Our possessions age, not unlike our body's tissue.
1) Aluminum "pits" and gets those white spots, "almond" colored molded plastics turn yellow (especially when exposed to heat), and gaskets grow brittle. 2) Likewise, our hairlines thin. Our waistlines may do quite the opposite. Knees click more often. Wrinkles form on the face, if every you show expression.
Difference is, we can discard the first group. Most of us don't hesitate to send our laptops, coffee makers, and other appliances to the trash heap once they're broken. Our physical bodies can be maintained for decades upon decades.
With the things we buy, our society has clearly sent the message to manufacturers that we prefer not to repair or maintain the tools we use each day. Our preference is to use, abuse, and ultimately replace these objects. It's amazing.
I can hardly criticize these tendencies we all share, whether or not admittedly. Instead, it's important that as designer/engineer/inventor/social-critic that we acknowledge what the present cycle of the consumer-based society has in store for us. Is there in fact a business opportunity in design that lasts?
I think of my IKEA coffee table. It's made of two attached sheets of bent plywood, with painted metal legs. As simple as that. It's the same table as in this image (NOT my house):
I bought it in a jam, when an abrupt break-up left me having to use my former coffee table as a TV stand. It's unbelievable to me that an impulse buy like that has actually proven to be such a terrifically functional design. And it looks good too.
But how long will I feel that way? Will I come to regard my IKEA "Lagfors" coffee table as old and worthless someday? It's hard to tell...
