# Robust technology is critical for the future * [[Robust technology]] is [[Easy-to-Fix]] * [[Robust technology]] can be repurposed * [[Robust technology]] degrades gracefully * [[Robust technology]] has flexible inputs A lot of technology has trended towards ‘hard-to-break’, specialized, and disposable. These trends are good things in many ways. Expensive items like cars and computers are far more reliable than they were decades ago. Inexpensive items have become even cheaper and their delivery has become so convenient that when they break, the most effective response is just to throw them away and buy a new one. As with anything in engineering, these improvements involve tradeoffs. Computers and cars are black boxes that rarely break, but when they do malfunction, require an expert to service them (and are often just scrapped and replaced by the manufacturer). Apple is the extreme example of this paradigm; they invented their own special screw head to make taking apart laptops especially difficult. Built-in batteries enable laptops to be light and last for many hours (do you remember the 00s when laptops weighed a ton and their batteries lasted an hour and a half at best?) But you can no longer upgrade laptop hard drives or RAM, replace a dying battery, or scrap the machine for parts. On the flip side, almost anything that can be made of the cheapest material possible without degrading its functionality (glued-together injected molded plastic from a Chinese factory, etc.) has been. This trend has led to an explosion of inexpensive products that improve the lives of many people — especially the least-well-off. At the same time, these products often break more easily and when they do, you usually can’t fix them in a way that isn’t completely janky. And even if you could, it’s generally not worth your time.[^1] This paradigm makes people increasingly dependent on a global supply chain that, like many complex systems, is subject to shocks from unexpected quarters.  ### Related * [[There is no playbook for expanding the technological frontier]] * [[Frontiers only work when they are permissionless]] * Lewis Rossman — repair Youtuber [^1]: Economists will point out that this is a good thing: our time is more valuable because we are more wealthy. [Web URL for this note](http://notes.benjaminreinhardt.com/Robust+technology+is+critical+for+the+future) [Comment on this note](http://via.hypothes.is/http://notes.benjaminreinhardt.com/Robust+technology+is+critical+for+the+future)