The boyfriend found this documentary on NRK nett-tv, called Pyramids of Waste (Norwegian: Garantert kort levetid). Very interesting stuff! Really makes you see things differently.
You know how your computer always breaks down a week after warranty’s out? Or your iPod dies, or your printer stops working? It’s not life being cruel, or the irony of fate. It was engineered to do that.
If you’re in Norway (or if you’re me, apparently, cause for some reason it worked) you can watch the documentary here. You can read about the documentary here.
3 Comments
I’ve thought that was so for a long time. It seems like alot of people know… but nobody cares…
According to a friend of mine who repairs electronics it’s not true, but I maintain that he’s not an engineer and so can’t really know if the things he repairs were built to last or not.
It’s cartainly true for values of “obsolescent” that include “will cost more to repair (include chargeout rates for labour here) than to buy a direct replacement for”.