Starting to read this excellent book properly, having skimmed through it and read selectively in the past. In his chapter, ‘Re-evaluating Obsolescence and Planning for It’, Brian Burns writes:
Misuse or mishandling caused by the user’s lack of knowledge about how a product is supposed to be used, perhaps a consequence of removing users from any maintenance or functional engagement (as signalled in the advice;’Simply take it out of the box and plug it in’), may lead to prematurely short product life-spans.
This implies that a deeper engagement with a product, gained through having to take care of it, can help the user to understand how to make sure that the product has a long and useful life.
Gordon Young 