Keeping the older stuff running
While so much of the stuff we buy seems to last for months before ending up in the broken pile, we need to remember that there was a time when we built things to last. I’ve lived in homes that were older than me, and I’ve driven cars that were not. I have traveled on trains that were older than me, and rode on city buses that were not. There seems to be a point, probably ruled by budgets, that says certain things will be maintained.
This afternoon, I happened to watch some machine videos. Trains that have been running on a regular basis for decades. Engines that were first placed in service eight decades ago. The big stuff seems to run indefinitely, as long as the maintenance crews do their job. Now, our car will never last for that range of time; at eight years, I already sense that the end is just down the road. Why?
Let the record show that I’m using a laptop I purchased about eight years back. It still runs, well. No broken parts. Of course, I do keep it out of harm’s way, and I would hope that I can get a few more years out of it. The hardware runs, long after the software has been declared “too old to patch”.
I also have cameras that have worked for decades. Not my fault that film is obsolete. At least I was able to fit most of the lenses to one of those new-fangled digital bodies, assuring a proper return on my investment. And radios. Too many older ones to properly list. One of them, I built it out of a box of parts, so I know that when it breaks, I can repair and continue to use the mechanical part.
