We live in a society in which it is almost always easier and cheaper to replace something than to get it fixed and in which we throw away our perfectly functioning devices with slightly newer devices because they happen to be just a little bit faster and have a bit more shine to them. (I am guilty of this, having bought an iPhone 4 even though my iPhone 3G was still more than adequate!) One of the big problems is that with so much manufacturing being outsourced to China, the devices on which we rely are far cheaper than if they were domestically produced by workers being paid a fair wage. If your $5 calculator breaks it would probably cost $20 to get it repaired anywhere, if you are lucky. Since you could get four calculators for that much money, it makes more sense financially to just throw your calculator in the bin and to get another.

Continue reading → The Brilliance of Repair Cafes