Tom Hayden, an ex-LWONian whom we miss beyond measure, posted this on Nov. 2, 2011. At the time it seemed to hit a national nerve, but knowing Tom, we bet every detail of it is still true.
I’ve been thinking about my Zune a lot since Steve Jobs passed away. You know, the revolutionary portable music device that lets users carry thousands of digitized songs around in a pocket or a purse? Oh wait, what am I saying — it’s not a Microsoft product I’ve been thinking about. I don’t have a Zune. I don’t even have an iPod. I have a Coby.
That’s right, a Coby. A cheap plastic mp3 player — basically a $19.99 flash drive with a headphone jack, a pixilated little screen, and controls that look a lot like the original iPod scroll wheel, without actually scrolling or being a wheel. It’s a piece of crap, really. And I love it.
I mean no disrespect to Jobs or his legacy of attractive, functional design at Apple. I actually did have an iPod once, a sleek 30-gig number with a brilliant video screen and space for nearly half of my comically large music collection. I watched a video on it exactly once—Breaking Bad, season one—cringed with horror every time I dropped it and felt the $400 hole in my wallet for longer than I’d owned the thing when I inevitably lost it.
But I don’t miss it. The iPod’s much-lauded shuffle function was apparently designed to highlight the far corners and aesthetic lapses of my song library. Ironic curios such as Hasselhoff, Shatner and the suppressed first Alanis Morissette CDs recurred frequently enough to constitute harassment. Having a dinner party? iTunes selected powwow drumming. Looking for a jolt of energy in the morning? Say hello to mediocre Canadian whinge-rock from 20 years ago.
My portable audio technology needs are simple. A few hundred well-chosen—by me, dammit—songs and a half-dozen episodes of the WTF podcast and I’m good to go. My trusty Coby does all that, with an FM radio tuner included. (I do wish it had AM too—the crap technology of the air—but why gripe?) Most important, it’s worth next to nothing so I’m virtually assured never to lose it—unlike apparently every iPhone prototype ever—and I don’t cringe at all when my toddler flings it across the room. And because the next Coby is sure to be just as mediocre, I’ll never need to upgrade—I’ve stepped off the escalators of feature creep and planned obsolescence, and all the expense and toxic e-waste that come with them. Crap technology, it turns out, is green technology.
My love of the technological mediocrity goes back at least to 1980. My birthday present that year was a new bike—a 12 speed no less. Oh sure, my friends on their Peugeots and Raleighs mocked, but the Roadace 404 has outlasted them all. I’m not sure I ever saw another bike of its (off-) brand on the road, but it saw me through more than a decade of heavy use, and my sister still rides it today.
Me, I ride a 1995 mountain bike—practically new, I know, but blissfully free of shock absorbers and disk brakes. I’ve experimented with a variety of advanced travel mugs to tote a dose of morning coffee on my bike-train-bike commute. They were beautifully designed, and capable of keeping the contents plenty hot enough to scald each time their complicated drinking lids dripped slowly into my lap or dumped wholesale into my backpack. I’ve given up, reverting to an old pasta sauce jar with a fail-proof lid and the decency to let the coffee cool enough to be drinkable by the time I’m ready for it.
Cell phones present the greatest challenge for the dedicated non-technologist. After losing three or four earlier models, I’ve settled on a not-smart-at-all Samsung that makes and receives phone calls (I don’t pick up) and has a non-virtual qwerty keyboard that is forgiving of my sausage-fingered texting. The devilish thing apparently also has the power to connect to the Internet, but I refused to walk out of the store with the device until that feature was safely shut down. Here’s what’s smart about my humble Samsung: I spend approximately zero hours a day fumbling around with silly games, or trying to enjoy the latest from longreads.com on a screen the size of child’s tongue.
My favorite piece of also-ran technology though is a simple pair of glasses. They were the rump-end of a buy one, get one free deal back in the ‘90s — the least awful of an almost perversely unlovely selection. I soon found that their vast, full moon plastic lenses made them a perfect substitute for safety goggles in the chemistry lab, and thanks to the unlosability law of lousy gear, they never went overboard during months of oceanography fieldwork, and I deploy them still whenever I’m doing a little handy work around the house. (Ask me about my collection of cast-off power tools.)
Does second-rate technology have a future? It’s not for me to say. But my son, at 18 months, seems to think so. Not only does he love my “Zune”—easier for a toddler to say than “Coby” I suppose—but his own favorite technology is a little crappy, too. It’s a second-hand wooden garbage truck, hand assembled by its previous owner and re-glued any number of times by me. Our kid loves the thing like the rest of us are supposed to love the new iPhone. I suspect that means crap technology has a future as bright and shiny as anything Steve Jobs ever imagined.
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11/17/2011. I’ve heard from a lot of people since this post first went up, and I’m delighted to discover how many kindred spirits I have. Several people have pointed out though that it can be hard to tell the difference between “crap” technology–functional stuff with no cachet–and the truly “crappy.” No one wants the latter, and there’s nothing green about using something once and throwing it out because it doesn’t work. But how can you tell the difference? Fortunately, I have a crack team of super-smart Stanford students who are standing by, waiting to answer this and all of your environmental questions. We call it SAGE: Sound Advice for a Green Earth. You can read through scores of answers in our archive, or ask your own questions here.
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Images Top: The Roadace 404 just gets better with age. Middle: You were expecting Fabio? Bottom: My technology is awesome.
I had a bottle opener for a dozen years; a flat, round, yellow piece of indestructible rubber. Lost it. Bought and was gifted with several clever openers. Could never get beyond the cleverness. For bottle caps I use a nut cracker or my teeth, for large jars … well, I no longer buy large jars. Auntie B
These things aren’t “crap” technology — they are off-brand versions of precisely the same thing, except better-engineered. Good engineering means no overcomplication, and it means reliable products that do precisely what they are supposed to do.
There is a distinction to be made because while there are cheap off-brand products that are well-engineered, there are also cheap off-brand products that are poorly engineered.
I can’t speak for the Coby, but I am a huge fan of the Sansa Clip (another ‘generic’ — as in ‘manufactured by someone other that Apple, Microsoft, or Sony’ — portable music player), which I have three of (one broke early on, and the other two have lasted me for years). On the other hand, I have had many other portable music players from even more obscure brands, each a different brand, but each clearly exactly the same internally (running the same software, with the same poor english translations) — and these particular products did not last, or work very well even when fully functional. In that sense, they were very similar to the brand-name products they simulated, except insomuch as these cost a dollar whereas the brand name version cost a hundred.
I call(ed) my Coby my faux-Pod; I used to sneak it out of my pocket to skip songs, now I don’t care. I’m amused by complaints that the battery on the new iPhones don’t last long enough (I’d understand if it was a pacemaker.) I have several watches but what’s usually on my wrist is my cheap Casio w/day/date/time that I can read w/o glasses. Utilitarian is cool, in a way buy-up status will never cover. Great post. Those glasses, though…
Wonderful piece. I called my fake-iPod a Liepod, and it still works swell, plus you can move songs back and forth from it a lot more easily than on the real iPod i got free with a new computer once. That one periodically syncs itself with something or other, erasing everything I’ve put on it. If I still had access to the LEWP word processor that came with my Leading Edge Model D in 1986, it’s all I’d use. You can publish a book with Word, but try just writing an article. Great thoughts.
Great post. To answer your cell phone quandary: After cycling though several smartphones I find the $10 Samsung phone to be the one I like the best. With its 3.25″ X 1.80″ dimensions it’s the smallest thing you with which to make a phone call. As a bonus it has a simple and easy to set wake-up alarm. I have two smartphones and this one. (I was given an iPad toy as a gift for playing with apps, so I don’t really need an iPhone.) And this one is the one I carry the most. PS: I have an MP3 player similar to the Coby — a cheapo version of the iPod Nano (the older square one). I have to admit that I love my iPod Nano (the older square one that’s 5 years old and still working great) better, but I still have that cheapo MP3 player and use it as a backup.
Along the lines of “crap technology”, I buy crap sun glasses for very similar reasons from the $.99 store. They may not be fashionable to most, but I find a lot of utility in not worrying if I leave them behind, sit on them, or they get knocked / scratched.
I couldn’t agree more. Most everything I own was found in trash piles, garage sales or thrift stores. Most of its of excellent design and beautiful,some are even iconic designs valued in the thousands though I paid a couple of bucks. I have the means to buy the latest greatest but thats for suckers. I digress, weren’t we talking consumer electronics?
Oh, how I love my Sansa Express music player. Despite the scorn of friends or sympathetic looks from strangers I knew mine was the more capable device. It was shaped like a fat flash-drive with a male usb port on the end. I’d hand it to bartenders or DJs and they’d drop it in their laptop usb port and drag songs into the music folder. No proprietary cord or software required. No DRM. It can play all formats, has a micro SD expansion slot, voice recorder, and a FM tuner. Because it has a minimal screen the battery plays music for days. Still have it and it works great.
I also really enjoyed my Motorola c139. A real piece of crap. When my fancy phone died I pulled it out of a drawer and at 10 years old still worked. It had one capability that NO iphone will EVER have. Because it had no camera I could bring it into a court or federal building. (There’ll never be an app for that. Hahaha) I was a defendant at the time and my lawyer was always late, so this was my killer app.
Really love my galaxy s though.
Sweet! I picked up a new Coby mp3 player exactly like this one on clearance for $5 last weekend.
Gotta smile when people get all upset that life doesn’t live up to their expectations.
Like waht ya got. End of problem.
My tv is an early 90’s 27″ Sony tube tv, bought used, 15yrs ago.My awesome stereo component system has no component younger than 1990. My pc is 5yrs old running xp. I have an old crappy mountain bike. I’ve never purchased a microwave oven, though I did accept a hand-me-down gift of one. I have a pair of Puma running shoes I bought in 1978. I still wear them on special occasions. I still have socks I wore in the army 21 years ago.
Your article neatly encapsulates my biological predisposition to the life-long non-needing of the “new thing”.
Thank you.
For all of the iPod’s fame, it (along with the slightly more capable but more difficult to use/sync Zune) cannot be used without looking at the screen. Older MP3 players, back to the first Creative Labs unit I bought, could sit inside a jacket pocked and tracks skipped and volume adjusted (latest iPods FINALLY have physical volume controls on them).
In an (understandable) effort to increase functionality of iPods into what is essentially a handheld computer, they sacrificed fundamental functionality to do what the device was designed to do in the first place.
Gonna see if I can track down a Sensa somewhere. 🙂
My Sansa Clip never fails, plays WMAs (MP3’s poorer cousin) and has FM radio….all for 20 bills. If I lose it, oh well. I’ve got friends who practically give their old tech away so I don’t need expensive new stuff. I’ve got a 5 year old computer someone gave me with Ubuntu installed. Solid as a rock. Free. As in beer.
I’ve had a ‘crap’ $15 mp3 player for about 4 years now- use it almost every day to listen to podcasts in the car or while walking but in all this time I never observed the brand name! (it’s not Coby)
Sometimes on my walks I’ll use my Sony Walkman instead (which is NOT crap-tech, they’re extremely well made)
Surely the greenest, most sensible answer is ‘just look after your stuff properly, numbskull’? Don’t lose it. Don’t leave it somewhere thief-friendly. Don’t give it to your teething toddler or drop it because you’re too dim or distracted to be careful.
Get a lanyard or a case or a strap or a cover or a lock and use it. Maintain your things regularly and clean them occasionally. It’s just common sense.
Buy good-quality things, on- or off-brand, then take good care of them. That way you get the best of both worlds – high-end gear that lasts a very long time. Upgrade in your own sweet time, or don’t. Your call.
Stupidity doesn’t have to equal obsolescence. You don’t have to be stuck with the crappiest kit because you can’t be trusted not to damage or lose the good stuff.
I freaking love my Sansa clip. I’ve had it for three years and I even brought it with me to Korea. I bought it because I hated using the wheel on my iPod, which soon enough got the “white screen of death”. So maybe I don’t have a quarter bazillion songs with me everywhere I go. I don’t listen to half of my CDs anyway.
I don’t have a flatscreen TV, I refuse to remember the phone number of my old Nokia cell phone (which I had to be strongarmed into accepting as a gift) and enjoy music most when it’s live or coming a record spinning on one of my three Technics 1200 turntables (although I do have CD players in both my apartment and in my car, but the one in the car also plays cassettes – love cassettes, the high bias type, they’re so recyclable!). And I drive a 1964 Volkswagen Bug without automatic transmission, without power steering or power brakes, without an airbag, and certainly without air conditioning, but with a manually operated sunroof and a double cupholder mounted where the ash tray once was…. Call me old school, but to my ears, mp3 players are instruments of hell to me! So-called HQ clips of music on Youtube are as much of a compromise as I’m willing to make….
Although I ‘get’ that your term ‘crap technology’ is tongue in cheek, I agree with those who say “Old and simple doesn’t mean crappy.” Some early tech was very robust – sometimes they erred on the side of reliability – but as the items are adopted by consumers they evolve into commodities soon they are designed to have short life cycles.
This pavlovian consumer response to drool over the next ‘newest thing’ is unhealthy – it is comparable to the desire to eat junk food. We need to encourage ‘consumer dieting’
Good Post!
Raise a can of Tab to all the folks who brought us second rate products! And a can of PBR to us, the ones who have appreciated their toil!
Dead on. I do love technology (I think the DVR is actually the greatest electronic device of all time-as a sports fan, I love that I can start watching my U of M Wolverines on Directv play a game about an hour and a half after it has started live and have it end on time when I can call all my fellow alum all over the country when it ends) and am not a luddite. However, I remember the Rev. Jim Jones very well from my childhood and I refuse to drink the Kool Aid from the former Mr. Jobs (aka: the Zen Brainwasher) and all his hipster acolytes. I don’t have a Coby but I do have a simple MuVo v100 purchase at the beginning of 2007 for $50 (after a $20 rebate at Fry’s) that is going on 5 years old and I’ve probably only invested about $20-30 of AAA batteries over that time. It’s about the same size as a pack of gum, only holds 2 gbs (more than I can listen to even on a long trip down to Rio de Janeiro) and only plays music. Finally, being so small and boxy, it’s almost indestructible-can’t tell you how many times I’ve dropped it.
I guess everyone has their own experiences. I am pretty rough on electronics. I had an ishuffle that lasted about 6 years. During this time I got a Sansa because it was smaller than my old shuffle and had radio. It died within the year. I got another one. It didn’t even work out of the box. Got a third one (for 20 buck sometimes it is hard not to shrug your shoulders and try again). Its buttons were messed up within 3 months. At some point a fourth one got involved in the mix. Gave up. Got a new shuffle. It survives being tossed in a work bag and banged around and 6 months still blissfully problem free.
Problem with off brand things is issues don’t seem to get fixed. With all my Sansa issues I found two were relatively common and yet never rectified by the company.
I love my Motorola i530 rugged flip phone. I bought it through Nextel at full price, no contract….the poor salesman didn’t know what to do.
One thing you don’t mention, certain items, such as Coby, don’t require a salesperson. You will usually find these items in your local drug/convenience store, and their warranties are just as good as their high-end counterparts. Perfect.
I will never forget my well planned visit to my local Apple store to purchase an item I had already made up my mind about; the Shuffle. I get so tired of salespeople trying to convince me they know what’s best for me. This conversation went on for about 10 minutes and I finally said “You stock the Shuffle for a reason, right? There must be a need, and I need this one.”
If someone asks me one more time why I’m not pitching a tent (literally and figuratively) for the next “i” device, I’m smacking them in the jaw with my trusty i530; if I remembered to leave home with it.
This is weird. I have the same Coby mp3 player, the same Roadace bike and I’m reading this on what looks like the same laptop as the one in the picture there. Hm…
@Ben, I agree, that does seem a little improbable! If you’ve got the glasses too, I’m going to assume we’re each others’ doppelgangers.
And that’s a five year old Dell at least. Same as mine. A humble workhorse.
Great post. I’m working on a Dell Inspiron 6000 like the one in the photo. I can’t remember when I bought it. Just upgraded to 2gb and it suits all my needs. I have a crap phone via a crap carrier (virgin mobile). $25 a month suits all my needs. Most of my home electronics (TV, DVD, converter box[!] ) I got free from the curb or freecycle. My life is so much simpler and less complicated because I’m not chasing the newest thing. I just got to the point where I had to put my foot down and say “no”, I don’t need this, my money and time are more valuable.
Excellent work. Needed to replace my mobile and asked the guy ‘Which of these have the LEAST features’ – and hey you know what, it makes calls.
Just sadly had to retire a 1998 Sony Wega TV the size of a small house (second TV since 1988) – picture went lobsided about four years ago which meant you couldn’t see the soccer scores but it made things more exciting if you’d missed the start.
Thanks everyone for the comments and fbk likes–I feel like I’ve found my community! (And I guess I should add that our TV is a refurbished Philips 26″, purchased ~2000 but dating to about 1995 I think. Best feature = integrated VHS player. And because it hasn’t been plugged in for a year or more, I assume it will last forever.
Hey, that’s my bike up there! Runs like a charm.
After being mocked for still using Winamp, I have found others who agree. Durable technology that serves the needed function doesn’t need to be updated just to have the newest thing. Winamp is lightweight and more flexible than other media players. I also love my creative zen mp3 player that lacks any bells or whistles.
I bought a Phillips Gogear Vibe for running- it is actually COOLER than my (old version) Itouch, and has some sort of way of massaging sound to get more clarity out of not only Mp3’s- but RADIO! Never looked back. I can’t listen to my Apple from the Garden of Eden anymore to my own music. Originally, I had bought it because it was the cheapest mp3 player on Amazon that had 4gigs. Same with my headphones. Bought the cheapest that seemed to be good, and they are BETTER than most expensive headphones. I found the best of the cheap to be as good or better than the best of the best.
PS, I still have my gameboy and still play old zelda games and megaman.
Heard your interview on National Public Radio just a few minutes ago (Dec 1, 2011) and I’m looking forward to reading your article. I dislike reading long items on the screen, I will print on my 10 yr old HP laser printer (2nd owner)& will print on the 2nd side of paper. Unless something is going out to a client I try to reuse all paper. If I can’t use the 2nd side I cut the paper up into scrap paper to use in my office and in every room of my apartment. My cell phone is my 2nd one in 9 yrs. When it dies I will get a simple phone. I don’t need/want an MP3 player-camera-everything machine…I just need a reliable phone. Keep up all use of Crap Technology! Ei
Just heard your interview on Marketplace on my 1963 Harmon Kardon Citation-based sound system (bought at a yard sale ~15 years ago for $8). I salute you, sir. If I’d been a bit later leaving work I’d have been listening in my 2000 VW Beetle (120-mile daily round trip; bought ~6 months ago for $2K, with 131K miles; now has 144K; runs like a top; previous ’92 Integra reached diminishing returns for repair at 250K). This past weekend, I serviced my ’70’s Garcia Mitchell 300 spinning reel, bought new when I was a teenager.
I could go on and on (and on, and on), but nobody’d be particularly happy about that. In short- couldn’t agree more. And I find it physically impossible to drive past a thrift shop.
I must confess, though, to having an ipod I seldom use, and a Kindle (NOT the tablet) that I use almost daily. (Hey, there are some pretty good 99-cent novels on Amazon…)
Cheers!
Oh, and by the way- 2004 HP laptop maxed out at 1GB memory, and 2005 Motorola L6 cell phone (I do not text, and neither do I tweet).
John
I’m reading the bio of Steve Jobs, and he was a perfectionist to the extreme. He was obsessed with having a product be perfect, and this could mean sacrificing functionality. So another angle to this is that these extra fancy tech products are only the result of his perfectionism and obsession.
I still have my pre-ipod DigitalWay mp3 player, and it still works, though usually I take my Coby (it’s less clunky).
Cell phones? Buy the second least expensive and it will last years.
I finally did retire my 1982 Nishiki 10-speed a couple of years ago.
I do have a 10 year old gps unit that I take afield, but I never take it unless I also have a map and compass.
Lovely little essay.
I really believe in using formerly owned stuff (whether it is discarded as trash or ‘cherished’ ). It is often perfectly good, usually way cheaper, and may even make a statement about you: depending on the observer, this may be that you are a brave holdout against consumerism…or a bum.
Supposedly crap technology can, as in the case with a good turntable, actually be better. I picked up a high-end audiophile turntable which would have cost thousands once for $20. It, and the hundreds of mint vinyl albums I have picked up for a dollar or less each, is a joy to listen to.
Older cars can be an amazing deal too. They don’t stink of plastic fumes, can have virtually no depreciation, often come with all the fancy extras, and you dont panic when parking them in a car park or on the street. I had lots of old Volvos that were a joy to own and drive.
Thrift stores can be wonderful. Goodwill stores are a good place to try.
Congratulations on the NPR piece!
I just heard you on Marketplace and I was reminded of my brilliant father who managed to make at least five things out of a box wine (he cobbled the thin aluminum inside together to form a thermal blanket and cut a 90-degree angle out of the corner to create magazine holders). As I get older and without even trying, I am following in his footsteps. Ironically, he was an electronics engineer and I work for a major electroncis company.;)
I am as low-maintenance a woman as you can get (at least I am pretty sure because how many women take ten minutes to get ready for work and prefer open windows to a blow dryer?). I thoroughly enjoyed the segment on Marketplace and plan to follow your writings (no, not stalk). Oh, I have decreased my wordly possessions to the point where I could move in about three hours.
It makes it easier to breath.
cheers,
Aimee
Well – another “driveway moment” for me, listening to the marketplace segment; call me (and my wife) “kindred spirits” as well. Our house is “used”, but much better built than most “new homes” (built in 1973 – no HOA, and we could afford it). Both of our cars are older and “used” (they were my parents’ cars) – and no monthly bills (one is a 93 with 20k, the other a 96 with 30k). Both of our PCs are “hand me down” specials (and I have shop full of even more). We shop at Goodwill, thrift stores, and garage sales for bargains and other neat stuff. We drink from canning jars (and save jelly “mugs”). My phone is G1 (that I bought no contract from t-mobile back in the day); though after the recent revelations about secret spy software, I might just go for an el-cheapo pre-paid next time. I don’t have an MP3 player (my G1 could serve that purpose, if needed), but if I did, it would be a Coby or Sansa (probably bought from “Big Lots!” – that’s Pic-N-Save for us oldsters!). LOL – I loved the piece on marketplace, and the essay here; may “crap technology” live forever (it probably will)!
Heard you on marketplace, I’ve realized now that my and my sons computer is a hand me down and all (but one 1973 trinitron) televisions in my house are hand me downs. I’m fortunate to be able to fix things, started taking my toys apart young, got my first real job fixing things when my high school history teacher caught me adjusting a fancy watch my grandfather gave me during his lecture. I’ve been very lucky in being able to revive tech and make it work. It’s nice to pick junk and give it to someone who needs it. A PA system for the city park or a pc for a friend whose laptop just fried. And by the way, I got the sansa c250, fixed the headphone jack three times, a glob of solder keeps the whole thing going. Not all crap is built well enough to survive, but given a little tlc and some molten lead almost anything can work for a long time.
My little 2005 Pantech flip phone feels right at home with all this crap…..Great essay Thomas.
I heard the tail end of your radio interview as I was parking my 11 yr old Subaru at the 99cent store. Thanks for having the courage to step off the technological tread mill and the humor to write such a funny and entertaining piece about it! I can’t wait to share it with my husband. He drives an expensive Audi Q7 and is in a constant state of anxiety over it getting dirty or dented.I have no such worries. He has an iPhone and I have a $10 Samsung that works perfectly well and refuses to get lost or stolen. Despite our technological divide, we manage to remain happily married… unless, of course, he decides to one day trade me in for a “new and improved” model!
I own one of those Cobys. It has been through the washer and dryer and is still going strong.
I bought a pocket camera, a while back, that came with a manual that was larger than the camera. Feature creep? Who needs it? You point the camera and press the shutter release. Hopefully, it takes the picture. I don’t need a 150-page manual to tell me how to do this. Nor do I need all of the features described in the manual. As they used to say in the newspaper business, “F8 and be there”.
My cell phone is at least 10 years old. It still makes phone calls despite being used for a jacking pad more than once. My cell phone service provider keeps trying to give me a free replacement phone, more likely than not because the old phone sucks bandwidth because it doesn’t use the newest top-o-the-line protocol. Tough noogies. I’m sticking with the old phone because, guess what, it still makes phone calls.
Meanwhile, my laptop is a similarly-old Dell. Believe me, it was a piece of crap when I bought it. Its still a piece of crap. But, its a running piece of crap. And, no self-respecting thief would ever steal it. Why, because its worthless. As a matter of fact, they’d probably have to pay $10 at the recycling center to get rid of it. It still runs the Web browser, thereby allowing me to leave idiotic comments on all of my favorite blogs.
Most of my tools are over 30 years old. I busted a socket wrench last year (or rather, I should say I wore it out). Sears gave me a new one for free, no questions asked. As for the rest of my tools? They’re just getting broken in. Who needs new stuff? When you show up to work on something, with shiny new tools, you just look like an amateur anyway.
I want to throw some love to the low-tech old-school mtn bike since the MP3 players and cell-phone folks have spoken already.
Older non-suspended, non-disk brake mountain bikes are the greatest transportation bargain going short of hoofing everywhere. If you want to get from point A to point B reasonably efficiently and prefer to wear real shoes and no spandex, they are the way to go. Upright seating and extremely durable. Get a used rack and zip-tie an old milk crate to it for a “trunk”. They’re rugged, often made with very nice steel frames (look for lugs) and have flat pedals (no clip-ins or toe clips). Occasionally replace the pads and cables so the brakes “pull” and adjust the shifters – then get on and ride.
Of course, I’m typing this from a 2 yr old Macbook Pro that you’ll have to (paraphrasing Moses) “pull from my cold dead hands”. I find it to be much less of a POS than my previous PC….and I’m on it 8+ hrs a day.
We pick our poison, I guess.
A couple years ago, everyone in our department was instructed to ditch our Palm Treos and buy iphones. The monthly cost out of our paycheck was going to double. I stealthily hung on to my Treo but promised myself that as soon as the Treo died, I would bite the bullet and get the iphone. Since then it has gone to the bottom of a stream twice (while fishing) and I dried it off on the car heat vent. It also flew off the top of my car going 60 mph, skidded across the tarmac – the only downside is that I need the stylis to operate what was formerly the space key. A recent drop/shatter of the lcd screen was remedied with some scotch tape. It just won’t die!!!!
I don’t know if this qualifies as “crap technology”, but it is cheap: Dollar Store reading glasses. Eight bucks.
Also, plain vanilla keyboards. $14 to $17 depending on where you look.
No longer made: the Logitech ball mouse that connects to your USB port. Out of production too is the Microscroft version with scroll wheel, unless you want the more expensive wireless version. I don’t.
Buy less crap… Not crap. My iPhone 4 (not the stupid ‘s’) has allowed me to travel wo laptop or iPod. All in one and user friendly to the max. Your schtick is entertaining, and I go for a lot of it (cork screw, church key, Chevy HHR Panel). But My rule of thumb is: best, simplest, least amount of stuff possible.
“These things aren’t “crap” technology — they are off-brand versions of precisely the same thing, except better-engineered.” — ENKI
Just because it is not an Apple product does not mean that it is generic. Apple didn’t even invent the portable media player.
Don’t let Apple brainwash you into thinking they are the first company to create the type of products that they do.
Sansa is owned by sandisk. Not generic.
I have a 30 year old console TV that does a good job of letting me see the garbage that is broadcasted. Sure I could get a newer set, but why? The content will still be garbage.
Is this Crap Technology?
I bought a Coby player when my Creative MuVo finally expired after several years. The MuVo ran on a AAA battery, had a built-in USB plug and looked like a memory stick to Windows (no crapware required). Those three items were my baseline replacement criteria. Ideally I wanted another MuVo but Creative tried to live up to their name and only have Apple clones these days. I asked the guy at Frys for something simple that met my criteria and he was flummoxed. He tried to upsell me to something in three figures. I found the Coby on my own down on the bottom shelf. $22 bucks with 4GB and no radio. Still working like a champ. Case closed. Thanks for the entertaining pcast on MP.
This is too easy. I call it Neo-Luddism. My wife and I have 17 and 18 year old cars. Free digital over the air TV through a nice older SONY 27″ TV. A used older state of the art audiofile stereo. Ooma. Tracfone only for emergencies. A pentium 4 PC with XP. We refill ink cartridges. A 70’s Raleigh 3-speed. A 1000 sf house. On and on. It’s how we survive on very little income. Oh, and we’re 98% Vegan – no meat expenses.