Peter Kammerer

Opinion | Time to fix Hong Kong’s wasteful, throwaway society

Peter Kammerer says our modern craze for built-in obsolescence has got to end and, even without the manufacturers on board, we should start promoting a fix-it culture

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Shoeshiners at work in Hong Kong. Tradesmen who provide repairs for shoes and other items can still be found in Hong Kong but are becoming rare. Photo: AFP

Peter Kammerer

Published: 11:58am, 24 Oct 2016Updated: 7:01pm, 24 Oct 2016

Advice imparted by an elderly relative when I was a teenager meant little at the time: if you want to have a good life, learn a skill that involves using your hands. I paid no regard, beyond taking a touch-typing course, and got by nicely enough until I came to Hong Kong.

Now, however, the shoddiness of workmanship in the flats I have lived in, the low standards of those called on to carry out repairs and the declining quality of products have made me wish I had given those pearls of wisdom more attention. Worse, there aren’t too many options other than throwing out and replacing.

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The Samsung Galaxy Note 7 saga says much about the world we live in. Mobile phones, among a host of electrical products on the market, are seemingly built with obsolescence in mind, their lifespans down from what once seemed like a lifetime to a mere few years. The release of software upgrades and apps all but forces the replacement of models for the sake of speed and trouble-free operation. But when quality control is so low that they begin to smoke and even catch fire with enough intensity to cause injury and property damage, as has happened with the Note 7, it’s plainly time for a strategy rethink.

Customers stand in line ahead of the release of Apple’s iPhone 7 in Seoul. Mobile phones, among a host of electrical products on the market, are seemingly built with obsolescence in mind, their lifespans down from what once seemed like a lifetime to a mere few years. Photo: Bloomberg

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I’m not sure who’s at fault: manufacturers or consumers. Competition is pushing the boundaries of creativity and innovation and the big corporations behind mainstream electrical goods are constantly striving to outdo one another in the name of profits and market share.

Repairing has become a thing of the past; it’s more convenient and less expensive to simply upgrade

The most loyal of customers of brands like Apple will always upgrade whenever a new product is launched. But the demand for better or merely different features and lower prices also drives companies to bring out that which is claimed to be faster, smarter and cooler.