Upgrade. Buy something new. There’s a better one. There’s a newer one. There’s something slightly better out there that you could own.
Stop using Last Year’s Model. Line up for the new model!
Read the Self Repair Manifesto and get one of your own.
The Manifesto
Stop throwing away something perfectly good with a small problem. Stop giving up on something that can be easily repaired. Stop buying something completely new because of a small issue.
Reading Stephen Hackett’s turning screws resonated with me. He writes,
But there’s something about having a screwdriver in hand that I just can’t get over.
I don’t think I ever will.
Repair work is stressful. There’s no doubt. Every time I unscrew a case and crack it open there is a mystery waiting inside.
The stories accompanying the mysteries are usually as good as the mysteries itself. Mysteries like I found in Bartending: Memoirs of an Apple Genius which chronicled Mr. Hackett’s experiences working as a pre-iPhone Apple Genius. My favorite story ended with,
I guess the moral of his story is that you should always check whether you’re peeing in a bathroom or on an open MacBook.
Whether it be a laptop, desktop, gaming console or mp3 player there is mystery hidden beneath its plastic and metal shell.
I have no idea what I am going to find when I get inside of it. Whether I am repairing something at work for a customer, or repairing a device I own the mystery is always there.
I enjoy repairing things. I enjoy getting inside something and figuring out why it doesn’t work. I like to repair technology and nurse it back to health. I like to take old discarded things and make them new and useful again.
I enjoy the mystery and the accompanying stories.