Lots of people talk about how we live in a disposable economy. What they are really talking about is how fewer and fewer things are repaired or rebuilt. Instead, the focus is on throwing things away and replacing them with something new.

That’s supposed to be really good for the economy because it increases demand for new products, but I’m not so sure. For better or worse I’m a product of parents who survived the Great Depression. Growing up in the boom times of the early 1960s, we didn’t want for anything, but we sure weren’t going to throw something away if there might be a use for it later, or if someone else might have a use for it.

Today, in my adopted home state of Maine there is a popular expression that sums up a Yankee philosophy of frugality. Folks here are fond of saying, “Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without.”

That’s a little different than trading in your cell phone to get the latest model — and heaven help you if the battery dies before then. Can you even replace the battery?

When it comes to our businesses, the disposable trend runs up against business calculations. I’ve been in more woodworking shops than I can count where the walls were covered with all sorts of dusty jigs and fixtures that were used once or long ago, but no one wants to throw away because, “We might just need that one of these days!” Of course, whether they can even find the item when they do need it, that’s another story.

When I first got interested in woodworking as a hobbyist, there were all sorts of people who revered old cast-iron machines, often measuring quality by the pound and saying, “They don’t make ‘em like that anymore.” But some of the reasons they don’t make those machines anymore is that new machines can do so much more, capitalizing on computers and software and a level of precision unmatched by those old cast-iron behemoths.

But then we’re dealing with a different kind of discussion. What about software and hardware updates to stay current? What requires special training and equipment? When machinery costs tens of thousands of dollars, how do you budget for repair and replacement? How do you create a timeline for upgrades? When do you decide to upgrade? When do you decide to replace?
There are no pat answers to these questions, but the point is the questions themselves are not being asked enough. People used to talk about “planned obsolescence.” This is obsolescence without a plan.

The next time you think about making a new machinery purchase, think not only about the return on investment but also the lifespan and how that value might be extended over time.