15 Dec
2011
15 Dec
'11
4:58 p.m.
On 15/12/11 11:05 AM, TeoZ wrote:
----- Original Message ----- From: "Shoppa, Tim" <tshoppa at wmata.com>
To: <cctalk at classiccmp.org>
Sent: Thursday, December 15, 2011 10:12 AM
Subject: Re: Cheap Chinese electrolytics - a plague - Re: TV -> D-Sub
converter possible?
> On 12/14/2011 08:29 PM, Toby Thain wrote:
>> I've "field repaired" at least five units in this way, giving them
a
>> happy rebirth - The rest of the monitor lasts a lot longer than the
>> stupid capacitors do. Building in obsolescence like this should be a
>> crime that puts people behind bars.
>
> If they had successfully built in obsolescence, then all the parts
> would fail at the same time.
That was the ideal of Henry Ford, I believe. But it is very hard to
achieve, and evil, really. There was a time, not so long ago, when
things were built to work well, endure, and be repaired.
Then China happened.
--T
The US big 3 automakers to their credit did a pretty good job with
this for a long time. Yeah, cars in crashes still had good parts to
pick over in a junkyard, but by the end of a cars natural life there
really wasn't an awful lot left to pick over.
Not that I'd wish a 1974 Dodge Monaco on just anyone :-)
Tim.
The problem is engineering tools got better and better so the fudge
factor needed to make sure the part lasted as long as it was designed
for got lower and lower. Metal use dropped as plastics got stronger, so
parts get brittle with age instead of lasting forever. Things like this
are done to make parts cheaper to compete better (basically to squeeze
more profit out of something), so we have items designed to fail after
the warranty expires. The cheaper something is sold for the shorter the
warranty needed so by design things become cheaper and disposable.