I dont believe it happens in the sense that its actually possible
to design something to fail early and still have a viable product.
And there is plenty of stuff that clearly aint anything to do
with planned obsolescence at all. Most obviously with stuff
as basic as bread knives which are all metal. Those wont
even need to be replaced when the handle gives out.
And heaps of kitchen stuff is now stainless steel, which
will last forever compared with the older tinplate crap.
I intentionally try to have older appliances, vehicles, machines to
lower repair costs and keep overall ownership cost to a minimum.
Works fine with some things, but can bite. I just replaced
the switch in the vaccuum cleaner which is about 40 years
old. Cost peanuts and was very easy to find a new one.
The big 9¼" hand held circular saw that I built the house with
35 years ago has just seen the power switch fail and that is
no longer available from the manufacturer. Fortunately its
failed on so the saw is still usable tho more dangerous.
It uses blades with a 1?" hole. The current blades have
1" holes with washers which allow smaller shafts but no
easy way to use them on my old saw. There doesnt appear
to be any readily available source of different collets for that.
Just had the chain adjuster failed on a dirt cheap relatively
new electric chainsaw. I assumed that they wouldnt bother
to supply parts like that, but I was wrong, readily available
and in fact free. Clearly no planned obsolescence there.
And power tools are now so cheap that they are very viable
to buy even for just one job. I had to cut a copper pipe thats
buried in the ground and it costs peanuts to buy a very decent
jigsaw to cut it, just to avoid having to dig a bigger hole around
where I needed to cut it. Its been fine for other stuff since,
no evidence that its going to die any time soon. Could well get
40 years out of that too like I did with most of the power tools
that I used to build the house.
Cars in spades. I've just replaced my 35 year old car that I was
too stupid to fix the windscreen leak with which eventually produced
rust holes in the floor which wont pass our registration check.
While its possible to plate the holes, I cant be bothered, I intended
to drive that car into the ground and decided that that had happened.
No evidence that the replacement new car wont last as long. Its
certainly got more plastic, most obviously with the bumper bars that
the new one doesnt have, but that mostly due to modern crumple
zones, not due to planned obsolescence and might save my life etc.
People were raving on about planned obsolescence when
I built the house and I've had very little that has ever needed
replacement apart from basic stuff like light bulbs and the
occassional failure of stuff like elements in the oven etc.
More below.
Irreparable damage
By Bryce Baschuk
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
January 9, 2007
Bill Jones, after 42 years, is finally closing the
Procter Appliance Service shop in Silver Spring.
That isnt planned obsolescence, thats the fact that its a
lot cheaper to pay a very low wage asian to make you
a new one than it ever is to pay a first world monkey to
repair your existing one with all but quite trivial faults.
"You can't make a good salary to survive on the way you
could years ago," said the 61-year-old owner of the oven,
refrigerator and washer-dryer repair shop. "Everything
has changed in the appliance business."
It has indeed, but not because of planned obsolescence.
Mr. Jones recently sold his home in Laurel and is in the
process of moving to Bluffton, S.C., with his wife, Jeannette.
Sob sob.
Mr. Jones is one of the many Washington-area repairmen who have
struggled to stay afloat as residents replace, not repair, old appliances.
Because its generally better value to replace.
"It's a dying trade," said Scott Brown, Webmaster of
www.fixitnow.com
and self-proclaimed "Samurai Appliance Repairman."
Wota fucking wanker. Bet he doesnt disembowel himself when he fucks up.
The reason for this is twofold, Mr. Brown said: The cost
of appliances is coming down because of cheap overseas
labor and improved manufacturing techniques,
So much for your silly line about planned obsolescence.
and repairmen are literally dying off.
They arent in other industrys that are still viable,
most obviously with cars and trucks and houses.
The average age of appliance technicians is 42, and there are few
young repairmen to take their place, said Mr. Brown, 47. He has
been repairing appliances in New Hampshire for the past 13 years.
He should have had a clue 13 years ago.
The writing was on the wall long before that.
In the next seven years, the number of veteran appliance
repairmen will decrease nationwide as current workers retire
or transfer to other occupations, the Department of Labor
said in its 2007 Occupational Outlook Handbook.
Must be rocket scientist shinybums.
The federal agency said many prospective repairmen prefer work
that is less strenuous and want more comfortable working conditions.
They actually prefer a decent income.
That claimed 'prefer work that is less strenuous and want more
comfortable working conditions' clearly hasnt affect car, truck or
house repair and the construction industry etc. Tho there will
always be some of that with a 5% unemployment rate.
Local repairmen said it is simply a question of economics.
"Nowadays appliances are cheap, so people are just getting new ones,"
Yep, only a fool wouldnt if the new one costs about
the same as the cost of repairing the old one.
said Paul Singh, a manager at the Appliance Service Depot, a repair
shop in Northwest. "As a result, business has slowed down a lot."
"The average repair cost for a household appliance is $50 to $350,"
said Shahid Rana, a service technician at Rana Refrigeration, a repair
shop in Capitol Heights. "If the repair is going to cost more than
that, we usually tell the customer to go out and buy a new one."
Must be rocket scientist apes.
It's not uncommon for today's repairmen to condemn an appliance
instead of fixing it for the sake of their customers' wallets.
If they decide to repair an appliance that is likely to break
down again, repairmen are criticized by their customers
and often lose business because of a damaged reputation.
Mr. Jones said he based his repair decisions on the 50 percent
rule: "If the cost of service costs more than 50 percent of the price
of a new machine, I'll tell my customers to get a new one."
What makes a lot more sense is to factor in the failure rate of that appliance.
"A lot of customers want me to be honest with them, so I'll tell them
my opinion and leave the decision making up to them," he said.
In recent years, consumers have tended to buy new
appliances when existing warranties expire rather than
repair old appliances, the Department of Labor said.
Hardly surprising given that they are now so cheap.
Mr. Brown acknowledged this trend. "Lower-end appliances which you
can buy for $200 to $300 are basically throwaway appliances," he said.
"They are so inexpensive that you shouldn't pay to get them repaired."
"The quality of the materials that are being made aren't lasting,"
Pig ignorant silly stuff.
Mr. Jones said. "Nowadays you're seeing more plastic
I had some reservations about my 35 year old
dishwasher that does have a plastic liner. Its lasted fine.
and more circuit boards, and they aren't holding up."
Bullshit.
Many home appliances sold in the United States
are made in Taiwan, Singapore, China and Mexico.
And now china.
"Nothing is made [in the United States] anymore," Mr. Jones said.
"But then again, American parts are only better to a point,
a lot of U.S. companies are all about the dollar."
Fortunately for the next generation of repairmen, some of today's
high-end appliances make service repairs the most cost-effective option.
The Department of Labor concurred. "Over the next decade, as more
consumers purchase higher-priced appliances designed to have much
longer lives, they will be more likely to use repair services than to
purchase new appliances," said the 2007 Occupational Outlook Handbook.
Bet that will have **** all effect on the employment prospects.
Modern, energy-efficient refrigerators
can cost as much as $5,000 to $10,000,
Pig ignorant drivel. You can buy plenty of modern energy efficient
fridges for a hell of a lot less than that. I've done just that a month ago.
and with such a hefty price tag, throwing one away is not an option.
Bet the fools stupid enough to buy those will anyway.
In some cases, repairmen can help consumers reduce the
amount of aggravation that a broken appliance will cause.
Consider the time and effort it takes to shop for a new appliance, wait
for its delivery, remove the old one and get the new one installed.
I did mine in 30 mins total, literally.
In addition, certain appliances such as ovens and
washing machines can be a bigger hassle to replace
because they are connected to gas and water lines.
Just changed washing machines over too, with a free
one I inherited. Changing the water over took minutes too.
"It takes your time, it takes your effort, and if you don't
install the new appliance, you'll have to hire a service
technician to install it anyways," Mr. Brown said.
Only the incompetant fools that cant change the washing machine over.
Some consumers bond with their appliances like old pets,
and for loyalty or sentimental reasons, refuse to let them go.
Mr. Rana said some of his clients have appliances that are
more than 30 years old. It makes sense, he said. "A lot of old
refrigerators are worth fixing because they give people good service.
Wrong, those are normally lousy energy efficiency.
They just don't make things like they used to."
Yeah, they make them much better today energy efficiency wise.
And much better design wise too with the shelves and bins etc too.
