Built-In Maintenance

Most things we get can last a lot longer with care. You can think of the 1950’s era cars in Cuba that continue to run or aircraft that are even older that still fly and are expected to continue to fly for up to 100 years.

While it’s understandable that computers and most consumer electronics are going to see components become redundant very quickly, I wonder about other mechanical devices.

Could a keyboard be designed so well that you’d want it to last a century? Similar with a trackpad? Could someone say “this is the keyboard Hemingway used to write…”?

The electronic components take a back seat in some of these devices.

Maybe there’s a chance for a renaissance in service plans? A tune up every 2 years and a refurbishment every 5. Maybe we need to think about building things that we’ll want to keep rather than just use?