My electrician uncle made me rethink how I hang shelves

We were hanging drywall in my basement last Saturday and my uncle, who has been doing electrical work since the 80s, stopped me while I was marking studs for a bookshelf. He said, "You know that level you're using is the same one I dropped off a ladder in 1998, right?" I laughed but then he pointed out that I've bought three new levels since I started doing projects, always chasing something newer or fancier with lasers and digital readouts. He showed me how his old trusted tool still reads true after 26 years, and it made me think about all the gear I've swapped out just because something shinier came along. My last laser level cost me 80 bucks at Home Depot and it's already collecting dust in a drawer because the battery door broke. He told me that in his line of work, you only replace a tool when it fails you, not when the catalog tells you to. Has anyone else gone back to older, simpler tools after wasting money on upgrades that didnt really do the job better?