Sponsor's Message

Chances are the count is higher than it would have been a decade or two ago -- and that's because we're now living in a world where it's much cheaper to make something than it is to fix it.

Once upon a time there were legions of technicians and servicemen who'd drive around the countryside in their little white vans, calling on houses and repairing their TV sets, stereos and other appliances - but there are few left today.

Even once-expensive items like cellphones are becoming "throw-away" devices, with the prospect of truly disposable units just around the corner.

Now have your say Got something to say about today's column, or want to see what others think?  Visit The Forums While you're here, why not visit the Aardvark Hall of Shame and perhaps make your own nomination. 7

Anyone with a computer that is more than a few years old would probably never consider repairing it if it had a major fault -- it's now much cheaper to simply upgrade to the latest and greatest. That's because a newer computer will offer more power, better performance and a host of other benefits at a price that is probably no more than the repair fees for that old clunker.

And it's not just electronics that's been affected in this way. Way back in the 1970s, the camera industry was rocked by the introduction of the single-use film camera.

Purists claimed that such devices were a scourge on the market -- using cheap plastic lenses, low quality film and producing sub-standard results. The market however, embraced them and today you'll find them on sale in airports, supermarkets and department stores all over the world.

Then came the digital still-camera, followed a decade or so later by the one-use digital still camera.

Yes, now there was a "disposable (well recyclable actually) digital camera that could be bought for little more than the cost of the print-processing.

Now, according to wire reports, we've gone a step further and a US company has released a one-use video camera.

For just US$29.95, you can buy the camera and, for an additional US$12.95, its contents will be dumped onto a DVD for you.

Of course at this price you're not going to get mini-DV quality. This unit is a solid-state device that records to internal memory, providing some 20 minutes of recording (at some unstated resolution) -- but hey, for a little over NZ$40 who can complain?

The release of this device will, no doubt, spur into action an army of hackers who'll poke, prod, analyse and reshape the internal workings so as to significantly extend the functionality and value of it.

These hackers are to be highly commended and their actions ought to be embraced by the greenies and conservationists amongst us. After all, they're taking a "throw-away" device and making it valuable enough that it will be kept and used for much longer by those who buy it.

I wonder if hardware hackers could be the cyber-greenies of the 21st century in fact?

I also wonder how long before we see these things turning up as the next "hot" item on TradeMe?

But what do you think of this shift towards one-use "throw away" technology?

Would we be better off to produce more modular devices so that only the bits needing repair or upgrade need be replaced?

Or is it simply that better recycling facilities need to be put in place to cope with the mountain of plastic, copper, gold, silicon and other materials that are currently wasted when people throw last-year's hot-item in the trash?

Aardvark Forums
The forums are back up at: www.aardvarkforums.co.nz/forums, have your say on today's column

If you feel that this is a good thing and/or you hold a "geniune affection" for yours truly -- then you are welcome to gift me some money using the buttons provided. In gifting this money you accept that no goods, service or other consideration is offered, provided, accepted or anticipated in return. Just click on the button to gift whatever you can afford. NOTE: PayPal bills in US dollars so don't accidentally gift more than what you were intending :-)

Contacting Aardvark
I'm always happy to hear from readers, whether they're delivering brickbats, bouquets or news tip-offs. If you'd like to contact me directly, please this form. If you're happy for me to republish your comments then please be sure and select For Publication.

Other media organisations seeking more information or republication rights are also invited to contact me.

Just add a couple of lines of JavaScript to your pages and you can get a free summary of Aardvark's daily commentary -- automatically updated each and every week-day.

Aardvark also makes a summary of this daily column available via XML using the RSS format. More details can be found here.

Contact me if you decide to use either of these feeds and have any problems.

Linking Policy
Want to link to this site? Check out Aardvark's Linking Policy.

Did you tell someone else about Aardvark today? If not then do it now!