Technology Part 1: No Integrity

This is going to be incredibly shocking for some people, but I just got my first "smartphone" a few weeks ago.  Up until then I still had a flip phone with 12 keys.  I used it sparingly for talk and text, it had no data.  Now I have a windows phone and I use it a whole lot more, but not as a phone.  The only reason I updated at all was because no one sells good phones anymore without data plans.  The normal cell phone has been phased out and it's frustrating.

I needed a phone.  I didn't need a touch screen device with games, apps, internet, GPS or music that also happens to have a calling feature.  I have my iPod touch for that (sorta).  I love my windows phone, but it's more than I needed.  And Google doesn't support it, which means I can't update this blog or watch YouTube on the go, at least not with an app like I can do with my touch.

The other issue I have with modern technology is how cheaply it's made.  I have three iPods.  My oldest one is a 16GB 1st generation touch, the second one is a 6th generation nano, and the third is the 5th generation touch.  Do you want to guess which one works fine and which ones have given me issues?  Don't bother, I'll tell you.

• My 1stGen touch is my most reliable.  All his buttons work, even though the sleep/wake button requires a bit of a harder press, which probably means it will stop working soon.  That's ok though, he's probably about 5 years old and looks brand new.  Unfortunately, his OS doesn't support any newer apps and he doesn't have a camera.  I still use him regularly for music, internet and music.
• My nano has given me the most trouble.  I got him free about one and a half to two years ago after they recalled a batch of 1stGen nanos, of which my older nano was listed.  He stopped working at the three month mark.  His design is touch screen with sleep/wake and volume buttons and a clip on the back.  I used him, clipped to my shorts, for running and on trips for music as he was incredibly portable.  It was on one of these trips when his sleep/wake button stopped working.  Research revealed Apple uses only one small piece of double sided tape to hold the button shim in place and use eventually wears it out, allowing the shim to shift and the button to stop working.  Because this model has no menu button, the only way to wake it was to plug it into a power source, which is no use when running or traveling.
• I just got my second 5thGen touch in the mail today.  My first one was gifted to me last Christmas and had a warranty.  It was perfect until about a month and a half ago, when the menu button stopped working.  We sent it in and got it replaced.  We'll see how this one does.

Now I know a lot of kids whose phones and iPods have taken a beating.  I've seen cracked screens, heard stories of devices dropped in water and even one flip phone completely broken in half.  My own brother went through two more phones than me. All of my devices, phones or iPods, are still in pristine, box-worthy, functioning condition.  The number of times I've dropped all of my devices combined (Three phones, 4 iPods) can probably be counted on my fingers.  I've never ruined a device.  The only reason any of them were replaced was necessity, for example:

• My first phone wasn't supported when we switched networks.  It has been donated.
• My second phone worked fine, but siblings complained about their phones, so we upgraded and switched networks again.  I still have this phone, the only thing wrong with it was some of the paint was chipped.  This phone was dropped the most and went the most places, it was well loved.
• My 1stGen nano was replaced because of a recall.  I regret returning it because my second nano was such a failure and now I don't have a comfortable, portable device to take on runs.
• My 1stGen touch was not replaced, I still use it.  The reason I got a second touch was because I was going off to college and my parents wanted me to have a device I could facetime and message with, as well as take pictures.  Plus I wanted newer apps that my 1stGen didn't support.  This was before the idea of a new phone was considered.

 Now I've bounced this idea off some friends and family, and most of them agree with me: today's devices and appliances are designed to fail.  They're designed to fail reliably, right after the standard warranty expires.  This is true of our previous TV, this is true of my 6thGen nano, and it's likely true of my 5thGen touch which my father covered with an extended warranty.  Food for thought if you're unsure about this: there's a setting on modern touches and iPhones called "AssistiveTouch."  It causes a small round button to appear on the screen that functions like the menu button.  Unfortunately, it is annoying and gets in the way, I used it on my 5thGen touch while waiting to mail it.

But why would we even need this setting?  We have a physical menu button.  The only reason I can think of for this setting is that Apple expects the menu button to fail, and it expects it to fail when most people don't have warranty, because most people don't pay extra for the extended warranty.  This fact is what most modern companies are counting on.  We pay them a lot of money for something, and if we want extra protection we pay more money.  That extra money would probably cover standard repair costs in the future anyway, which mean we're paying them to repair something before it breaks.

As consumers, we don't want to spend the extra money.  We tell ourselves that we'll take good care of it, use it properly so it won't break.  But if my iPod troubles are any example, it won't matter if we lock it in a waterproof safe and only take it out for intended, proper use.  It's going to fail.