Posted on 06/19/2019 8:23:57 AM PDT by fireman15
Planned obsolescence, or built-in obsolescence, in industrial design and economics is a policy of planning or designing a product with an artificially limited useful life, so it will become obsolete (that is, unfashionable or no longer functional) after a certain period of time.
No company will admit they have this policy, but we can observe this from a products’ average failure rate and the company’s sincerity in fixing it by making available parts required to fix it. This is why I am a huge fan of Japanese products and also Apple. Products are not merely hardware, Apple on the other hand is known for updating their 4 or 5 years old iPhone with the latest OS. As for parts, it is easy to find spare parts for most Japanese brands.
(Excerpt) Read more at geckoandfly.com ...
The 2009 data comment is in reference to the squaretrade article referenced in the preceding comment, and not to the data in this article.
I also find it interesting that no mention is made of the fact that apple updates the older devices and slows them down, to force people to want upgrades.
You mean I’m not the only person who keeps stuff that quit working because I paid good money for it?
My Wife will be shocked.
My desktop computers typically last around 10 years before the hard drive quits working.
Far more common is for a computer to get all screwed up from software issues. I am not very good at fixing this but if I keep going, I eventually get it restored to original start point and then have to reload everything and of course lose some things for good.
I only have one lap top and it is still working after around 10 years. It actually got messed up the worst of everything but after maybe six months of trying, installed a Windows 7 upgrade and erased everything. Now still mechanically and software fine.
I suspect that the popularity of tablets is putting tight pricing requirements on today’s laptops. For surfing and lightweight computing needs a tablet is hard to beat.
I keep a couple of older DELL laptops. One originally had Windows XP on it and the other had Vista. That gives you an idea as to their vintage. I stripped off the old Microsoft OS and put Linux on both. They both fly now and the cases, screens and keyboards are OK.
re: “This is why I am a huge fan of Japanese products and also Apple”
” and ALSO APPLE”?
This guy has never heard of Louis Rossmann ...
“The horrible truth about Apple’s repeated engineering failures.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUaJ8pDlxi8
It's kind of hard to get 2-year failure data any fresher than that =)
My Dell touchpad drives me nuts. In addition to the problem you report, the pad is offset from the centerline. While watching the screen, my thumb invariably goes to the wrong side of the touchpad. I also have problems with the touch screen. Static electricity builds up when using the touchpad or mouse and the cursor becomes uncontrolable. Switching back to touchscreen mode fixes it for a short period, but this machine is useless for serious work.
Looking for a replacement and this one will go in the corner for some routine task.
We recently wiped the hard drive of a rather newer HP laptop and sent it to the recycle bin. It was super slow to boot up and I hated it so never used it. In the mornings I use my Dell desktop to read my news on. That’s it. Then I move to my Ipad which I’m on my 4th one I think since they came out. I either use the old ones to run my tv’s via a plugin or give them to the grandkids. Getting ready to buy a 12.9 Ipad Pro in October when the new ones come out. Can’t wait! I love my apple products.
I used a Gateway both at home and a work. I was deeply disappointed that they sold out to Lenovo and ceased operations in Sioux Falls, SD. I had my Gateways for about 8 years and they just wore out from use.
Because if they did not, the then new OS would cause them to over heat and the battery would die.
re: “I suspect that it is planned obsolescence.”
I have never once in my life attended a meeting where we planned obsolescence.
For the most part, it just happens for reasons like material (poor choices in the plastic, or, the manufacturer of the plastic failed to constitute the right blend of materials for a long-lived plastic).
We have (or group) have a variety of ‘gear’ still operating from the mid 1960’s, and yes, there are SOME things that fail (like electrolytic capacitors and fans) BUT the semiconductors and tubes (a few transmitting style tubes) STILL WORK!!!
Shhh!... Fanbois are listening.
Then install Win 10 and erase the Apple OS. Or use them both and linix and others
Like anything, it depends. They all have different product lines for different markets. Take Lenovo for instance. Their E series is their economy line but their T series and W series are their business line and are very well made.
That’s all we run around here. My wife and daughter have Yogas which seem to be fine so far. My son and I have W series and hardly new. 2012-ish.
I hate that IBM sold out to Lenovo, a Chinese company but they didn’t change things too much really. Thing I like best is the Hardware Maintenance Manual which tells you how to replace any part and the parts availability is good because they’ve made so many of them.
There’s an abundance of good used units that come from corporate leases that expired.
I run dual boot win7 pro + linux mint kde version. I rarely use the win7 side and on linux(ubuntu based), I have a 10-15 second start up time and as little as 5 second shut down time. It never stumbles on anything I throw at it. Multiple images open for editing, 30-40 browser tabs open at the same time along with email client and a couple other progs open. Not bad for 2.7GHz/16gb ram at a price of $280.00
Article mentions toughbook/toughpad. I’ve got toughpad. Built to mil specs, will handle 4 foot drop to concrete, outdoor viewable, handles extreme temps and can get rained on. I use it for a vehicle scan tool.
Lenovo is now Chinese owned.
Data from 2009
There are a few of us around. You never know when it might come in handy. :-)
The reason they’re so cheap is because it’s google and they’ll gladly give you a deal on hardware so they can extract all your personal data. googly love love loves your data.
Already addressed three times... which data do you believe is from 2009?
#2 Dell touchpads never work right.
I noticed other brands with working left/right controls on the touchpad working as they should.
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