I fixed my espresso machine the other day. It's about 12 years old, is used daily, and has been a reliable chrome beast that I cannot live without. Lately, however, she has been temperamental, with swings in pressure and the need to grind so much coffee and pack it so tight that I feel like my shoulder is being dislocated with each shot.
When something breaks or goes winky, I hit the web in search of answers.
That's right, old Mr. Analog surfs the internet when stuff breaks. In fact figuring how to fix something is my favorite thing to do online. Give me a smelly toilet and some plumbing forums on Reddit (it was the seat), or a video of a Turkish doctor in Virginia replacing the motherboard on her oven, and I am there for it. Bonus points for deep Southern or North British accents.
Fix-It Internet is the promise of the web: a global community of peer knowledge and support, a hive mind of experts and amateurs, a source of informal, free information on how to fix a microwave that keeps going dead (door switches).
The analog element is the fix itself, starting with the fact that these are all things which CAN be fixed. I was playing with my Technics turntable speed controls the other night, but I can’t exactly do anything if my Spotify stops working or if my bluetooth speaker goes silent. Analog goods can be fixed. Sometimes you just need a good whack, or to blow out some dust like a Nintendo cartridge.
That is the enjoyable thing about fixing shit, and the reason why it is a hobby for people in all sorts of areas. The satisfaction that comes from leveling a table or getting an old camera working again is so pure, and so impossible to achieve in much of life. It is a clear victory, a truly beautiful thing, and it is addictive. Fix a broken shed and you wonder what else you can do with this drill and hammer. Before you order a replacement for something on the fritz, try a fix.
Hit the chat boards, watch some videos, scroll the comments, get a screwdriver, make a mess. The worst that happens is you are where you began. The best is a new sense of possibility that uses the best of digital to improve the analog world.
#BTW: it wasn't just the espresso machine, but the grinder settings!