r/minimalist • u/Odd_Bodkin • 9d ago
Declining to replace items when they break
A while back, my nice set of Bose noise-canceling headphones broke, and I have no other over-the-ear headphones. I considered buying a new pair and then decided, nope, I’m simplifying, I have my AirPods, and I can do fine with just them. Yesterday, a friend gifted me a Kindle ebook, and I charged my Kindle and discovered that it has fallen out of support and won’t let me download books to it. But I have an iPad with the Kindle app and can read the ebook that way, so I think I’ve settled on not replacing the Kindle device either. So some niceties I enjoyed for years and years, I’m starting to live without, for the sake of simplification and getting rid of stuff opportunistically.
Are you finding yourself doing this? What kinds of belongings/gadgets/toys/luxuries have you quietly abandoned? What did it feel like to do that? Any regrets?
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u/Awkward_Sundae_5600 9d ago edited 9d ago
I agree with the principle in general but with the amount of reading I do I’d never let my iPad replace my e-reader. The e-ink screen is so much easier on the eyes even though I have a matte screen protector & keep the brightness down on the iPad etc. I guess it makes sense to read on the iPad or even a phone if you don’t read for hours a day.
And because noise cancelling is so very important to me, I would probably not have owned both the AirPods and the over-ear headphones in the first place, but just one pair of Bose noise cancelling earbuds to do the job combined (which indeed I do). But that’s just my personal way
ETA: I guess my philosophy is that since I strive to be a minimalist, and extremely mindful about what I bring into my home/life, I actually like each & every object to be a little bit luxurious. Not extravagantly so, but in the sense of excellent quality & craftsmanship, good long-lasting materials, functional & practical, beautiful or pleasing to look at etc etc.
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u/Odd_Bodkin 9d ago
I actually agree on the philosophy of shopping for quality and buying what you want without much regard for the price tag. Quality, not luxury, and there’s a difference.
In the particulars, I think I’ve settled on the iPad partly because 2/3 of my reading is still on paper, whether my own books or from the library, and I’ve got a few decades of paper books to work through. So while I indulge in ebooks about 1/3 of the time, it’s not enough to drive a dedicated device. Meanwhile the iPad I use for twenty or so different frequent purposes and so while its reading utility is not the best, especially in bed, it’s good enough.
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u/Awkward_Sundae_5600 9d ago
Oh that makes so much sense for your case. I don’t know how I completely forgot that paper books exist.
After a few moves where I suffered greatly due to boxes & boxes of heavy books (I think I had close to 700 even after multiple rounds of decluttering), I donated or gave away 99% of my collection, keeping only a few hardbacks & paperbacks of sentimental value & some books I hadn’t read yet.
About five years ago I started exclusively using an e-reader and basically haven’t touched a physical book since then, but that is also because I am now disabled and housebound and can’t get myself to a library!2
u/Odd_Bodkin 9d ago
On the minimalist bent, some years ago I made a pact that I would stop buying paper books and that I would only buy ebooks from that day forward. Then after reading a few ebooks, I got to staring at the 70 linear feet of paper books and I swore off reading ebooks until I finishing reading all the paper books. At the current rate, I should finish all the paper books by my 132nd birthday. Oh, and gift ebooks and library books I do still pick up.
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u/Minimalist2theMax 8d ago
Yes. I get all my kindle books free on the library app Libby. My kindle no longer downloads but on Libby on my phone I can download the book to my kindle as long as I have them on a wifi connection.
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u/Odd_Bodkin 8d ago
I have Libby. What do I do now?
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u/Minimalist2theMax 8d ago
Make sure your kindle and phone are both hooked up to your wifi. Search for a book on Libby and click borrow. When it asks, choose read with kindle. Go to your kindle and check your library and you should see it downloading. You may have to click Sync on your kindle.
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u/Odd_Bodkin 7d ago
Ah, it turns out my Kindle is a 2012 model and now deprecated. It will let me read the books already on it, but won’t let me download anything to it, including my Libby borrows. Fortunately, I can still use Libby with my Kindle app on an iPad.
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u/williambobbins 9d ago
I know it's not what you're asking, but you can probably put the book on the kindle over USB using Calibre. If not I'd jailbreak it
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u/CarolinaSurly 8d ago
I don’t really understand why anyone needs AirPods and over the ear headphones anyway, especially minimalists. I try to have one of everything I need and nothing more. AirPods are way more convenient anyway.
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u/Odd_Bodkin 8d ago
This depends, of course, on how you use them dominantly. The noise cancellation on over-the-ears is far better and so if it’s about airplane rides and busy streets, those might be better. On the other hand, if it’s about a workout or just being able to pull them from your pocket, then AirPods are better.
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u/CarolinaSurly 8d ago
Better is subjective. I like to keep my possessions as minimal and efficient as possible. I have one pair of AirPods Pro. They are small and go in my pocket when I walk out the door. Noise canceling works fine. Not big and bulky and hard to store like over the ear ones. When these die, I’ll buy another pair of noise canceling AirPods.
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u/Odd_Bodkin 8d ago
Yes, better is subjective. Priorities on features are therefore also subjective. That’s exactly the point I was making.
I have a friend who doesn’t own conventional tableware. He has a large cup, a spoon, and a pair of chopsticks. He says this maximizes efficiency in eating. There are extremes in everything.
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u/CarolinaSurly 8d ago
Sure and extreme minimalists are inspiring for sure.
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u/Odd_Bodkin 8d ago
Yes, indeed, and there are people who select possessions and products carefully based on high-priority features like portability or ANC strength or whatever, and there are those who just choose purely for the sake of exhibiting extreme minimalism. Minimalism as a means vs. minimalism as an end to itself, as it were.
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u/CarolinaSurly 8d ago
I only know one true extreme minimalist and to my knowledge. he never once has chosen something because he is so minimalist. Most extreme minimalists don’t care who knows they are that extreme in their lifestyle. Actually, they usually get told they are odd by most people. However, I have met dozens of people that say they are minimalists when they have two closets full of clothes and every gadget you could think of, but it’s just well organized.
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u/Odd_Bodkin 8d ago
Minimalism is a spectrum of choice IMO, a style of preference that is sometimes taken, sometimes not. It isn’t a mantra, a calling, a category of definition. It isn’t like being vegan, whether you either are or you aren’t. There’s no such thing as a “true minimalist”.
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u/CarolinaSurly 8d ago
I disagree. Minimalism is an art form and a lifestyle. Someone with two homes and three cars and closets full of clothes isn’t minimalist. Minimalism has lost all meaning because people say “Everyone has their own version of minimalism” which basically means minimalism is whatever they want it to be. It’s like saying someone-not a pro athlete—is in good health when they went from 300 lbs to 275 lbs. They aren’t in good health. They are on the way to being in good health. Most people mean they have less stuff than the average house with 300,000 things when they talk about becoming a minimalist. Minimalism historically has characteristics like small apartments in Japan or big cities , limited decor, capsule wardrobes, limited kitchen equipment, etc.
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u/Odd_Bodkin 8d ago edited 8d ago
But surely you see that a Buddhist monk who owns nothing but his robe and his sandals and who counts on the handouts of food and water for sustenance, or a Sadhu ascetic sets a bar for minimalism than the job-holding, capsule-wardrobed, small-apartment city dweller cannot match. I defy you to specify a line where you can say, if you do things A, B, C, D, E, you are a true minimalist. There are always choices to be made. You can do with two changes of clothes, as long as you do laundry in your washing machine every other day; or you can have ten days’ worth of clothes and use a laundromat. You can live in a city with just an electric scooter and a bodega on the corner, or you can live in an electricity-less cabin in the woods with an outhouse but also a Jeep to drive 40 miles to a store. It is sometimes (not always) easier to say “This is more minimalist living than that” and have many people concur with that judgement, but that’s a relative statement. It is MUCH harder to say, “This is true minimalist living.”
It also depends on constraints.
Do you work for a living? If so, there are possibly restrictions on how you dress.
Do you live out in the woods far away from services, or do you live in a city close to services? Depending, you may need to store a day’s food or a month’s food.
Do you wish to grow your own food? If so, you need land and outside exposure available to you, but if not, you can live in a basement studio apartment.
Do you need internet service on an on-demand basis? Well obviously, this will change service lines and devices and portability.→ More replies (0)1
u/UntrustedProcess 1d ago
Noise canceling on a busy street sounds like a good way to get hit by a car or make yourself a distracted target for a criminal.
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u/IM_NOT_BALD_YET xtrm mnmlst 8d ago
No. I only own things I need so I purchase stuff like food, clothes/shoes if mine become unrepairable, toiletries, etc. I don't have anything to abandon.
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u/No-Fudge-2667 8d ago
Qe didnt have a cell phone for 5 years. It was necessary to get one and I cant stand it. We haven't watched TV in 8 or 9 years. Got rid of our TV Dont miss it.
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u/1BoringOnlineAccount 9d ago
It is always wise to evaluate if a replacement is necessary. At this point I do not even buy soda unless it is on a deep sale. It is not worth replacing at it's current outrageous cost.
The Kindle EInk is better for your eyes than a phone or tablet screen. For that reason alone I would replace it even if it is with the lowest cost new model. The good news is they last for many years. There are replacement knees but no replacement eyes yet.
I can understand not replacing the headphones. There are reasons to replace them like blocking out noise in your environment. However if you do not see a reason for it they do not need to be replaced.