A few years ago, I was VERY frustrated. Putting away laundry and cleaning our bedroom should have been a simple task. After all, there’s no extra clutter to clear because we maintain a peaceful place for rest. We understand how excess stuff disrupts our sleep.
But what is usually a 30-minute job, was not! To make matters worse, the dark clouds and rain made it difficult to get motivated.
The Problem
Our beautiful new ceiling fan light would not turn on. Did I mention it was rainy and dark so I kinda need the light? I know….change the lightbulb. Good thought. That wasn’t the problem. Instead, it required a specialized battery for the remote which controls the fan and light. Of course, I did not have one on hand. It would be difficult to find. And I would need to order it.
I thought to myself, “here I struggle to do a basic household chore because of a battery.” Without adequate light, the task takes longer. And yet, we have a new ceiling fan and the supposed convenience of a remote. At this moment, I missed the long pull chain that would have solved my problem.
New Isn’t Always Better
So, here’s what I’ve learned on my living simply journey. Newer isn’t always better. While it’s great to install a beautiful new ceiling fan, it’s complicated. I can’t just flip a switch or pull a chain.
New is more complicated.
New has more gadgets.
New has more things to go wrong.
New should be more convenient but isn’t always.
Another Convenient Item
We also own a touch faucet. Fancy right? It is helpful to turn on the faucet with your elbow when your hands are messy. Yep, advertising works.
We were very excited about this feature and bought one for our kitchen. Like the fan, the touch faucet is great 90% of the time until the batteries run out. Yes, you read that correctly. We need 6 AA batteries to power our faucet.
I would see the blinking light and then it would stop working altogether. I mean, no water. None. Zero. This always occurred at the most inopportune times and when my hands were their messiest.
The irony that it always stopped working when I needed it most. “Why did we buy this thing again?!?!”
Over time, we learned more about the features of our new faucet. After a few years, the solenoid goes bad in a touch faucet. The solenoid performs the touch-function. The manufacturer sent us a new one, free of charge. So, we dutifully replaced it. That one went bad too.
After the second time, we decided it would no longer be a touch faucet. Other consumers have done the same. Now, it no longer requires batteries. We took a complicated item and made it a lot simpler by eliminating a convenience factor. I’m quite content without a touch faucet and not replacing batteries every three months.
Is there an item you purchased thinking it would be so convenient to use?
Something that would save time because it had the latest technology?
Were you convinced it would take the place of several devices?
What have you learned after purchasing the item? I’d love to hear about your experience.
Thank you for telling this story…New is NOT always better. I hate buying battery after battery for things….yep…guess that means I’m OLD School, or my kids would say old…lol
Thanks, Janis for your comment! I must be old school too. 🙂 Don’t get me wrong, technology can help tremendously but I think we have to be careful about assuming that new is always better. I’m more methodical in my purchases. I try to ask, “What problem is this solving?” before I purchase. Thanks for reading too!