Techno Life Skills -- anything you buy, you must maintain

[zridling]

Nice post over at Technium that tells us what we know about growing up in a high-tech age, but this ain't your Grandpa's century either.
http://www.kk.org/th.../techno_life_ski.php

• Anything you buy, you must maintain. Each tool you use requires time to learn how to use, to install, to upgrade, or to fix. A purchase is just the beginning.
• You will be newbie forever. Get good at the beginner mode.
• Quality is not always related to price.
• Every new technology will bite back. The more powerful its gifts, the more powerfully it can be abused.
• Be suspicious of any technology that requires walls to prevent access. If you can fix it, modify it or hack it yourself, that is a good sign.
• The older the technology, the more likely it will continue to be useful.

and so on.

[ewemoa]

I try to apply some similar reasoning to data storage -- the less I store the better

[Deozaan]

No. This is what is taught while growing up in a high-tech age.

• Anything you buy, you must upgrade as soon as a new version comes out or the old one breaks.
• If you can't figure it out immediately, the design sucks. Get good products instead of that crap.
• Higher price means better quality. Duh!
• Every new technology is awesome incarnate. Pay no heed to the man behind the curtain.
• Padded walls are for your own safety. Don't try to fix it, modify it, or hack it yourself. It could be dangerous and besides it voids your warranty.
• The older a technology, the more likely it will make you look like an older person trying to be cool with the younger generation. You don't want that, do you?

and so on.

[40hz]

Good article. Brings back memories of the essays you used to see in the Whole Earth family of catalogs and publications. Much of that 'can do' mindset has a lot in common with WE's notion of "digital homesteading."

One thing that gives me high hope is the recent resurgence of interest in DIY that Make magazine and Instructables report on.

Anybody else who grew up reading Tom Swift adventures, and spent hours poring over every issue of Popular Electronics. Popular Mechanics, and Radio Electronics - along with the The Amateur Scientist column in Scientific American - will understand why I feel the way I do about this.

[zridling]

And as expensive as tools and gadgets are today, if you can't upgrade them or repair them yourself, you're going to be spending a fortune. I look at the tools in my garage, and the ones I take the most pride in are the ones that have lasted the longest. My next computer is going to be the same way. (Current one is five years old and still does everything I need -- that's a record for me.)