Durability is one of the key decisions for most of my purchases, specifically with my electronics and home purchases. I am going through the process of trying to narrow down my search for roofing materials and I have to say it is a fairly complicated process. Not only do you have aesthetics to deal with but you have all the different warranty levels, brands, and, of course, who is going to install the materials. On one hand, I can install it myself easily and I know the work will be right, or I can hire a contractor and the work will be done faster and have a warranty on the labor.

Mechanical products are another item that typically will have a point where they fail. The simplest designs are often some of the best, as far as how long they last. Look at appliances for the home, they all have electronics in them now and are expensive to repair. Twenty years ago, there were no electronics in them and they could usually be fixed with simple parts. How about keyboards for computers though, a lot has changed with how we look at them and mechanical keyboards are much more durable than the membrane style. I know I had an old IBM keyboard and you couldn't break it. Membrane keyboards then became popular, and now we are back to more sophisticated mechanical designs.