I’ll admit, it would seem on the surface that we’ve got plenty of real estate in which to bury stuff. However, the landfill people appear concerned.
If you’ve ever seen the gargantuan compacting dozers they use now to squeeze out every bit of air to maximize the use of landfill space, it’s obvious that they believe the space is more critical than the cost of these massive machines.
Aside from concerns about landfill space, it seems extraordinarily wasteful to just throw many of these things out, but are there any other practical options?
Not wanting to get into a debate on recycling, my observation is that first, as a nation, we are statistically lousy recyclers, and second, it’s hard to find any place accepting many types of items. Of course, if you have a computer to get rid of, you can always pay Dell to take it from you – wow, there’s a real incentive.
Actually, the disposal challenge has grown from days past simply because we have so much more “stuff”, and that “stuff” is becoming increasingly prolific as well as disposable.
This takes us full circle back to the opening observation that “things don’t last that long anymore”. One obvious solution that would have substantial impact would be a return to making things more durable and long lasting.
But don’t hold your breath. Manufacturers and marketers learned a long time ago that planned obsolescence was good for business. They’ve just taken it a step further by coupling products with shorter life-spans to a marketplace in which they cultivate the perception of the perpetual need to upgrade.
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