when bad things happen to good ipods

Imagine my dismay ------ when I
pulled from the drawer ------- my (older, 20GB)iPod ------turned it on ----
and nothing ----- happened.

No friendly Apple icon.
No soft whirring purr.
Nada.
No booting up and readying to offer up my fave tunes.
Instead, there was a blank screen.

I pushed at various areas of the controls.
Nothing.
I plugged it in for a re-charge.
No indication of a successful electrical connection.
Or of any connection.

I stared at the blank screen for awhile.
Then set it aside to deal with on another day. Or another week.

There are days when I simply cannot handle trouble-shooting (yet another) technic which goes into operation failure: my newish iHome task lamp appears to be kaput, Panasonic stereo shelf system has a funky skippy CD player, older boom box has developed CD play issues as well.
Arrrrrrrgh.

It baffles, troubles and frustrates me to pay 'good money' on electronic gizmos that soon malfunction, even with gentle use.
Like most folks, I'm willing to make an investment and feel assured that my handy dandy new communication-entertainment devices will be utilized for a good long time.

Apparently my expectations are too high.
I find that the fancy new gizmos soon stop working and/or break and/or OMG - all too soon - become OUTDATED.
Rarely is a break an easy fix; and replacing the not-so-old with the so-much-newer can empty the coffers pretty darn quick.

So I stubbornly hold on to the semi-working, busted or outmoded devices until until until...well, too long.

Why aren't they sturdier? Why aren't they better designed? Why don't they LAST?

Then it dawned on me: the techno delights we use for work and play...are...in this day and age....largely....disposables.
As in Use and Discard.
When it's time for a new one, you're SUPPOSED to dump the old. Then run out with another wad o' cash in hand and immediately replace the dang thing.
In a high-consumer society, to do so is to maintain the status quo.
We do our part in keep the land-fills filled, eh?

I am admittedly 'old school' in my thinking that high priced purchase items like televisions, stereo systems, appliances and the like should be purchased and happily used without incident for at least a decade, if not two. I mean, didn't it used to be that way?
[Read: the good ol' days...]

But today?
UH-UH. NOT NOW. NO LONGER.

'They don't make 'em like they used to' is an understatement.
You can't just replace a burnt out tube or do a bit of DIY soldering of loose wire connections.

Consider my old 6-transistor radio (circa 1960's). As a pre-teen, I had one that lasted many years longer than most of today's Mp3 devices. My cheapy old hand held portable radio took a lot of abuse in usage, and all it ever needed to keep going was a new 9-volt battery now and then...

Because manufacturers want 'in' on sales when the market is hot for a product, electronic doodads are often sold before operational kinks are sorted out.
Quality control? Pssssseeeesh!

We end up buying stuff that isn't up to snuff (perhaps the standards have actually lowered?). Flimsy inner workings and chintzy outer housing seem part and parcel of construction. Consumer reviews reveal this sad truth.
Don't blame it solely on China. Pride in crafting sound products does exist there. Or did. Factor in: greed and bottom line profit margin of both parent company as well as of the manufacturers.
Hello capitalism - alive and well.

Cost to build is low, but prices to consumers remains high.
Isn't it true that we've all got the disposable income? A couple hundred or a few thousand or a few thousand more to toss in the garbage now and again.

Advertising (and peer pressure?) entices us to buy more stuff. We get on that happy consumer high, and our newest acquisitions operate satisfactorily and keep us smiling for a little while before it becomes necessary to buy again. The same thing: albeit new, improved, and in cooler colors. Perhaps with a few more bells and whistles. For a few more buck$.

What's wrong with this picture?
(Oh I almost forgot. It's blank.)

P.S. After doing a bit of online research of 'blank screen on iPod' - aforementioned iPod is currently back in operation. That is to say....at this writing, the battery.... is.... charging. However, that does not necessarily mean that it will play even after fully-charged...the screen may very well go blank again... ah well....one tiny step at a time. No big whoop, nevertheless I'm thrilled. Best to keep my expectations low...