How do people who know how to repair gadgets and laser cut foam deal with things that lie outside their areas of expertise? Car trouble, plumbing problems, heating broken? No-one is able to do all of these, because each requires a certain amount of time and financial investment to get to the point of being able to fix most problems.
When you can’t fix it yourself you find someone who can. This may involve paying them to fix it. Fixing it may mean just buying a new one.
chisel@piefed.social 1 day ago
How do nornal people survive? I have the answers!
Power bank stopped charging? Throw it out and buy a newer better one for $15.
Face seal aging? Buy a new one for $25.
Garage door opener not pairing to your fob? Play around with it a little and if that doesn’t work, contact support and make it their problem.
I’d argue it’s faster, cheaper, and easier to solve all of those issues the “normie” way. Maybe with the exception of the garage door. The equipment to do this costs, in some cases, a lot of money and even enthusiasts are unlikely to have the spare parts necessary to do a lot of this stuff just laying around.
Like, in the battery example, the author replaces the actual battery part and just keeps the shell. It’s really not that different from just buying a new one if you’re replacing basically the only part of the gadget. And how many people have a working (I’m guessing) 10k mAh battery just lying around that isn’t already in a powerbank?
Tinkering and fixing stuff like this is a really great hobby. It’s fun, you get to learn new things, play with cool tools, and be less wasteful. However, let’s not pretend like it’s necessary for survival or even the optimal way to handle most situations.