Tough Enough?
My iPod is new again. I had my iPod replaced by Apple support a few weeks ago when it quit working. Now my iPod earbuds broke and I had to beg Aaron to give me a spare pair of ear buds he had laying around. So now I pretty much have a brand new replacement iPod. Pretty cool, but dissapointing because of this device’s short life. I had kinda expected my iPod to be a device that lasts for years and that I have to replace with a bigger and better model in a few years. Now I am not so sure. I’m pretty hard on my gadgets, I go through a cell phone at least once a year. In fact, just recently, for the first time ever, I have replaced a properly functioning cell phone with a new model (camera phone). So my point is, are gadgets just not rugged enough to last, or are my pockets a particularly hositle environment for electronics?
My first MP3 player was a Rio 500, and it only lasted one year before crapping out. Not long after that I got my iPaq, strangely that iPaq 3600 series hast lasted longer than anything else. I only had to replace the battery on that, even though it’s looking pretty rough around the seams, and the screen occasionally looses it’s calibration. My iPod only lasted for 5 months, my cell-phones last an average of 10 months. My PDA has miraculously survived for 3 and a half years. If I am counting correctly, I am on the 5th cell phone in 4 years.
What’s up with my gadgets? One theory is that the manufacturers want them to break after a certain amount of time to force the purchase of the latest models, I’ve heard people propose the same is true of car manufacturers. It’s probably more likely that there is just a certain statistical probability of mechanical failure for any consumer device that is built for a reasonable price point. That makes me feel less guilty about buying these things.
Would I pay more to get a device that was the same dimensions and abilities as regular consumer models, but has built to higher specifications and out of higher quality materials? Perhaps I would. Or perhaps I should just sacrifice the pocket room and start using protective cases for my gadgets. Something even more protective than the sock maybe?