Unpopular opinion but I don't think every product has to grow infinitely and be expected to somehow do everything that every other product does.

Like it's okay for a watch to just be a watch.

@annaecook This is one of the worst aspects of our modern throw away consumer culture.
Make it right the first time and make it well enough that it lasts. Helps to save the planet but does nothing for ACME Corp's bottom line so we get garbage and are told it just keeps getting better. Bah!

@annaecook@mstdn.sociali
I concur! ✨🙌

This is why I miss my iPod. 🥲🎧

& why I think the Nintendo Switch is so successful. 🎮💸

+ I have to actively put effort into remembering my iPhone 📱 can do more than browse the web & send messages. 😵‍💫

@annaecook I was reminded of this great idea @pluralistic mentioned a while ago...
https://pluralistic.net/2023/05/03/paranoid-style/#more-5243
"While I'm extremely excited about the idea of public goods, I'm terrified about the rise of a rentier economy.

What's the difference? Well, say that small household tools were public goods. Today my neighbors and I all own genuinely terrible, cheaply made drills that sit in drawers all year except for the 1-2 times that someone needs to make a hole in the wall."
1/2

@annaecook
" But what if our library system bought the highest-quality imaginable drills, designed to be repairable, and to gracefully decompose back into the material stream when they were finally used up? What if these drills were location-aware, and gathered usage telemetry to allow for continuous improvement? I'd love that world. There's even a name for it: "library socialism,""
2/2

@BrentInMasto @annaecook some libraries already do a version of this (minus the location aware/smart features which I am not as enamored about)

For example the city of Berkeley CA has a long standing tool lending library for residents (age 18+)

https://www.berkeleypubliclibrary.org/locations/tool-lending-library

It’s a fantastic resource especially in a city with lots of smaller and older housing stock.

@annaecook speaking of watches, I adore that additional features on watches aren't called features. They're called complications.

@annaecook there's little value in standing still, but incremental improvement is not standing still. Change for change's sake do not a good product make.

@annaecook
I love my simple yet elegant Fossil watch. With an iPhone in my pocket, I will still check for time on my watch.

@annaecook I blame the swis army for this...

@annaecook Lol, I just realized that this last part about continuous improvement directly goes against the OP 😂
Somehow still seems to be in line with the initial thought, just taken into the world of public goods rather than private possessions

@BrentInMasto @annaecook it could be continually improved through tinkering rather than replacement

@annaecook @antoniokhaz I agree.

Me in 2010: "My new Android smartphone can replace my phone, iPod, watch, flashlight, camera, day planner, tuner, and even metronome!"

Me in 2023: (Whacks metal tuning fork on knee while winding up clockwork metronome.)

#smartphones #technology

@Rycaut @BrentInMasto @annaecook the library in our neighborhood where we lived in Toronto also had a 3D printer and sewing machines. Which is Uber cool. They could not be checked out, but you could book them to use on site.

@Laurie Free public maker space, nice!
@Rycaut @annaecook

@BrentInMasto @annaecook @Rycaut exactly. I was rather impressed.

@Laurie @BrentInMasto @annaecook a number of libraries and communities around Silicon Valley have maker spaces as part of the library. The range of things the library lends out has increased. Around here I’ve seen:

Laptops/tablets
Puzzles and games
Activity kits
State park passes (also national parks I think)
Museum passes
Seeds (not loans just a library collection of seed people can take and I think a process to collect them)

And I’ve heard of libraries lending clothes for job interviews