Long live iPod

Originally uploaded by georgeaye.
Do consumer electronics live at an accelerated rate, a little like dogs and cats? It seems that they live more like humming birds, since 3 years seems to be the most that most people either keep their gadgets, or they break, are neglected or sold on. The sad thing is that it costs as much to buy the replacement model (of which they’ll be two of) than it is to repair it.

Are consumer electronics made to be disposable? $300 for a freaking mp3 player is hardly disposable. How long has this 3 year life cycle been around? And why does everyone just accept it? Strange huh?

My gadget history:
My old Samsung cell phone: 2 years and hated every minute of it
Old iPod: 3 years. loved every minute of it.
Sony s70 digital camera (before the Nikon D70): 1 year before it stopped working and died.
Palm Visor: 6 months before I stopped using it ‘cause the Palm OS sucks.
Nintendo Gamecube: 1 year before it was stolen from my flat, but it was within 3 months before I just got plain tired of it.
Old Palm III: 1.5 years before I got tired of losing my contacts whenever I changed the AAA batteries.

Just before I paid foy my new iPod with video, the sales guy at BestBuy asked me if I wanted the $50 service warranty to cover everything in case of failure for up to 3 years. I thought about it for a sec. Then I bought it. 3 years is a really long time in the world of consumer electronics.