Treasures

You hear people complaining about products all the time. How nothing seems to last anymore. Poor quality construction and materials. Back in the old days things lasted. I'm guilty of that as much as anyone. Things today do seem to be more fragile. Or maybe delicate is a better description. There are also far more complicated. That adds to the problem. I do think the vast majority of these failures are caused more by mishandling and lack of maintenance, than poor design or materials. Even us baby boomers grew up in a throw it away society. That attitude has only increased over the years. As a whole we have become "too busy " to take care of our things. Also, I think we tend not to form an emotional attachment to our possessions as much as our ancestors did. Is that because they had to work so much harder to gain those things ? I'm not convinced that is the case. I think it may have been more of an expectation. You were expected to take care of your things. Also the things you had were more basic necessities than luxury items.
I have bemoaned the fact many times that many things today cannot be repaired. At least not repaired economically. It is cheaper to just buy another. Gone are the days of the fix it shop. That's a shame too. Now we have restoration experts. Fix it men that charge huge sums to repair something. It is this cost of labor that was a driver in this throw away attitude. We needed a way to make things faster and cheaper. Machines designed for specific functions replaced manual labor. Synthetic materials were devised to replaced natural materials. The number and variety of available products precludes having repair parts available. The complexity of the machines make it difficult for your average man to fix.
All the technology we have available to us today will be outdated in the near future. We all see that everyday. Cell phones are so blase today. Computer tech is way out there now. I see the ads for " touch " screens and all sorts of innovation. The games we play are on the computer or gaming systems. Will any of these devices be available to us twenty years from now ? Would they even work ? I'm thinking they will not. The technology required to utilize them will no longer be in use. Like an analog television set, a thing of the past. Telephones with a cord on them ? Repairmen will be a thing of the past as well. Technicians have replaced them all. The only ones " fixing " anything are crafters or restorers. Knowledge of the old ways will become subject of lore. Mans inventiveness will continue however. I do think the old things will be a bit boring to look at though. If the item no longer works or performs its original function it is boring ! A black and white television, analog, isn't much to see today. Just a box with a funny looking screen. A look at the internals would be fascinating to an electronics tech I suppose.
How many of today's things will survive into tomorrow is anyone's guess. I'm convinced not many will. The toys,tools and artifacts of our forefathers were treasured in their time and treasured in ours. Can we say the same for todays' products ?