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Conspicuous Repair

Recently my headphones broke - there was no sound on the right channel.

Here were my options:

1: Buy a new pair. Perhaps look at a load of consumer reviews to try and choose a make and model.

2: Buy a new pair of the same make and model.

3: Send them to the manufacturer for repair.

4: Send them to a repair shop.

5: Repair them myself.

Of course, I chose to repair them because:

1: Until they broke, my headphones were really good. they worked well, and they lasted seven years (that's like a million in headphone years). I don't want to spend time and money to get a new pair that I might not like.

2: I got this pair cheap on eBay all those years ago. Looking today, they're more expensive. Besides, I have a pair right here, they just need fixing!

3: I looked it up, but the manufacturer won't repair this model. I guess it's just not worth their time.

4: There is no general purpose repair shop near me, as far as I know.

5: I enjoy repairing things.

So, I do a bit of research to find out how to open the casing without detroying it. I do a bit of probing with a multimeter, and work out the cable has a break in it somewhere, but the rest of the wiring and the drivers themselves are OK.

I bodged a three-core wire and a stereo jack to get the headphones working again, but a proper fix needs a more flexible, slimline and lightweight cable and jack.

Away I go to eBay for a cheap aux cable...

Cheap and cheerful, 3m black aux cable with a 3.5mm stereo jack on each end. Chop that in half and I have a new headphone cable and a spare for when they break again in another seven years.

But for a few more pennies I can have a red aux cable. Or hot pink, or neon green.

Maybe a braided or coiled cable instead, or one with a built in mic.

I could go beyond restoring my headpones to what they were before they broke, and repair them in a way that makes them better. Repair them in a way that makes them stand out.

People will comment on them, and I will proudly declare that I repaired them. It will inspire others to repair their own broken items. Millions of tons will be saved from landfill. The world will be better for it...

It put me in mind of kintsugi - the Japanese art of mending broken pots with golden lacquer to highlight the repair and the pot's history.

It also made me think of something I can't quite remember... I'm paraphrasing: "You don't really own something until you void its warranty".

Anyway, I was very happy with my idea and coined a term in my head: Conspicuous Repair - Repairing something in such a way as to make it stand out, in an effort to celebrate and normalize repair work, and encourage others to repair their own broken items.

Feeling very smart, I checked online to see if anyone else had ever thought of this. Of course they had!

I found a paper called: "Conspicuous and inconspicuous repair: A framework for situating

repair in relation to consumer practices and design research" by Lee and Wakefield-Rann.

It was quite interesting, and also included the terms "transformative repair" and "visible mending", which I'm sure will lead me down their own interesting internet rabbit-holes.

In conclusion: I think mending things is neat.

P.S. I went with the hot pink.