Disposable

So, my alarm clock is on the fritz, and has been for the past few (several?) months. It has started doing this thing where, when you switch the alarm on, it frequently will reset the time and the alarm to 12 midnight. At first it was an occasional blip, but now it's a daily occurrence, and I'm getting pretty annoyed.

At the same time, I'm loathe to throw it out, because when I'm not setting the alarm, it's a perfectly functional clock, and resetting the alarm and clock after it's gone haywire it easy, if irritating. I feel like I don't want to get rid of it until it's truly not working at all ... and then I realize that it a good 15-20 years old, which is a dem fine lifetime for a modern piece of digital equipment.

Which all got me to thinking about how much - and how quickly - we throw things away in this age, especially electronics. It seems like most things are designed with a lifetime of about 2-3 years, and then you're expected to purchase a new one, either because it's not working or the technology is obsolete and there's much better stuff out there. Phone, cameras, organizers, computers, home entertainment equipment: all the things we tend to chuck well before they've actually reached the end of their usable lifecycle. Where does it all go? Here and here.

Articles like that make me even more wary of throwing away my electronic trash. Beyond just an anti-waste philosophy, I feel like there are only a very limited number of ways to avoid actively contributing to the environmental degradation of other countries and the growing global environmental justice disaster that doesn't need my help to continue its forward progress. I may have recommended this before, but everyone should read Jared Diamond's Collapse; he provides some amazing examples of the society-ending crisis we are about to bring on ourselves, looking at both history and current events.

I tend to be a long keeper of electronics, from my clock to my old and tiny 13" TV to my 6-year-old computer that many people would consider too outdated for any kind of usefulness. It does work, though; it's slow, but fully functional, and still plays The Sims 2 whenever my heart desires. Since I got my laptop, it's primary purpose is gaming and old file storage, both of which I suspect it can continue to do for some time. But that temptation to upgrade is always there; how much better would The Sims be if I had more disk space, faster memory, a better processor and video card? What else could I install if I really bought or made a full-fledged gaming computer? (Not that I even have time to be gaming!)

My real temptation is with my phone/PDA. Someone showed me this phone when I was skiing last month; it's the latest upgrade to my phone that I already love so much, and my desire to have it was instant and intense. Mind you, my current phone works fine (especially now that I got myself some memory management software), and I already agonized so much when I purchased it last year because it meant getting rid of my Motorola RAZR and my Sony Clie, both of which were still fully or highly functional (and neither of which I've yet figured out yet how to recycle/throw away). I wouldn't buy this because of the price point alone ... but if someone offered me this (or even an iPhone) for free or for, like, $100 bucks, I'd be hard pressed not to take or purchase it despite the fact that I don't need it. And then I'd have yet another thing to throw away.

Anyway, all this started out about my alarm clock, and I still don't know what I'll do with it. I actually want to get one of those ones where it wakes you up with a mini-sunrise, so this might be my opportunity for a justified upgrade with important health and happiness benefits (I do not deal well with waking up). Since those are a little expensive, I still have time to plan my purchase while my current clock continues its descent into a complete breakdown. I won't be sad; it's had a good life.