Consumer electronics are getting phenomenally powerful, cheap, and extremely compact, but while our gadgets do more for less they are seemingly becoming increasingly disposable. Greg McNevin muses about fashion, function and the quality of modern gadgetry.
When the wife and I got hitched last year, the only gift we received that could be considered typical wedding fare was one of those American-built KitchenAid mixers. Looking at that hulking mass of steel, it’s not hard to imagine it outliving the both of us. This got me thinking about the state of the consumer electronics industry. Let’s say it were a similarly priced plasma or LCD TV. Would we still be watching the same set three or four years down the line?.
Modern electronic gadgets just don’t seem to have the longevity of their forebears. Last year, I bought a Sony W40 digital camera thinking it would be a good pocket snapper, and it has been. I’m one of those people that likes to keep their electronics in “as new” condition and in the last year it’s had a fairly easy life. However, despite taking good care of it, the setting dial is already getting rather sketchy. With increasing frequency it cannot seem to decide which setting to stay on, annoyingly skipping through the other modes on the dial at random. I have a full manual Minolta SLR from the early 70’s that has never had a service and it still takes decent pictures to this day.
The light that burns twice as bright burns half as long
These days, phones, cameras, game consoles, computers and all other kinds of consumer electronics can crunch numbers like they were built by Cray. They’re exploding with funky features and becoming tantalisingly cheap, however, as they do their reliability and lifespan seems to be deteriorating.
Take the Xbox 360 for example. While a fantastic example of just how far console gaming has come, it is also much maligned by its spectacular failure rates. There are plenty of 360 owners out there that have had a trouble free experience, but the threat of the dreaded red ring of death hangs heavy over them.
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