Reply #46: Most "small things" these days, cannot be "fixed"

[SoCalDem]

Things are no longer mechanical. Electronic things, "digital" things, etc are so specialized that the people with the knowledge to fix them are not likely to sell their services cheaply enough to make repairing them worthwhile. When we first married, back in 1970, we routinely had our TV fixed, even had a coffeemaker & toaster repaired. Toys were always repaired; so were clocks, cameras & watches. Shoes were re-soled & heeled, clothing was taken-in or let-out and mended, furniture was slipcovered or re-upholstered (cheaply). Recently I checked into having a dear old sofa re-upholstered..the CHEAPEST place I found, wanted $700..(more than I paid for it).

I paid $400 for a Kodak digital camera, that went on the blink. To repair it was a flat charge of $200 PLUS (depending on what was actually wrong with it). In the intervening years, newer versions of the camera had come along, and were LESS than the cost of repairing it. Kodak "gave" me a $100 "credit" toward the "new camera"..which I loathed (too small for me to see the "controls") and gave to my son. I replaced the original one for $75 on ebay.

Things are no longer meant to last.

We still re-sole & re-heel my husband's shoes & boots..he wears a 10A, and we pay through the nose for those special order shoes:)