Do the Opposite - The Fight Against Planned Obsolescence, Low-Tech Phone, Cryptography for Beginners

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The Fight Against Planned Obsolescence

Recently I've been giving more and more thought to the idea of using things for a longer period of time. Longer not in terms of "longer than they are meant to be used", but longer than most people do and/or more than the mainstream culture wants us to.

There is a concept of "Planned Obsolescence", which means that there are companies that create products that have artificially limited "useful life". [Learn more here and here] In fact, most companies operate this way.
Think back to your pair of Nikes or any other sneakers. Why do they last exactly one season? Do they have to come apart with soles thinning and internal fabric tearing in such a short period of time?

How about your socks? How long do they last? Yep. Not too long.

The situation is worse with technology. Why does your phone need to be replaced every 2-3 years? Yes, of course there is a benefit of getting a nicer, upgraded, shinier phone, but that comes at a price of your current device getting slower with each software update (Apple is notorious for this). Laptops now come with batteries glued in, RAM soldered on, SSDs (flash storage) soldered on, processors soldered on... I know it's a bit of a niche topic, but with laptops the planned obsolescence is the most evident. The thing is, even a couple years ago, this wasn't the case. Hell, in ThinkPads of 6-7 years ago you could replace the processor if you wanted to. Why is this done? You guessed it. Planned obsolescence.

Why would a company be interested in you buying a laptop with the middle tier specs and then in 3-4 years upgrading every part in it and basically not having to buy another one so soon? So they make you get what they offer. Take a look at Apple, Dell, Lenovo pricing differences between let's say 8Gb RAM and 16Gb RAM, or 128Gb SSD and 512Gb SSD. Compare that to the price differences between these on Amazon or any other place where you can buy parts. It's about 3-4 times of a difference. That markup is where they make the big bucks.

"Oh, Alex, why are you ranting about this? Yeah, we get it, it sucks, but what can you do? What's the point in complaining about it?", I hear you say. You are correct. Let's discuss what we can do.

First, let's also briefly mention that by producing all of these gadgets we don't really need (with introduction of planned obsolescence) - we are also negatively affecting ecology and generating tons and tons of garbage, as well as overspend on things we wouldn't really have needed to purchase as yet.

Imagine a world where you could buy Nikes that would serve you for 5-6 years? Seems like such a small thing to ask, but yet, here we are: the previous sentence sounds ridiculous, because we are so used to shoes coming apart.

Now for the solutions:

1) What we can do is we can support companies that (don't make me say it:) do the opposite. The 10 year hoodie. If you see that a company makes something that lasts, that is durable and, usually, simple, support that company over the one that tries to get you into its cycle of yearly product updates, always "having to" (for some reason) buy a replacement.

2) Learn to repair your tech/things when possible. Last year I've learnt how to change a screen in a notebook (used ThinkPad I got for $300), change SSD, battery, trackpad etc. Previously I had no idea how to do this, but quick searches on YouTube and sites like iFixIt helped a lot.

3) Prepare to sometimes pay more for a quality item (do research online). This works out great because you end up having less things of higher quality rather than too many cheaply-made poor-quality items. This habit can also help you move toward a more minimalist lifestyle.

4) Resist the urge to buy that new phone just because it's new, when you are not even sure why you want it (I think it's perfectly fine to buy a new phone if there are specific, concrete reasons for it though). Don't buy into elaborate marketing schemes - try to see them for what they are: they sell you the dream and you pay for it time and time again, and let's be honest, it's always less rosy than they paint it out to be.

5) Learn to be OK with getting used items. It's way cheaper, already tested (if it lived that long, it's not a lemon) and will pay for itself many times over. Until this year, I was somewhat of a snob regarding used items (I regret that). I thought that if I wanted something I wanted an experience of unboxing and unwrapping a new, never-before-used thing. Now that doesn't matter to me, especially when it comes to things like electronics and various equipment (for example for sports). If you are like me, consider looking up some used, refurbished items online, and hold your judgement regarding them being used. Compare prices and the configurations/quality of items that you will get. There are absolutely unreal prices you can sometimes get if you let go of the need to get a "new shiny thing".

6) Reconsider the belief that you need that item. Sometimes we think we need things, whereas when we get them all they do is they make us less happy. This is the reason why I avoid buying a gaming console, or playing online games. I know that it will be fun, but it will be shallow fun that I won't remember looking back on my life. You become more self-aware and more in control of your own life, and more free as you do this.

7) Plan to use things for longer. With switching to more durable and long-lasting items, you will also have to make the mental switch regarding what you think the life of an item is. With our shoes example. as you get shoes that are more durable, you can upgrade the mental "guesstimate" of their useful life to 2 years instead of 1, for example.

I personally have chosen not to buy a new Kindle but to use this one for as long as it lives and it OK to use. So far I think it's 7 years old, but I hope it makes it to 10. Same with a laptop I got this year. I got a ThinkPad T480s (Let me know if you are interested in learning more about ThinkPads and Linux in reply to this newsletter and I will be happy to help out. Also, same goes if you are looking for a laptop to run Linux on). Previosuly I thought it was great if a laptop lasted 4 years. With this one, I am thinking about 8 years, or more if I am lucky, depending on my processing needs.

Think about the things you own that you had to replace recently, or sooner than you thought made sense. Do your research on how to get more durable things, and update your own estimates on how long you think things should last. You will help yourself, your budget, the companies that fight the planned obsolescence and the Earth along the way.

Articles:
1) "The Future is Ear: Why 'Hearables' Are Finally Tech’s Next Big Thing" by Peter Burrows
Despite the horrible pun, the article is very interesting. We always think about wearables as something that augments our vision or widens the number of physical metrics we are able to measure. However, there is a lot to say about the "hearing" enhancements and augmentation. There was a start-up (the article talks about) called Doppler which was developing a "hearable" device that could remove background noise, increase the volume of voice of a particular person in a crowded room, and even translate foreign languages on the fly. Unfortunately the startup didn't survive, but the engineers from it were quickly captured by giants like Amazon, Google, etc. and it seems like they are continuing the development of such products there.

Another benefit of a "hearable" over, say, Google Glass or Siri is that they don't look as bad or weird on a person, they don't draw too much attention. Imagine talking to Siri while walking on the street. Awkward, right? However, a "hearable" device would not trigger any embarrassment for a person wearing it as well as not look off to someone else, so people would have an easier time actually using such devices.

2) "Can Bullet Journaling Save You?" by Anna Russell
If you've read about the Bullet Journal system in a recent Do the Opposite newsletter, or have heard about it before and thinking about trying it out, this article may become the "little push" you need to make the jump. Tired of trying to remember where you wrote that phone number you needed? a book to read? A couple of ideas for articles/videos? Was it in some app or in one of the notebooks?

I've been there, and recently I've been funnelling all of my notes and information into the Bullet Journal that I have (A physical notebook). It's been wonderful, though I am still working on being consistent with it.

Read this article to get inspired to try the BuJo system out, and also learn more about its creator (Ryder Carroll) and how the system was born.

3) "A Beginner’s Guide to Cryptography & Some Useful Resources" by Dave Albaugh
In the beginning of this year I've read a book on cryptography called "The Code Book", by Simon Singh and I've been fascinated with cryptography ever since. If it wasn't for cryptography, we wouldn't be able to talk securely on our messaging apps, send messages on social networks without anyone having an ability to read them, and especially couldn't do online banking of any sort. Cryptography and encryption is a very important topic to learn (teach yourself) because of its importance in our modern world. Initially I wanted to share this resource in the "Tech Corner" rubric, but I think this can benefit anyone who is interested in it. If you enjoy it, then definitely get "The Code Book" (and just to clear any confusion, the book is not about coding, its about ciphers and encryption), especially if you enjoy "Malcolm Gladwell" type of books. :)

4) "The High Hopes of the Low-Tech Phone" by Michael Zelenko
If you've been reading this newsletter for some time, you know that I am a huge proponent of minimalism and self-imposed constraints and limitations. This low-tech phone has been on my radar for quite a while now, and it seems it's gaining momentum, which is great to see. I often consider downgrading my phone further (I know have iPhone SE) but I always stop because I care about the ability to snap a photo of something cool I see, and I need Maps on my phone. This type of tech is really nice to see - they are definitely doing the opposite :)

You can also see this trend with people buying used ThinkPads for very cheap for their upgrade-ability and unassuming design (they are just black). I think, with time, we will see more of these low tech devices come out and people will use them more.

Videos:

1) "Joker" [2019] - Trailer
A movie you can't miss. I know I won't :) It has already won the Venice International Film Festival prize. It's just that good. Check out this trailer (if you haven't already) and see for yourself. (+ The previews have placed the rating of the movie at 9.6 on IMDb)

2) "The Two Day Rule" by Matt D'Avella
Matt has made a great video. Watch it to learn some of the logic behind his decisions and to get motivated, but the main idea is: if you want to develop a consistent habit, adopt a "two day" rule, which states that you won't skip the habit 2 days in a row. Skipping one day is OK, even if it's multiple times per week, but never skip 2 days. This is very similar for what the #100DaysOfCode challenge rules recommend.

Tweet that resonated with me

Ethos:

Quotes:

"The best way to prepare for life is to begin to live."
― Elbert Hubbard

"The secret to being wrong isn't to avoid being wrong! The secret is being willing to be wrong. The secret is realizing that wrong isn't fatal."
― Seth Godin, "Linchpin: Are You Indispensable?"

"I became insane, with long intervals of horrible sanity."
― Edgar Allan Poe
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Keep doing the opposite,
Alexander Kallaway
Website: dotheoppo.site
Twitter: twitter.com/ka11away