We spend thousands on phones, laptops, TVs and other gadgets.
Yet somehow, after three or four years, many of them already feel old.
Sometimes the battery is dying. Sometimes software updates stop. Sometimes an app no longer works. And sometimes a perfectly good device becomes difficult to repair because one small component has failed.
So here's a question.
Would you pay more for a gadget designed to last 10 years?
Imagine a phone with an easily replaceable battery, affordable spare parts and software updates guaranteed for a decade.
Or a laptop where storage, memory and other components could easily be upgraded instead of replacing the entire machine.
It might cost more initially.
But perhaps RM5,000 for something that lasts 10 years makes more sense than RM3,000 for something we replace every three or four.
Of course, there's another problem.
Would manufacturers actually want us to keep our gadgets that long?
Technology companies make money when we upgrade.
Maybe the future of better technology isn't always about making devices faster.
Maybe it's about making them last.
And perhaps we should start asking:
Why are expensive gadgets so easy to replace, but sometimes so difficult to keep?
