Survey: Sustainability, Consumer Behaviour, and Cultural Significance in Music Technology

laxu said:
Finished the survey, but not sure most of the questions really hit the mark. I think it's very hard to evaluate e.g sustainability without some concrete examples. I think the "which sustainable practices you engage in" was good because I didn't really think about them as such.

I don't think about sustainability when I buy something used for example, I think about getting a piece of gear for less money than new, or getting something I can try and sell forward without any cost if I don't like it.

Sustainability becomes a bigger matter if I buy a product that turns out to have known issues. I'm not necessarily thinking about its eco-friendliness, but how long will it last before I need to replace it.

I'll give you an example of my Samsung Fold 4 phone. It's an excellent phone when it works, but it has a common issue where it stops unfolding completely, or the inner screen protector breaks and can damage the screen if not removed or replaced. These were not known issues when it released, but now I worry how well it will last past the 2 year warranty that ends in October. It has already had the screen protector swapped and the hinge, inner screen and batteries replaced because the hinge failed. All under warranty so no problem for me, but what if that happens next year? I'm shit out of luck and upgrading to a newer model is very expensive (whereas US buyers get massive trade-in subsidies).

By comparison, music gear not lasting is generally a much smaller concern. Guitars are very durable, and apart from a few brands and models (e.g Fender Blues Jr, HRD, Blackstar amps), amps and pedals can last decades.

They are however becoming increasingly hard to repair and unless repair shops can pivot to expertly swapping surface mount components, the gear's original manufacturers may become the only ones capable of repairing them by just swapping parts.
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I felt the SMT vs Through-hole issues were far too niche for this survey. Thank you so much for actually completing it.
 
POLYETHENOL said:
I felt the SMT vs Through-hole issues were far too niche for this survey.
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Oh absolutely. I was thinking you could use more examples to explain the question, so it's easier for people to understand it.

E.g on a question about repairability you could say "for example whether an amp or pedal is designed to be easy to repair with easy access or component choices" or something.

Sustainability, eco-friendliness etc can be a bit too abstract concepts otherwise. When I think of e.g eco-friendliness, maybe it's a guitar made of woods farmed sustainably, or using a finish type with less/no harmful chemicals.
 
laxu said:
Oh absolutely. I was thinking you could use more examples to explain the question, so it's easier for people to understand it.

E.g on a question about repairability you could say "for example whether an amp or pedal is designed to be easy to repair with easy access or component choices" or something.

Sustainability, eco-friendliness etc can be a bit too abstract concepts otherwise. When I think of e.g eco-friendliness, maybe it's a guitar made of woods farmed sustainably, or using a finish type with less/no harmful chemicals.
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All of this is good insight.
:beer
 
laxu said:
I worry how well it will last past the 2 year warranty that ends in October.
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2 WHOLE years? Jeez people! I buy refurbished phones that are already 2 years old, and the one I have now, a Samsung Galaxy S8, is probably 8 years old! And still works just fine!

See, this right here is part of the problem: People (not pointing directly at you laxu) keep buying new phones! They get caught up in the hype (OOOH, it has a THIRTEEN MEGAPIXEL CAMERA!), and give no thought to the fact that those parts have to be mined from somewhere, causing more air pollution, fueling rising CO2 emmissions, etc., etc. Not to mention, continuing to ride the ferris wheel of monthly phone payments!
 
likitlikeyoulikeit said:
All of this is good insight.
:beer
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And a good metaphor for why real-world changes, that can actually have a positive impact on our planet, never get implemented, because we're too busy refining our damn SURVEYS!

Just stop buying water in plastic bottles people, ok? Get a filtration system for your tap water if needed. There. I just saved you enough money so you can buy your next piece of gear from a company that uses "environmentally sustainable" practices! Now go play yer fuckin guitars! :crazy
 
TSJMajesty said:
And a good metaphor for why real-world changes, that can actually have a positive impact on our planet, never get implemented, because we're too busy refining our damn SURVEYS!

Just stop buying water in plastic bottles people, ok? Get a filtration system for your tap water if needed. There. I just saved you enough money so you can buy your next piece of gear from a company that uses "environmentally sustainable" practices! Now go play yer fuckin guitars! :crazy
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You would love what one chap said on the SOS forum. I took a serious battering; it was brutal. But again, it's still really helpful.
 
POLYETHENOL said:
You would love what one chap said on the SOS forum. I took a serious battering; it was brutal. But again, it's still really helpful.
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Sure. It's just who I am, and how I've developed as a person from my chosen career path, which is residential construction. I'm 60, but I learned 35-40 years ago, that I could come up with all sorts of better ways to get the house framed, but at the end of the day, if I wasted too much time talking about it, I made very little money.

I still, to this very day, will tell guys, "Ok c'mon. Let's do something that actually gets the house BUILT!" Planning and troubleshooting, and even doing a postmortem all have their place, but it's the actual doing that makes the difference.

I tend to look for the low-hanging-fruit, so to speak, that can be started right now, while at the same time, looking for better ways to do things that require more thought.
 
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