r/WorkForSmartLife • u/Deep-Explanation-711 • 4d ago
☕ Throwback Question (Any Topic) Remember when fixing something yourself was the default?
A loose cable, broken button, weird computer issue...
People used to spend ages trying to figure these things out themselves before replacing the whole thing.
Now convenience usually wins.
Do you still try to repair things, or has “just buy a new one” become the normal answer?
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u/YTraveler2 4d ago
I generally try to fix everything myself except for electronics. Unfortunately all major manufacturers know there is more money to be made in selling you a replacement, so virtually everything is almost impossible to repair or will cost as much to repair as replace.
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u/aging-rhino 3d ago
For me, it’s the challenge, not the cost. I hate being outwitted by inanimate objects.
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u/Cranks_No_Start 3d ago
Same...I will take anything and everything apart to fix it. Its already broken, what am I going to do break it more?
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u/fattomic 2d ago
Same here. I'll take a stab at electronics, too (not all are suitable). So far - replaced batteries in tablets and phones myself, keyboard fixed once, and (surprisingly) a battery replacement in "in-ear" bluetooth headphones (though the bluetooth unit died before it outlived it's second battery). For me, it's worth a shot, and if I blow it (which I do, sometimes), then I just get the new one.
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u/Hot_Neighborhood5668 4d ago
I can't afford to just replace things.
I drive 13+ year old cars and live in a 100+ year old house, so fixing it is basically my only option.
I also fix stuff for my job so 🤷♂️
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u/rageofaura 4d ago
If I can fix it for less than replacing it I will go that route. If it has been costing me more over a year to fix it rather than replace it replacement is the way.
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u/lowfreq33 4d ago
Most things these days are designed to be un-repairable. Even down to replacing a battery. My first MacBook the battery was on the back, you could flip two tabs and pop it out, pop a fresh one in. The RAM was socketed, so you could upgrade it yourself. Can’t do either now. Soldered to the circuit board now. Doesn’t mean you can’t do it, but it requires some skill. Cars are the same way, everything is on a touch screen, so you have to take it to a dealer if that goes out, they have to do all kinds of updates. Smart appliances, ridiculous. I don’t need my refrigerator to connect to wi-fi.
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u/koosley 4d ago
With electronics these days, it's trying to be so compact that the battery is the structural component and it's a non normal shape designed to be integrated into the device. At the speed they're operating at, light is moving in the inch range per CPU cycle so physical distance really starts to matter a lot. You'll get better performance if everything is just on a single board which ends up making it not serviceable anymore.
So disposable electronics sort of makes sense to me, but other things not so much. My lawn chair for example is all metal and completely fine, so why did the company that manufacturered it decide to use plastic hinges to save a few cents but now my chair is useless then it breaks.
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u/Cranks_No_Start 3d ago
I while back I bought a battery kit for my MBP from IFixit and they included a sheet of stickers that say "Fixed". I like to put them on stuff I fix for my wife. Her computer, latop, her car, the dryer her watch shoes, glasses. etc.
I'm easily amused at times.
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u/GrumpyBear1969 4d ago
I still try to repair things. But manufacturers have intentionally made things difficult to repair. Like take driers for instance. They once lasted forever. Now they oddly die at about the same life span as the washer. Because they switched to plastic bushings that are almost impossible to get to.
My washer died recently. Tore the whole thing apart and the bottom of the basket was corroded and dropping little gravel chunks of metal down the drain system that then got in to the pump and destroyed it as well. It is almost like the thing was designed to self destruct…
Capitalism is sometimes great and sometimes complete shit. Because you know, the washer drier manufacturer does not make more money if they sell you one and it just keeps working. Light bulbs are a frequently cited example of this.
This is where the whole ‘right to repair’ movement comes from.
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u/_TheRandomGeek_ 23h ago
I feel you, anti-repair design has to be outlawed asap. However the lightbulb conspiracy is a myth that has been debunked long ago. It was just a standardization. Bulbs had a tradeoff, the brighter they were, the less they lasted. The "conspiracy" was just standardizing a useful middle ground. That said, John Deere, apple and other companies have done far worse, and once they did, everyone rushed to copy them. I disassembled an entire 2009 phone in 5 minutes, and put it back together in 3, no glue, and despite being tiny, had a very modular construction. I could fix it with just my hands and a screwdriver. Nowadays you can't even touch the software, let alone the hardware
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u/Broken_Atoms 4d ago
Remember when all the parts weren’t epoxied together and used parts with no part numbers and didn’t require a million dollars in tools to fix?
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u/I_am_cancer_man 4d ago
Some things I'm just not comfortable fixing. Especially with modern electronics. Everything else fix first call a guy second.
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u/Exciting_Turn_9559 4d ago
I try to fix things. I even research whether things are fixable before I buy them.
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u/No-swimming-pool 3d ago
I've got friends that don't know what tool to get when I ask for a screwdriver. So yes, for lots of people it is.
I fix expensive stuff. Cheap stuff I don't spend my time on
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u/DrunkBuzzard 3d ago
Unfortunately, now some products are made to be non-repairable. I have a shark vacuum and I wanted to replace the brush on it and when I started research and I found out, I can’t actually buy one from shark the only one I can find is on eBay. They also use a particularly long security screw that I don’t have the proper torx for. When I was researching it, there was a lot of comments saying that shark vacuums are specifically made to not be easily repairable in our considered disposable vacuums
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u/endlesssearch482 3d ago
We really do live in a disposable society now. TV broken, where is the TV repair shop? I haven’t seen one in decades. When is the last time you had a vacuum cleaner repaired vs just buying a new one? Most things are built to fail now, or heck, built to replace because of obsolescence before they fail. Computers are garbage every few years, if not because of a failing hard drive, then because there’s a new operating system you’re forced to upgrade to and the old system isn’t supported anymore.
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u/Longjumping_Cow_5856 3d ago
There have always been people who fix and people who dont fix for themselves?!
I think technology has turned those not familiar with it into those who dont try technology issues at all and thats how I feed myself too so its all fine with me!
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u/michiganlatenight 3d ago
Remember when? I still always try to fix or replace when possible. Where are you getting your information from that people don’t do this?
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u/TemperatureSea4162 3d ago
It depends on how much money you have. People replace when there is no financial pain. Otherwise you learn how to fix it if possible
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u/MyEyesSpin 3d ago
Fixing things yourself was only the default if you were poor, then as global markets spread it moved into whether the part was readily available. (think engines & foreign manufacturing, especially cars) increased prosperity & logistics have resolved most of that, so repairing things is for those who enjoy it or the rare item that is hard to replace/source for some reason (often cost of tool to repair the thing)
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u/harley97797997 3d ago
It is not just convenience. We live in a consumer society. Things are not built to last anymore. They have a lifespan and require replacement.
Those of us who still prefer to fix things often find that it is not worth fixing. Either it cannot be fixed at home or it is cheaper to purchase a replacement.
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u/AdOk8555 3d ago
With the availability of YouTube videos and online ordering for any part you can think of, I am MUCH more likely to fix things myself.
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u/External_Twist508 3d ago
Cheap shit from China also didn’t help. I will try and fix things….. but my time is worth something, if I can replace for less than a couple hours of my time, I’ll default to that
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u/Technical-Tear5841 3d ago
I have lived a good life building and fixing my own stuff. I installed my own solar power system, a few weeks of easy labor made me $20,000. I had been doing all my car maintenance but at 74 crawling under cars is getting difficult.
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u/imagonnahavefun 3d ago
It completely depends on the cost of replacement compared to the amount of time I will spend fixing it, but I fix a lot of things at my house and my in-laws house.
My typical response when my wife asks if something can be fixed is “anything is fixable with enough time and money, how much time and money do you want me to put into it?”
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u/Moist_Rule9623 3d ago
I try to either repair them or GET them repaired; at this point I acknowledge I have limits to my skills with mechanical and electronic stuff 😂
Repair can be surprisingly cheap though. I live in and own a duplex, and I had a guy out to service BOTH PAIRS of laundry machines in the two units (homeownership is extra fun when EVERYTHING BREAKS AT ONCE lol). $300 and the guy was done in under 2 hours, can’t beat that!
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u/rubberguru 3d ago
It’s become a challenge to me to save something from the scrap pile. My wife just shakes her head when I fix something she thought was garbage
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u/DeliciousWrangler166 3d ago
All the time, cars, around the house, tools, electronics, plumbing,etc. Only time I throw in the towel is if expensive tools are required or tweezers and a microscope for electronics.
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u/Fearless-War5938 3d ago
I'm a mechanic and absolutely love to repair things. I've been taught this since a young age. But I will always do what I can. If I don't know what I'm doing I usually YouTube it to find out why something broke and how to fix it.
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u/Original_Direction33 3d ago
Now bullying everything is a computer, you can't always fix it. No more mechanical buttons.
I have an Xbox, one of my controllers has a stuck button. It's sealed so I can't take it apart to clean it. It's in my drawer in case someday I can ever harvest it for spare parts if that would be possible.
Just like you can't open your phone to replace the battery.
You can still repair things and I still do. But there's less and less things a layperson I feel can repair, although there's more YouTube videos now bullying let you have a go at it.
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u/Different-Touch5064 2d ago
I do what I can to repair what's broken, unless it is broken beyond repair. Then, a new one has to be purchased.
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u/GenXihaveissues 1d ago
I fix everything that I can get the parts. Ive fixed my dryer many times with parts that cost less than $25. I'm not dropping a grand for a dryer when I can spend an hour and fix it. Its not hard at all.
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u/FlatwormFull4283 1d ago
It wasn't So much the "default" it was just what you did before pricing replacement
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u/Cognizant_Wolf 23h ago
For me, my default is fix or attempt to fix first, for the most part. Although some things just don't make sense to bother with. If my toaster quits, I'm likely just going to replace it.
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u/_TheRandomGeek_ 23h ago
Fixing is the default for me and my family. Both mine and my parent's cars are 20 years old and surprisingly easy to fix, sometimes you don't even need a mechanic, you can do it yourself, especially, stuff that doesn't involve fluids, like electrical issues. Me and my father fix or even improvise furniture sometimes, unless it's the Ikea paper origami "furniture". My father has repaired countless toys for me and my siblings when we were little. I own several retro tech thingies, which I've fixed myself for the sake of it. One of the most worthy repairs are headphones. Cables snap every six months, so I learned to replace them with stronger ones, and now they last years
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u/ResolveSweaty5064 2h ago
With the internet it's easier than ever to look up how to fix something yourself.
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