I still remember the first kit I ever built: an RC10B2 sport R/C car from Team Associated. When working on it, I immediately understood why people don't like kits. It took two weeks of working every day after school, and the frustration when I didn't understand a step or I broke a piece drove me crazy. I couldn't help but wonder, “Why did I spend 10 months' of my savings on this?” But then it worked! And the time invested began paying dividends that very day.
What's the first thing a kid does with an RC car? Run it off a giant jump at full speed, of course! Unfourtunatly, this caused a suspension part to break. But, no problem; a quick bike ride to the hobby store and I had a part installed without so much as a glance at reference material. After all, I had built the suspension system at least once before.
Now as I am older (read: paying more bills) I find myself identifying with some aspects of minimalist living. Living this way makes me lament the fact that more products aren't sold as kits. I understand the reasons behind kits being unpopular: it is easier to buy than build, and the prices are lower thanks to cheap, non-serviceable production completed by people working for low wages.
But what so few consider is the inevitable occurrence of a 'cheap and easy' device breaking. Or worse, when an expensive name-brand device breaks because the manufacturer decided to offshore production and 'optimize' the design for cost savings. I'm tired of stuff breaking almost as often as the R/C car I'd drive off ramps at 25 MPH. What really drives me up the wall is when I attempt to repair it, finding that the device was designed only to make it beyond the 1-year warranty period and NEVER be serviced. Even when I do get into the device and determine root cause, finding a replacement part that I can buy for less than 50% of the entire unit's purchase price is unlikely.
Instead, consider the kit model:
-A person buys a device with not only their money, but also with their time. It makes people think more about their actual needs instead of being motivated to act on marketing shticks. It is easier to waste $50 on items that only help perpetuate the hedonic treadmill when the user only needs 5 minutes to get it set up and running.
-Every item built from a kit offers education. It empowers novices and maintains the skills of the experienced.
-The designs are made to be repaired. Instead of throwing it out, the assembler can easily open the device and diagnose the problem in about the same amount of time that it would take to research buying a new unit (Note that the replacement will undoubtedly have the same long-term quality problems).
-Once the problem part is isolated, it is easy to reorder the part thanks to the very descriptive BOM that is included in the instructions. You might even get full documentation with schematics, too!
-The supply chain is expecting people to buy extra parts, so there is an excellent chance that a user can find a part in stock and at a reasonable price.
Sadly with the time pressures and attitude found in most shoppers, I do not expect that a multinational company such as GE will begin making their products available in kit form. After all, if you are going to sell 100 million units, your market is not going to be people that want to buy things once in their lifetime. But when I find companies and engineers selling kits I gain a little hope for the lost potential that kits represent: Fewer meaningless things; more knowledge, ability, and craftsmanship; better life.