The Technological Bind

The other day, I reached into my electronics storage drawer and pulled out my portable VHF. It was making a faint clicking sound, so I figured that I had left it “on” by mistake when I put it away, months ago and that it would come back to life after a day or two on the charger. Unfortunately, I discovered that after a few days in the charger the VHF would only work while in the charging cradle, not receiving or transmitting when out. Based on these results, I ordered a new battery from a large marine retailer which arrived a few days later. I inserted the new battery certain that it would solve the problem. Much to my dismay, the new battery offered poorer performance than the old one, causing the radio not to work in or out of the cradle. So, I called the manufacturer who offered to fix the radio for a $65 flat fee. Now, here’s the bind – while in a major marine retailer yesterday, they showed me a brand new unit for $99. On the one hand, I hate to discard a radio that has served me well for the past 10 years just because of what it likely to be a minor technical snafu; on the other, it doesn’t seem to make sense to revive a critical piece of safety gear, when a new one is about $30 more. That’s a technological bind.

More Resources:  Defender Marine; Hamilton Marine; West Marine; Standard Horizon