Nothing lasts forever – at least on the electrical front

A Different View with Dave O’Connell

Back in the day, when you bought your first new house, the Government gave you what was known as the First Time Buyer’s Grant which allowed you to purchase the necessary white goods – as well as a bed, a chair or two and a table – to effectively set you up for life.

The theory was that, once bought, these machines might last as long as you did; and if they didn’t and needed to be fixed, there was an electrician or a plumber who could sort all that for you.

When I first walked into the newsroom of the Connacht Tribune, it was abuzz with the clacking sound of typewriters, punctuated only by people shouting down the big old black phones.

The only thing that a typewriter needed was a new ribbon every now and again – and the phone needed nothing more than a little bit of respect and attention, because its life cycle could only be curtailed by someone tossing it from the desk.

Back then you took a tablet when you had a virus; now you get a virus when you encounter a problem with the electronic tablet that cost you a week’s wages.

Time saw typewriters give way to computers – superior machines in a way that bricks build better houses than straw, but lacking just one thing . . . the longevity that the old manual machine guaranteed.

The big phones on the desk bowed to the mobile, a device so wondrous in its almost infinite abilities and magnificent in its small size and easy portability.

But where the old black phone with its big dial needed nothing more than a little respect, the mobile needs more care, attentions and updating than a supermodel.

If you have a mobile phone that’s five years old you are one of two things – a dinosaur or an inspiration. A dinosaur because you’re not keeping pace with fashion and technology; an inspiration because you couldn’t care less.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.