MAde to Break 3

Giles Slade is really trying to warn us in this last section of the book that we need to stop wasting as much as we do. I think one of the most interesting and shocking quotes in this book was, "The average American, one analyst has noted, will have watched more than three years of television advertising by the end of his or her life." pg 265 Although this is not the sole reason for obsolescence in America, it definitely plays a role in it. We see commercials for cool new products over and over which entices us to buy these new products before we need them. The new development of neophilia has forced our society into throwing things out before they are ready to be thrown out. Most people have to have things as soon as they come out. Slade gives us suggestions on how we can counteract this wasteful way of living. He suggests we reuse, and recycle. We also need to educate others in the dangers of this world we are now living in, because honestly, people don't usually think about these kinds of things. I know that before reading this book I was a lot less aware about the problems this waste was causing. Although to counter Slade's worry, I think that our society today is slowly getting better. For example, in class last week we talked about doing good on the internet and one site we talked about was craigslist. This past week, my phone broke, and I went to craigslist to see if anyone was selling phones, and to my surprise there were hundreds of postings from just one days advertisements. Maybe it's just the economy, but people are trying to find other ways of getting rid of things besides just throwing them in the trash. Also I know there are a lot of recycling drives in schools now to get rid of hazardous products, like cell phones, and old electronics. Slowly but surely we are starting to get the hint that this waste is dangerous, and if we are going to continue our ways of buying things before they become obsolete, then we need to figure out how to get rid of our old products. Personally, I keep all my old electronics, and have never thrown any out in the trash. When I do eventually decide to get of them I will recycle it.
I really found this book informative, and thought it had basically the same ideas as Technopoly did. Both authors were more "anti technological advances" and were afraid for what's to come. I hope that our society can continue to better itself and become more savvy when it comes to this waste we are producing. Hopefully, through education and awareness we can all make a difference.