Maybe There’s Hope For Our Consumer Culture After All
It’s no secret that America depends on a consumer culture. And boy do we have one. Regular readers of my blog know I largely bucked this trend throughout my life which was a huge factor in helping me reach financial independence and semi-retirement in my mid 40’s.
I also tend to pick on consumer culture at times in my infographics and Turnip FIRE posts.
The history of America’s consumer culture is fascinating, and there’s quite a few good pieces about it out there (<–last one is an affiliate link). But something happened to me recently that gave me hope.
Cracked Up
Smart phones are one of the most visible and ubiquitous objects of consumerism. Not only are millions of people addicted to them, most spend more than they need to and constantly upgrade to newer models – even when there’s nothing wrong with the one they have.
Though I’m not a big smartphone user, I do love my current phone. It’s an LG X Power purchased in 2017 for $90. You can read about my smartphone philosophy here.
I use it for texting, phone calls (duh), and most important to me – GPS navigation and recording. Most of my cycling rides get recorded by the phone using the Strava app.
I have no social media apps on my phone, and refuse to install any. (you should try this for your mental health)
So this phone is still going strong after 3.5 years. And it looks like this.
Yes, it’s had the cracked screen for 2.5 of those 3.5 years! And yes that’s various pieces of tape at the bottom holding the screen on.
Obviously I don’t give a rats ass what people think, it still works fine. I don’t play games or watch movies on it, so the cracks just don’t bother me.
The cracks at the bottom happened when I dropped it while doing the El Diente-Mt. Wilson Traverse in Colorado which gets pretty gnarly as you can see in that video. So they remind me of high altitude adventure.
It’s the same as my old clunker cars that had small dents and rust that didn’t impact the car at all. They still got me from point A to point B.
Anyone who judges me negatively based on the fact that my phone has a cracked screen or my car has a dent is a person who I do not care to have in my life.
More Abuse
Just recently I was doing a really nice backpacking overnighter trip in Virginia. It started snowing real hard on the second day and it was accumulating, on me.
Long story short, my pants were getting wet so I moved my phone to my jacket pocket which is waterproof. But I failed to secure the zipper all the way, and the charging port of the phone – which is an obvious vulnerable opening – got wet. Crap.
First snow of the winter on my hike in Virginia
The phone still worked fine for the rest of the day but when I eventually plugged it in my car charger thinking it was dried out it started doing weird things. Then it totally shut down and “bricked” as they say. It was dead.
At first I thought “Well despite my abusing her she’s had a good life, maybe it’s time to get a new one.”
I considered the possibility that the battery shorted, but replacing it looked tricky and difficult. The whole processor board had to be taken out and the screws are tiny.
On a whim I searched for a local place to fix it, figuring “there’s zero chance of this, who gets electronics fixed anymore? People just toss them and buy new ones…. it’s not worth the cost”
Local Business To The Rescue!
Lo and behold I found a place nearby that fixes phones and computers and most importantly had amazing reviews. When I showed the guy my phone, he of course assumed I wanted to replace the screen.
“Uh, no, I’m not your typical smartphone user. I don’t care about the screen…” After he realized he was dealing with a weirdo, he said he could replace the battery and that would be the only way to check if it still works.
They had to order the battery but to my surprise they emailed me less than 24 hours and said the whole thing was done and the phone worked like new! (except the ghetto appearance) The cost?
$40
Totally worth it! The best part about this – the part that warmed my heart – was that their business is thriving! Their shop was a mess of computer parts and phones but you could see it was the workshop of people who are in demand.
And what stoked me even more is that the business consists entirely of two brothers from Pakistan. I chatted with them when I picked up the phone and they said business has been booming since COVID started and they’re almost overwhelmed!
They’re two hard working immigrants who are carving a path to business success. It’s what makes America so great.
Sea Change?
Could it be that Americans are slowly considering the benefits of getting their phones and computers fixed instead of just tossing them and buying new ones?
Or perhaps the COVID pandemic is showing people the importance and value in supporting small businesses in their communities, instead of just handing more money over to the Apple-juggernaut.
Either way, just the fact that lots of people are doing it based on this shops thriving business makes me happy and gives me hope. It’s a little thumb in the eye of our consumer culture.
And best of all I now have a new battery in my phone and she’s no doubt going to last a lot longer.
I just have to stop abusing her.
Your Turn – I’m asking this to a biased sub-group of society, but have you ever had your phone fixed? A computer?
*This article contains affiliate links. Using those links throws some change in my pocket at no additional cost to you. Here’s my disclosure.
Congrats on the phone save.
I had my precious phone for several years (and saved it from being dunked on a creek when I was hiking) but alas it was not meant to be as it became super unreliable and finally would not boot up at all (happened at fincon of all places).
I replaced it with the flagship Samsung at the time (note 10 plus) which was a lot to drop on a phone but I figured might as well get the best and hold on to it for as long as I can.
You are right that most people buy instead of try and fix because sometimes the repairs cost close to getting a new one
Heh, I fell into a creek with the phone in my pocket once. Luckily, it came back to life after it got dried out. I left it in our bag of rice for a day.
I dumped an older LG in a creek and it was fine, they make great phones. It was turned off though, and I’m sure that helped. Hold on to that Samsung, those things are pricey!
I have never had my phone fixed as I do my best to take very good care of them and never really had any cracks, scratches or problems with them. The only time I did get a part replaced was when apple was replacing batteries for free. I had that done on my iPhone 6 after I had it for about 3+ years. I had a button on my phone for the longest time when everyone didn’t! It was a source of pride for me.
Ha, the old-school button is a mark of frugal pride, love it!
My trusted (?) car mechanic told me my 2008 Toyota truck needed a new head unit for the stereo because the volume knob no longer worked. $400.00 for unit. did an internet search and tried squirting some contact cleaner down the knob shaft. works great now. do i ever go back to him? not sure, no great alternatives….
Wow, I had a similar issue when my hood latch was jamming and I couldn’t get the hood open. Mechanic said it would be a couple hundred to fix, and after looking online I found folks who also had the issue and some teflon bike lube was all that was needed. It was basically getting gunked up. Bless the internet!
Personally I’m a fan of being frugal on things that don’t excite me but spending lavishly on things that light me up. So I have great hiking poles and spend close to $1,000 a year on tennis strings. My fishing baits are top of the line, as is my fishing line come to think of it. And my smartphone cost $1,300 over a year ago. But it’s OK, I didn’t pay for it, nor do I pay the monthly bill. I charge that directly to the clients that keep me on retainer. But even if I shut down my consulting, like I most likely will next year I’ll still always have the top of the line phone, because I’m a highly technical engineer and I just love great phones. I also use it as my GPS when I’m fishing big waters or bushwhacking remote wilderness areas. If my phone dies I might too so it has to be waterproof and sturdy. I don’t do social media either so at least we agree on that one!
I somehow knew you’d have an expensive phone and be the contrarian 🙂 Heck if it were being paid for by someone else why not, but honestly I still wouldn’t want that high end Samsung. It doesn’t do anything for me as I’d rather live most of my life not looking at a phone, and am pretty good at it. But we all have our things and if you love using it for the experience then I’m sure it’s a good phone to have. Given the two expensive brands I’d take the Samsung over the Apple any day.
I did the same back in 2016! Had just bought the new iPhone 6s (I think? It’s been a long time) and dropped it and shattered the screen. Found a local business to replace the screen and that phone is still going strong, 4 years later. My goal was 4 years so now I’m curious to see how long I can keep this phone running. Doing the same thing with my car. Have a 2004 Toyota Highlander, 265K miles, thing runs just fine so I think I can get it to 300K with no problems.
Sweet – that Toyota should still have lots of life in it, they make great engines. Just take care of it and it’ll keep chuggin, congrats!
Wow, that phone is very impressive. It’s like a badge of honor!
I tried to change the battery on my old phone by myself and it didn’t work. My welding skill isn’t up to par.
I gave up and got a new phone. Someone has to support the economy, right? 🙂
Ha yeah, I’m good at most basic stuff and was tempted to do it myself but the screws are SO DAMN SMALL, that’s the hardest part. I don’t have those tiny specialty tools.
Dude, indie cell repair folk are the ONLY way to go in my opinion. In So. Cal. I had my man, Carlos, in the Santa Ana barrio. Up here I now got my man, Scotty, in The Big Smoke. I’ve had my iPhone 6 since 2014 and it’s pristine. In that time I had the battery changed and both the face and charging port replaced. Total cost for all 3: $105. Each time I had an issue, I was told by friends to “just get a new one.” I just say that “my homie will fix this sh&t for $40.”
I’ve also found that these places are always jam packed. At Scotty’s joint, you actually have to call ahead to get an appointment! It’s definitely a refreshing sign of sensibility.
Cheers to the indie fix-it posse! And they were jam packed which as I wrote made me feel so good. I tell ya there’s hope!!
That cracked phone case….. I’ll keep my phones 5 years, but those Lifeproof cases save me 😜
I had a nice case on it when it happened but no case can stop a crack when you drop the phone on a pointy rock and the screen makes first contact. I honestly got lucky, it almost went off a thousand foot cliff 🙂
Ha, I suppose so!
Bravo for riding the phone out like that! That’s awesome. I’ve gotten my screen fixed once about ten years ago for $45 in san diego. This was before I learned the magic of otter box cases. Otter box has allowed my phone to survive two sets of butter finger toddlers and a river mishap. I’m rocking an iphone 8 and when this thing busts I’m done with the iphone. I would get one of those super cheap old school flip phones…if it weren’t for needing a smart phone for work. When I FIRE I’m definitely gonna go “no smart phone” as an experiment for a year and see how it goes.
You don’t see too many appliance/tv repair shops around anymore like when I was a kid in the 80’s and 90’s. Nobody fixes tv’s or appliances anymore. It’s a 1st world mindset to throw away first and ask questions later. In my travels though, I’ve seen that these repair shops are still thriving in other countries–in Cuba especially. Nothing gets thrown away in that country.
As I mentioned to Angela even an Otter case wouldn’t have prevented my screen cracks, but those don’t bother me. The charging port has to be exposed with any case to be used so getting snow in it is gonna screw it up no matter what case I had. But those cases are great. And in Cuba they fix everything, and the streets are full of 1950’s era cars!
I got extra lucky and married a software developer that also does hardware. At some point I just lose track of how old our computers and other electronic gizmos are – no few of them have had their guts replaced so many times the original is a memory. He is with you on the screen; he had a full screen tape job for two years before that phone fell in a creek on a hike, and he finally decided to replace it (it was a windows phone and there was no support or parts to be found). I constantly remind myself of the hole in the earth that each thing I use creates; how much metal, how many petroleum products, how much plastic, what is the carbon footprint. It’s given me an appreciation for what I use that works, and I will use something until it is used up before replacing it. I really like the service iFixit, the free repair guide for everything.
Ha, husband for the win! I did see iFixit when I was internet searching and made a note of them, but this local shop has won me over
On a business trip to Japan and my colleague drops his phone on the train tracks! From flagging down a worker to help get it off the track (they actually had a tool to grab it as it happens frequently) to finding a repair shop and getting it fixed where the only word in Japanese that we knew was “thanks”, that was an incredible cultural adventure. And ended up being <$50.
Absolutely, phone repair shops are the best.
That’s a new one, glad he got it back. I’m sure the Japanese depend on repair more than we do
as you know i’m a no cell phone guy, but we’re about to have an old war horse sony amp/receiver repaired. that thing is a beast and it’s probably something like a power supply problem that i can’t diagnose/fix. we got a turntable repaired a couple of years ago to much rejoicing too.
i like that badge of a cracked screen. around 1987 i let a g/f who was only 16 drive my car. she crashed it with me in it and hit her head on the rearview mirror. i drove around with that cracked mirror as a reminder not to let inexperienced drivers behind the wheel until the car bit the dust.
Good on ya w/the Sony. My 1995 Onkyo receiver is still mostly ok but some buttons are getting wonky. As for girlfriends crashing cars, I’ve got stories…. maybe a blog post one day 🙂
A whole different example could be car repairs. I repaired the gauges on my 2005 Pontiac Sunfire. Ordered the “stepper motors” online for about $10. Had to pull the entire dash and re-solder them to fix the fuel and tachometer. Probably would have cost a thousand or more if I’d taken it to a dealership.
Nice dude! That’s a DIY win for sure. And on a 15 year old car to boot, bonus points!
I’ve fixed a few phones myself. Mostly battery replacements but also replaced a screen once. Lots of detailed instructions and videos online and parts are relatively cheap compared to a new or even used phone replacement. Still rocking an iPhone 6S (a 5 year old phone), though I got it used a few years ago.
Yeah YouTube is amazing for anything like that. As I mention to another commenter, my main worry was the tiny screws and not having the right tools. Normally I’d give it a decent college try
I do always install a Case on my smart phone you can buy a cheap case from AliExpress for less than 3 USD and usually it
protect your phone and help you save money. I am not as frugal as you on the phone front, I usually buy a new phone every two to three years, my latest phone cost me around 160 USD.
I have never fixed a mobile phone before.
As I mentioned to others I have a great case for it but no case would have stopped the damage. I do recommend cases and have always used them, but when you drop the phone and the screen hits a pointy rock, it usually breaks 🙂 Only $160 for a phone is cheap, you’re pretty frugal by most standards!
I bought my last laptop in 2009, and my dad still prefers it to a replacement my sister gifted him more recently! However, work has supplied all of my technology (laptop, tablet, phone) since then. I have the same ones I originally was issued but credit the crew who maintains them for this good fortune. My goal is to avoid replacing them for the duration of the job. Hopefully FIRE comes sooner than later!
My laptop is from 2011 and still kicking strong, here’s to geriatric computers! Good luck with it!
Some credit cards, Wells Fargo Propel for example, have built in cell phone insurance at $0 cost, as long as you bill your cell service against the card.
I cracked my iPhone X screen and had it replaced for $300 at the Apple store, $25 deductable.
Holy smokes $300 for a screen replacement!! Apple should be ashamed of that, but hey good on you for the pro-move of the credit card insurance. I did not know that, I’ll check with my cards – thanks for the tip!
No way without the insurance would I have paid $300! WF actually covers up to $600, once per year. So figured might as well get the white glove treatment.
Also benefitted from the almost 4 year old phone being perfect, so when the 12Pro came out ATT gave me $800 for it on trade in. Wasn’t planning on buying a new one but that was too good a deal to pass up.
Actually, pre-COVID, my teenage son had a thriving little business buying up broken iPhones and Apple watches (mostly cracked screens), fixing them, and reselling them. During COVID, he switched into doing the same with e-bikes. He made a killing (for a teenager) and learned all sorts of important lessons. But I never actually thought about it like you did–that there are apparently tons of people out there who are willing to get their phones fixed or buy old ones that have been refurbished! It’s encouraging to think of it that way too, because my husband and I have had friends give us a hard time about our old-ass phones a few times (to which we’re just like, “I don’t wanna work forever!”) Those comments don’t bother us, but they do make it seem like we’re the only people on the planet with old phones. And I’m with you, the cracks are a point of pride.
So awesome for you and you son. Sounds like he’s gonna go real far in life with that mindset. And I love the “I don’t wanna work forever!” answer, that says it all!
Usually I do most of the fixing of my phones and computers. Great article btw! I totally agree with the sentiment — We need more things to be repairable!
Unfortunately that’s something most people don’t care about because they’re already moving onto the next $1000 smartphone. Perhaps the repair business is booming because the economy is in the crapper? Maybe when you’re unemployed, repair is a better option than buying new!
Just some random thoughts. Great post!
Yeah I try to self-fix whenever possible but sometimes I hesitate to buy tools that I’ll only use once, or to simply spend too much time doing it when a pro can do it cheaper. Thanks for the kudos Tako!
Yes, sure most of the people out there don’t use their phone for much else that phone calls texts and social media. BUT for many they no longer have a camera, video camera, gps and for some even a laptop anymore. For a portion of the public this has gotten rid of a huge chunk of their other items and even if they swap out phones every 2 years which is a massive savings.
I think what we are seeing as biggest problems is technology advancing so rapidly that older tech, depending in what you are doing becomes obsolete. Then 100% as you mentioned, the hold out of companies to make their products not easy to fix. We need more places fixing screens, replacing batteries and doing whatever else is needed to keep them going.
I’m at almost 4 years with my iPhone7 Plus but will 100% be swapping out to the new iPhone 12 ProMax soon. I’m just doing ok with mine still for now. The longer life battery, better water resistance and better screen will be huge for my backcountry navigation (I use Viewranger with tracks I build in CalTopo) . The camera is also amazing and as you know for my blog and social media side hustle this is a big deal, so I’m stoked to see improvement. The tech is now at a point that my old camera is seriously underpowered compared to the new 3 lense system with huge software & hardware improvements including long exposure at night and shooting in RAW format. Game changers that I’m stoked on.
For some it is a silly waste of money, for some it is a sound expense. That being said I’m part of this crowd and the MMM frugal side of me is battling between the justifying of a new phone and seeing how long I can keep this one running.
As always, keep up the great content.
For what you do and use a phone for it’s totally legit to have a good one, I’d never knock that. Even I have increasingly stopped using my good digital camera in favor of my cell phone camera. My LG may have only cost $90 but it packs a nice 14MP camera that takes shots close to the quality of my Panasonic Lumix. The only thing it can’t do is a good optical zoom, and my Lumix has a 40x optical zoom that rocks. So I still take it on trips where I know I’ll need high quality pics. I’m just stoked that more folks are getting stuff fixed than I would have thought, and I wish the manufacturers of these devices would take “fixability” into account when they make them. But that doesn’t pad their bottom line…
You don’t consider Strava a social media app? 😉
I consider it a fitness/workout app. Sure it has a few aspects of what one would consider a social media app like the ability to “follow” others, but you can’t message others and you can’t post toxic political nonsense or gang up and bully people. But to your point, it’s probably fair to call it a “quasi” social media app 🙂
Hmm, I wonder whether the frugal/practical community isn’t bigger than we think. There’s an amazing phone repair shop in West Seattle and another good one on the mainland, and they are always busy. With four smartphones in the house, we’ve had multiple drops, battery issues, and corroded charging ports. Going to the repair shop is the first step in our cost-benefit analysis, with repair usually being the preferred option. While we can’t compete with your $90 LG, we tend to go with CNET’s recommendation for best value phones (or refurbished phones when the kids HAVE to have an iPhone), and do everything to maximize their lifespans. For us, it’s the right balance between excessive consumerism and excessive frugality.
Very cool VC, and I too use CNET reviews and reccos all the time, I’ve been a long time reader of their site. Congrats on the great frugality and I think you may be right that there’s more of it out there than I think
Haha, love it! Glad to see you kept her going. We have a place JUST like what you described a few blocks up. For whatever reason, the retail location they moved into has quite a few windows and they’ve left them uncovered—even around the back of shop workstation area. While I think that might be risky security wise, it affords me an opportunity to see what they’ve got cooking back there when we stroll by.
And it’s always a ton! When they opened up I was thinking: surely this place won’t survive—who bothers to get their electronics repaired these days? Apparently a ton of people.
Pre-pandemic we went through there a time or two shopping for cases and what not, and just like you remarked, it’s a shop run by very attentive and helpful immigrants. Beautiful thing, glad they’re doing well.
PS: Where in VA? I’ve been wanting to do an overnight around Mt. Rogers—it’s such a gorgeous hike there.
Great to hear these shops are out there, sounds like a great small business for folks who love tech and fixing things. I was out in a remote part of George Wash Nat Forest west of Charlottesville
Both my wife and I recently broke our phone screens… different days same geographic location. Cost to repair; $150 per phone and 4-6 week wait on parts. Cost to replace; $200 per phone; gratification immediate.
By contrast I had a Toshiba laptop for 6 years … went through 3 keyboards 2 hard drives. Finally something happened to the power rail gave up and bought a new laptop for 500 bucks. That Toshiba didn’t owe me a penny.
$150 per phone!? Must be Apple… Well in that case if you need a phone a month is a long time to wait.
As for Toshibas, my laptop is a 2012 Toshiba and still going strong! The thing is great, paid $475-ish back then. Will buy another for sure.
Looks like we’ve had our phones since early 2018. My husband is on his all the time so we got top of the line Samsung whatevers. We keep them going as long as possible and thus far haven’t had many problems although DH is saying his battery is running out too fast. With WFH I’m not seeing how that is a legit problem though. Otterbox saves me since I drop it all the time. I’ve never been one for replacing them as soon as they are paid off. I got a new laptop this past Feb but before that I had the same laptop for 10 years and took it to a repair shop maybe 3 times to keep it going. I finally threw in the towel because the processor was not up to par for windows 10 since it had been a top of the line netbook (light weight) in 2010. I guess I could have souped it up but I figured 10 years was a good run.
Ten years on a laptop is a great run, especially a net book since those had less powerful components. Nice job!