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products that last – 29

a shame if something we have used for some time has to ‘die’ because it fails to fulfil our needs any longer, and we may consider letting it live’ for a bit longer. On the other hand, the purchase of a ‘new and improved’ successor promises a satisfactory experience. The decision to buy is quite complicated and depends on a great number of things. The point is that in general most products are expected to last, just like people. It is not exceptional that the first reaction to failure is to consider repair or some other measure, to restore the product to an acceptable level. Deep down one wants to hold on to it, as long as it doesn’t draw the wrong kind of attention. Here we have an intriguing seesaw with, on the one end, the traditional one way trip from production to garbage, with a bit of excite-ment somewhere along the way, and on the other, the development of ways to create enduring products, and cause a shift in what people spend money on. Lasting products are preferable.

The decisive edge to shifting the seesaw towards sustainability rests within the second domain, and can only be obtained through the development of new kinds of trade, to which end designers and producers will need to understand the principles. This constitutes the second domain: taking up the challenge.

This book gives you the basics. In addition, it is important to become aware of what makes trade tick; it may very well be the same force that drives consumption: convenience. Making a profit and satisfy-ing your investors quickly and with little effort is essential. The other requirement is that your business is based on a credible challenge which is also exciting and fun to tackle.

Products with a long lifespan can offer a wide range of business opportunities, depending of course on the type of product and its design. Cars are a good exam-ple - to a certain extent. They are traditional providers of after-sales business: they need continuous repair and maintenance and, they can be rented, shared and leased. This implies more intensive use, which represents a different view on lifespan extension, and may invoke different quality requirements and therefore a different design outcome.

Rex, the world’s first bionic man, modeled after University of Zurich psychologist Bertoit Meyer has synthetic blood, artificial organs and robotic limbs. Retinal and cochlear implants allow him to see and hear. All of his components could theoretically be welded to a human body to replace missing or worn out parts.