^But I’m seeing more and more bikes with great tech, don’t get me wrong, but they have a very limited lifespan and almost no longevity in the coming decades.
I honestly think they could be said about most tech nowadays. I always took for granted that newer technology would replace older tech but have even greater longevity… But at least when it comes to consumer-level products, i believe very few things are ‘buy-it-for-life’ anymore. Proprietary tech is ridiculously abundant, seems everything has to have a custom digital brain, wi-fi, bluetooth, DRM, subscriptions, etc. and all that comes with the adoption of cheap tech to make it affordable enough for the average person.
Once that company has moved onto the next thing though, how long will they support their previous products? If proprietary circuitry or a website is involved, it’s a near-guarantee you’ll be unable to use it in a matter of time–whether due to the website/server going dark or the product itself getting borked due to cheap manufacturing/design/etc. If there is to be any long-term support, it may actually come in the form of hobbyist groups willing to design and build their own circuitry, 3D print replacement/upgrade parts…stuff that often requires a very skilled and dedicated group. It’s pretty cool when you can find a bunch of like-minded individuals sharing info and working together to keep something going or take it to the next level, but that’s not a substitute for long-term product support. Companies used to be held to some sort of standard–or at least i was led to think so when i was younger. It’s weird to think back to the days when long-term reliability was a genuine selling point. The Maytag man bored in the shop, lol. Those days are long gone
^But I’m seeing more and more bikes with great tech, don’t get me wrong, but they have a very limited lifespan and almost no longevity in the coming decades.
I honestly think they could be said about most tech nowadays. I always took for granted that newer technology would replace older tech but have even greater longevity… But at least when it comes to consumer-level products, i believe very few things are ‘buy-it-for-life’ anymore. Proprietary tech is ridiculously abundant, seems everything has to have a custom digital brain, wi-fi, bluetooth, DRM, subscriptions, etc. and all that comes with the adoption of cheap tech to make it affordable enough for the average person.
Once that company has moved onto the next thing though, how long will they support their previous products? If proprietary circuitry or a website is involved, it’s a near-guarantee you’ll be unable to use it in a matter of time–whether due to the website/server going dark or the product itself getting borked due to cheap manufacturing/design/etc. If there is to be any long-term support, it may actually come in the form of hobbyist groups willing to design and build their own circuitry, 3D print replacement/upgrade parts…stuff that often requires a very skilled and dedicated group. It’s pretty cool when you can find a bunch of like-minded individuals sharing info and working together to keep something going or take it to the next level, but that’s not a substitute for long-term product support. Companies used to be held to some sort of standard–or at least i was led to think so when i was younger. It’s weird to think back to the days when long-term reliability was a genuine selling point. The Maytag man bored in the shop, lol. Those days are long gone