Technophobia

As much as I am amazed, in awe of, and thankful for technology that has gotten me back into touch with so many people from the past, helps me keep updated on dear ones around the world, and gives us a normally convenient and fun way to keep people updated on our lives, I am equally frustrated with it sometimes.

What frustrates me is, like everything else, the market is driven by demand; which in itself is fine. However, it seems that companies aren't happy with the natural demand that there is and will be. Companies have to create an over-the-top demand by building things to break, forcing the consumer to have to replace things much too soon after they've already spent a small fortune on something.

I recently saw a news story about a man who had a light bulb that was passed down to him by his grandfather. It was dozens of years old, but still worked. He didn't have any heirs to pass it down to, so he donated it to a museum. They certainly don't make light bulbs like they used to in his grandfather's time (Note to museum curator: Please be careful not to drop it!)

Likewise, when computers (particularly laptops/notebooks) came out, it seemed the hardware lasted for a very long time, outliving software technology and the demands for the hardware to run more quickly and with more memory, and therefore, having to be replaced or upgraded. Nowadays though, the hardware of computers are obviously made to break down much more rapidly. It seems also that sometimes, in making them so delicate, they don't even last through the process of delivery to the store and come to the consumer already defective because of some slight nudge they suffered en route.

I have heard that iPods were made to last for 2-3 years. Batteries too are another obvious example of being more and more expensive, but having shorter and shorter life spans. My brother-in-law used to work for a battery company and confirmed this plot to be true.

I wonder: How do we stop being at the mercy of companies who are becoming increasingly greedy with all the technological advances? (Which are hard enough to keep up with, and sometimes altogether impossible to do so with when your investment soon becomes obsolete. - Which is another thing that happens much faster than ever before.)

Maybe I've hit middle age when one starts to no longer have the stamina to keep-up with the ever changing technological landscape. I'm not at the place of throwing my hands up from the keyboard though and going back to the old fashioned letter writing. As much as I love letter writing and think that it is very charming and personal, I'm afraid my hand would have to do a lot of training to get back into shape for holding a pen.

Does this bother anybody else? It's really bothered me lately to think about all of this, especially in light of all the strange, never seen before flaws on different computers I've been using lately.