Software
That’s how you get into tech debt, stuck with entire infrastructure written in COBOL.
And unpatched vulnerabilities
And even for purely UI changes, the UI totally impacts user adoption. Eg, a 90s style grey everything form is going to feel outdated to many users and they’ll associate that with the rest of the software being dated (regardless of whether or not it’s true). If your goal is adoption/sales, you often have to keep changing the UI even if it’s not broke with regards to functionality.
Unless you’re an ERP software vendor. Wouldn’t want to put consultants out of the job.
Preventive maintenance? As in, where you take your car in every year for an oil change so it doesn’t end up as one gigantic blob that gums up your entire engine or having your brake pads completely disintegrate, cleaning the lint out of a sewing machine, greasing your bike gears, …
Preventative maintenance for the win. Just bought a 90s DeaDoo, noticed it had the original grey fuel lines. I know that those lines are notorious for breaking down and plugging fuel filters, thus killing engines. However, this SeaDoo ran perfectly as-is. I was too paranoid to just run it like that so I took it apart and sure enough, the fuel filter was all plugged up - probably would have killed the engine if I hadn’t checked and just kept running it
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
A pint of sweat saves a gallon of blood
If you don’t schedule maintenance, your equipment will schedule it for you.
The external struggle in manufacturing:
“My machinery is having too much downtime. It needs comprehensive maintenance.”
Ok, I need 12 solid hours and I’ll give it back to you good as new.
“What?! 12 hours! That’s insanity, it’s already racked up 20 hours of downtime this month, I can’t spare 12 hours! Can’t you just do it next month?”
Repeat every month.
A stitch in time saves nine
There’s thousands no?
Cars worked fine 20y ago. They work better now.
PCs worked fine 20y ago. They work better now.
Etc…
If it works, fix it?
Or you mean the other way around? If it doesn’t work, fix it? Then the list is endless.
Enshitification?!
If it ain’t broke, break it?
If it ain’t broke, fix it till it is!
There is a german (left) proverb “Mach kaputt, was dich kaputt macht.” Which translates to “Break what breaks you.”
In the sense of destroy the systems which try to break you.
Mach kaputt, was dich kaputt macht.
Automatically read this in Till Lindemann’s voice.
Jetzt habe ich den Ohrwurm „Tanz kaputt, was dich kaputt macht“ von Straftanz. Danke.
Words to live by.
Depends what you mean by fix, but without changes there would be no progress
There is a faction in the US military aviation community called “reformers” who advocate for simple, rugged aircraft designs. They decry electronics, stealth, radar, EW, missiles, and sometimes even fuel as bloat that detracts from the core elements to the fighter: speed, maneuverability, and big guns. It worked in WWII, so if it ain’t broke…
Back in the 70s and 80s, these reformers predicted gloom and doom for the overly complex F-15, the same way they do today about the F-35 and F-22. It turned out however, that the F-15 is the most successful fighter of all time, having shot down over a hundred jets without being bested once.
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If broke, fix it.
“Step outside your comfort zone”
Your cars timing belt. If you don’t fix it before it breaks, you’re gonna have a bad day.
Take care of your health, little issues turn into big ones fast and you may not even realize you’re sick. Find a good doctor, go see them at least once a year.
If it can be modified or improved, do it.
