📘 Part 3: Repairing things

This episode's vocabulary

To darn (verb) - to repair a hole or a piece of clothing with long stitches across the hole and other stitches across them.

Specialization (noun) - a particular area of knowledge or the process of becoming an expert in a particular area.

Inoperable (adj.) - if a system, plan, machine, etc. is inoperable, it cannot be done or made to work.

Durable (adj.) - able to last and be used for a long time without becoming damaged.

Faulty (adj.) - a faulty machine or device is not perfectly made or does not work correctly.

Customize (verb) - to make or change something according to the buyer's or user's needs.

Redundancy (noun) - a situation in which something is unnecessary because it is more than is needed.

Deliberately (adverb) - intentionally.

Horrendous (adj.) - extremely unpleasant or bad.

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Questions and Answers

M: Let's talk about repairing things. What kinds of things do people like to repair by themselves?

R: Well, there seems to be a trend of people replacing their phone screens and other components these days. And I think back in the day, people would be more likely to darn their clothes. Though, perhaps with the rise of fast fashion, maybe this is going, well, out of fashion, so to speak. I say this, I'm not sure people actually enjoy fixing them up. But this seems to be increasingly necessary in some cases.

M: And why do people prefer asking other people to repair things for them?

R: Well, because it's easier than learning to do it yourself, I suppose. So there's this element of convenience. And if you have the money, why not do that? Maybe you could do something better with your time.

M: But do you think more people repair things themselves or they have the things repaired for them?

R: That's a good question. I have absolutely no idea how you would measure that. If I were to guess, I think probably people get things repaired for them more than they do it themselves, just because there seems to be an increasing amount of specialization in society.

M: Why do people like to get their mobile phones repaired in specialized stores?

R: Well, it relates back to what I've said before, it's probably faster than doing it themselves. Plus, you know, nothing is likely to go wrong. Whereas if you try and fix your phone yourself, then you could easily make a mess of it and render the whole thing completely inoperable. And that's actually just made the small problem much worse.

M: Is the quality of products worse than before?

R: Well, if my experience with the Smart Meter has anything to go by then yes. However, if I take a more balanced view of it, then they might actually be improving since phones, at least on the surface of it seem to be less fragile and more durable. And there are more components to replace the faulty ones. And there's greater variety in choice in terms of the various things that you can do to customize them. So maybe it's getting better on the whole.

M: Do you think that some companies produce things which break down or wear out faster on purpose?

R: They definitely do. I can't remember what it's called. I think it's like planned redundancy or something, where companies deliberately design products that break so customers are forced to get new ones. And you can see that best in something we've already discussed, which is light bulbs. Light bulbs, could all be designed to last longer than they currently do. But they're not because if they were designed better then the companies wouldn't be able to turn a profit. So I can definitely see this working indicates of some products.

M: But do you think this is a good trend or a bad trend?

R: I don't know if it's a trend. I know it's true for some products. If it's a trend, then it's horrendous because it's just really wasteful. Is there a way around it though? I'm not really sure.

M: Let's talk about jobs in IT. Are IT related jobs valued more by society?

R: Well, probably more so now, than they ever have been. I mean, just about everything has a microchip or some sort of electronic component that needs to be programmed. So these jobs are vital to, well, keep entire countries running, to be honest.

M: And what about the future? Do you think such jobs will be even more valued in the future?

R: Oh, definitely. I mean, everything is becoming computerized these days. You pick up a piece of fruit, and it's got a camera on it. So yeah, you probably will need these people more often. And so the jobs will be much more highly valued.

M: Thank you, Rory, for your answers!

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