Our electronics are made for the dump

Clear and convincing.
Doesn't it drive you mad that it is cheaper to buy a new device than to fix your broken old one? Or that some gadget you buy stops working in a year, and you don't even care that much, because already there is a new one that you have your eyes on and anyway, you feel it's lived long enough? It's a mindset that I feel we need to change. It is not OK to trash so many of our devices so often. We need longer lasting, repairable, greener electronics, and simpler, clearer methods of getting rid of them safely, when their end has come.

We do use a lot of electronics in my house. We have three e-readers: the Sony, Kindle and Nook color). The Sony reader has some issues and the last time I borrowed an ebook from the library to read on it, it froze every time I tried to start it. So I am not sure anymore that when I take it out with me I really have a book to read every time. My once-beautiful macbook (bought in 2008) is now chipped on the keyboard side, which is a common problem with these laptops. I had it already repaired for the same problem in its first year of life. But they are made of the worst possible, crackable plastic. It is in its third year of life now, and I am hoping it will make it to maybe five, since we just upgraded its memory. I am going for a PC next time for sure and for a metal, unbreakable case. See, I am already planning. At least we still have our old tube TV and we just got a second one from our friends who moved away (too far away, heartbreaking) and we hold our ground here -- not buying into the flat screen, plasma, LCD, 3D or whatever else is out there. Until our old TV completely breaks down. We are kind of proud of that.