PRODUCT RELIABILITY AND WARRANTIES ARE A THING OF THE PAST

In his 2006 book “Make to Break: Technology and Obsolescence in America", author Giles Slade documents many cases of designed and deliberate obsolescence. In 1997, he says,  a PC was expected to last 4 or 5 years; today, the average life expectancy is two or three years. From cell phones to PCs to computer monitors and televisions, every year sees a rise in the number of machines tossed into landfills. In 2003, over 63 million working PCs were trashed, In 2004, that number jumped to 315 million. The same trend holds over a broad array of consumer electronics. Looking back at the early half of the 20th century, business leaders openly promoted planned obsolescence in one form or another, calling it "creative destruction" and other names. They call it different things now: "death dating" or "product lifespan." It is an established strategy. When a junior industrial designer is assigned to a work site and asked to design a product, one of their first questions is: How long is this thing going to last? How long does the competition last? How long is the warranty? Have you looked at consumer warranties at all? They seem to be shrinking dramatically.

The industrial standards board in Washington they told him that the standard life for durable goods was fixed at three years around the beginning of WWI. Most think that three years came from the three-year product cycle of  General Motors . The average cell phone lasts only 18 months in North America and maybe 8 months in Japan, Finland, and Norway. Have you noticed that inside the box of new electronic products, there's a note saying "DO NOT return this item to store; instead, return it directly to manufacturer". I wonder if that is a way discouraging people from returning things in general; the more confusing the process, the less likely people are to do anything about it. Is there a conspiracy theory? Sometimes we think stores have intentionally bad customer service because it encourages people to buy something new rather than dealing with customer service for a return. That's certainly the case with rebate programs. They make it so very difficult to actually collect the rebate.

This intriguing book paints a very discouraging picture of the future as far as products are concerned. It’s suggested you look for a small repair shop for appliances and electronic things and treasure it.