Replacement value

Hope everyone's week is off to a good start.

My premise today is rather simple.  When is it best to replace something that's older with a similar item that's newer?  What criteria do you use to make that decision?  Is it something you give a lot of thought to, or is it more impulsive?

My answer, for better or worse, is that it depends.

And I stand by that response.

For instance, for fourteen years my car was a 2007 Honda Pilot SUV.  Bought it as a demonstrator with 4,400 miles already on it.  Went a lot of places in that car, numerous business trips to St. Louis, Birmingham, Atlanta, Nashville, Cleveland and many other destinations.  Transported me and my son to Cincinnati to see the Reds countless times, and later took along his two older children for games.  Survived a couple of multi-state baseball trips.  Went on vacation to Colorado for other lots of other weekend excursions.  I did all of the major required maintenance, but after the second timing belt was installed, I also had to replace several pumps and other components and the car just never felt the same.  I kept driving it until the mileage total reached around 235,000 miles and my wife finally convinced me to trade it in, fearing that I would experience an unplanned breakdown far from home.

So what did I buy?  The Pilot's slightly smaller cousin, the Honda Passport.  Virtually identical from the front seat forward, but smaller in the cargo area and no third-row seat.  Love that car, but it has some work to do to become my all-time favorite, as this Pilot was.

On the other hand, about anything electrical eventually reaches the point where replacement is necessary.  If your toaster stops making, well, toast, it's time for a new one.  Cheaper and faster than trying to fix it yourself, you know.  We have a Cuisinart K-cup coffee maker that we bought a number of years ago, and occasionally it will make a groaning noise that portends something bad on the way.  But we do some cleaning and such and it seems better, so on we go.  Worth mentioning that it has outlasted multiple Keurig brand K-cup makers throughout our family.

But sometimes technology advances and we swap out things to stay current, or get better/faster/improved performance.  I'm typing this on an M1 iMac computer.  Smaller than the chrome-colored 27 inch iMac it replaced, but, wow, is it faster and more efficient.  I had added memory to the old computer and even had it running off of a solid-state storage drive to speed it up.  Way better computer.  

But I still miss the old one.  It just SEEMED different.

When's the last time you "upgraded" to a new cellphone?  My wife and I did that during the pandemic, bought Apple's flagship phone at the time, the iPhone 11 Pro Max.  I keep the operating software updated on both, and they still function fine, despite having been purchased well over three years ago.  My battery still has 92% of its original charging capacity, and that's not bad.  I don't stream movies or music, so 5G is not all that important to me.  I'm probably gonna keep this one for a while yet, and my wife is planning the same.

We only have one "good" television in our home, not counting the cheapo LCD that lives on a shelf in the guest room closet upstairs.  We currently own a Sony OLED tv, with astounding picture clarity and excellent sound for a flat panel (there's essentially a speaker array and subwoofer attached to the back).  We looked at TVs for quite a while before pulling the trigger on this one, but it was the right call at the time, and I seriously doubt technology has moved forward enough that this one is out of date.

I believe I have mentioned my affinity for leather goods from Colonel Littleton, Ltd., of Lynnville, Tennessee.  Hand made by Americans in Lynnville from leather acquired from tanneries not far away from the shop.  I have too many pieces to enumerate here, but suffice it to say, I'm the nerd with a briefcase, phone holster, wallet and so forth.  

The briefcase is one of the oldest pieces I have.  I bought it in the late fall of 2012 and it gets the roughest and most consistent use of anything, since I sling it over my shoulder or carry it from the handle, or toss is into the passenger or rear seat of my car.  Would I like a new bag for work? Well, yeah, but there really is nothing wrong with this one.  It holds all of my daily materials, I can load it extensively for a meeting or a large group presentation and it's still easy to carry with some room to spare.

If you're curious, it's the No. 1 Saddlebag Briefcase in polished steer hide.  The Colonel sells these in other leather finishes, including American buffalo and even alligator, if your tastes run to the exotic, and you can see them and all of the other items they sell at their website, www.colonellittleton.com.  

I've traveled all over with my bag, condition it a couple of times a year and it just looks better every time I spiff it up a little.  It's even been to Disney World.

So I suppose my final comment is that you should keep what matters most, if you can, and when you buy something to replace an old friend, make sure you buy the best item you can.  You never know how long it will be by your side!