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How rental ‘libraries of things’ have become the new way to save money
(www.theguardian.com)
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this post was submitted on 06 May 2024
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Renting stuff makes sense, but there are still lots of inherent problems with tool libraries and the like.
They're great for a carpet shampooer or chainsaw you need once a year, but if you actually want to fix and build stuff around the home then booking a tool, taking perfect measurements, hauling your stuff over to a tool library, building it, hauling everything back home to check it, is simply an infeasibly onerous process. The instant you make a mistake and need a different tool, or check a measurement, etc, you're wasting hours of time, which is most often the biggest limiter for home projects anyways.
You also don't get to learn on the same tool and build up instincts and understanding of how it behaves.
I think you ahve a fundamental misunderstanding on how the tool libraries and stuff work..
I'm conflating a tool library and a maker space but the same issues apply to both. Either way, for home projects you end up with a whole lot of extra transportation.
None of this was about a maker space either
Cool beans bro, learn how to read a full comment and you'd see the part where it doesn't matter since theyre basically the same and have the same drawbacks.
No, conflating them doesn't make any sense. You bring home the tool from the tool library, and you bring it back when you're done. It's one extra trip vs. going to the hardware store to buy the tool. The concerns about mismeasurements and extra trips don't apply.
You'd have a point if the thread were about maker spaces, I'll give you that. As it stands, though, I'd say your concerns are misdirected.
You cut the first piece, realize you actually need a different type of saw for the next cut, it's booked out, now your project is indefinitely delayed.
They are similar because in both cases you are sacrificing resiliency (multiple copies of a resource), for efficiency (a singular shared copy).
A tool library is still a great idea / resource for when you're doing a project and need one weird tool that youll never use again, but most people who do any real amount of DIY over their lives will want their own set of tools that cover most of the bases.
Counterpoint: You go to the store to buy the saw you think you'll need, come home, cut the first piece -- boom, same realization. Same time-sink to go back to the store. I don't think that's a concern unique to tool libs.
Well, yeah. We're talking more expensive things that you only need for one project, or maybe a couple of times. Not the screwdriver set that you use for everything from box-cutting to adjusting the screws on your cabinet doors when they seem wonky.
Yes, except that when your buying tools, that only happens once. The next project that happens you have that tool sitting there waiting for you.
By basic DIY tools I don't just mean screw driver, I mean probably something along the lines of: screwdriver set, socket set, hammer, wrench set, drill / driver, circular saw, multitool, jigsaw, tape measures, clamps, level, plus basic painting tools, basic drywalling tools, basic electrical tools.
If you're doing multiple projects where you need that same tool, that does tilt the scale towards buying. Rentals are best for one-off things.
I don't see how going to the library is such a big hurdle? The closest library to me is less than ten minutes drive, and on the way to a lot of stuff. I don't know this seems like a kind of insane objection. If you're poor, it's not like you're just gonna spend $200 on a new tool anyway because you can't. In my experience I'm more likely to just try to make do with the crappy alternative I have available.
This take just seems really privileged. The biggest barrier for a lot of people isn't the time - it's affording the tools in the first place.
I mean if you're trying to learn to be a competent handyman or build a bookcase maybe yeah, but I just need a screwdriver set for like 30 minutes to put something together.
Now a multi screwdriver is something you can buy.
You had it, then you lost it. It's for those things you need only once a year or two years or never again.
Libraries of things should be state run and free at point of use. They should also be integrated into communities in a way that makes them easy to access. Instead of everyone having a lawn mower, you check out an electric mower once a week, on a date that you’ve reserved it, and the entire community uses it, or if in a large community, your immediate neighbors use it, and then it’s returned for the next people to use it.
Libraries of things should not only be for things you use once a year. They should be for just about everything that you don’t use every day.
Usafruct >>>>>> UsusFructisAbusus.