That's not to say that I don't like gadgets and cool things, but now is fleeting. What is won't be for much longer, and the world is changing faster with each passing day. I'm born of a generation that saw the transition from rotary telephones to cell phones; snail mail to email; the wide wide world to the world wide web.
The constant compaction and consolidation of our lives, functions, and capacities makes things simpler so long as the devices that run them work. But it leaves guys like me longing for simplicity.
In truth, what I want is greater integrity rather than simplicity; the former often being a function of the latter. The world became disposable sometime back in the 1950's. Consumer products became flimsier, less durable. The Jet Age, and eventual Space Age, romanticized modernity for the American public. Within the scope of that adventure, products were meant to be efficient, cheap, and replaceable.
We've reaped an interesting set of morals and values as a result. Back in the good ol' days when something broke, you fixed it. These days, get a new one...
Car breaks down?
0 money down, 0% for six months, and we'll make the first payment for you...
Don't like your house anymore?
Fabulous gated communities from the low 500's...
Marriage a living hell?
Uncontested divorce for $200...
For the right price, anything can be replaced. In fact, the cheaper the unit price that someone can offer the consumer, the more they can sell of it. Durability be damned. The smartest products ever invented are ones that you buy with the intention of throwing it away. Trash bags, toilet paper, razor blades, diapers all come with the express guarantee that you will replace this soon.
Have you ever considered why so many artifacts from the American frontier days are so easy to find? I imagine that it's because they were built to last. As likely an explanation is that their inventors lacked the tight-tolerance manufacturing processes that we have today and had to rely on brute strength to make things work. To that end, what they lacked in precision, they supplanted with staying power.
Those are the kinds of things that appeal to guys like me.
We used to do things big and bold because we had to. With the comparative sledge hammer of sheer will, we learned to make things beautiful and elegant while still being durable. If you know where to look, you can find all manner of antique and vintage accoutrement that has withstood time and abuse of generations who have gradually been overtaken by disposable kitch.
Well, maybe it's time to turn obsolescence on its ear. Old does not equate to useless. In fact, one can probably count on vintage gear being more valuable and capable than much of what can be found in them modern era.
I hope to explore some of those things. Whereas I feel old in my soul, I often happen across something that has a rich history that has been stained by neglect and yet still feels alive and vibrant.
Maybe I'll be able to help you feel that spark of life as I do.
As a lover of all things shiny and new, I see your point in appreciating the things we have and making them last. I look forward to how you'll apply this perspective for your future blogs.
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