This week, I write from the relative discomfort of my basement. It’s a bit cold down here this time of year, but this is where I have had a desktop computer set up for long time. It’s always on and ready to be used, but I would prefer the warmth of the upstairs.
I normally write, from the comfort of my living room, using a laptop I bought not too long ago. Unfortunately, however, that laptop has suffered from some difficulty ever since I got it. It restarts randomly and I always risk losing my work by using it. In fact, it has shut down several times while I was writing. I’m sure some of you are familiar with the feeling you get when that happens. So, it’s always been a choice between comfort and convenience or murderous rage.

Anyway, I have fought the urge to destroy the machine. In fact, I sent it away for warrantee repair. They sent it back with the operating system reinstalled and the problem still occurring, so I’ve sent it back again.
I’m sure the idea is that I should give up on it and just get one that works. That would undoubtedly satisfy the manufacturer. But I am not fond of getting ripped off.
I think we are becoming used to things not working properly for very long. People buy expensive mobile phones and use them for a year. Then the battery dies or some part breaks and they just replace the whole unit without a second thought. It’s all very disposable.
But I don’t think it’s just true of fancy electronic do-dads. I think it’s true of pretty much everything.

I once helped someone put a set of cabinets in his kitchen that he got from a big store that sells lots of flat-pack furniture (I’m sure you can guess which one). These had to be assembled in the kitchen (using the standard Allen wrench) and then mounted on a strip that was screwed to the wall. Altogether, it’s a fairly decent way to make a kitchen. The mounting strip is put up level and ensures that the cabinets are straight. However, the way they were assembled was not exactly to my satisfaction. They were made from particle board and the bottom was screwed to the sides by fairly large screws. Untouched, it would last forever, but if a can of tomatoes happened to slip out of your hand and hit the shelf squarely, it would break without any difficulty. The fact is, it doesn’t matter how much weight it can hold, it would not be able to withstand any impact.
You have to wonder how long things are even intended to last. I met a guy once who was making cabinets for a building I was working on. He actually told me that it was better to make the cabinets shoddy, so they can be replaced sooner.
In the case of the flat-pack cabinets, they’re designed to easily fit into the boxes they’re shipped in. They’re built from the most economical of materials. People would say that’s to keep the price low. But it’s more to maximize profit. And when they break, does anyone ever complain to the manufacturer? But furniture is not supposed to be treated with kid gloves. It’s supposed to be able to withstand its actual use.

I saw online a table that was designed by the Bauhaus movement around 80 years ago or so. It was part of a trend to make things out of plywood and bent pipes. But this table had the plywood top secured to the pipes by screws going through the pipes and into the edge of the plywood. What I saw online was a reproduction of the original piece, of course since undoubtedly every one manufactured fell apart when someone sat on it.
Yes, I know it’s a table. But if something looks like it can be used as a chair, it’s going to be used as a chair.
For those who don’t know, the Bauhaus movement was a consolidated attitude toward design of functional objects as well as the spaces they occupy and they prided themselves on being very practical and efficient. That is, they designed stuff to be manufactured quickly and easily and that also fulfilled its function very well.
But apparently they didn’t get the idea that maybe one thing would be used as something it’s not. That would be the failing of stubborn practicality.
Perhaps it’s not the fault of the design as much as it’s the fault of the person who controls the money. What I find lacking in most of the furniture I see is the material choice. I bought an inexpensive computer desk about 15 years ago that served its function well but the wood-grain pattern on the surface of the desktop more or less erased itself through the normal use of the desk. It wasn’t plastic laminate, it was some kind of paper that didn’t even have any protective coating. I would say that if I wanted a better desk, I should pay more but my experience is that paying more doesn’t always result in a better product.

I realize none of this directly relates to woodworking and that it’s been a bit of a rant. But it’s one of the things that keeps me building the stuff I want, even if it would be cheaper to go buy it ready-made. There is satisfaction in making something yourself, but there is greater satisfaction making something you know does not suffer any of the cheap-outs of standard manufactured products.
Unfortunately, I can’t make a laptop computer.