The Light Bulb Conspiracy

[Jay481985]

The star tac was an amazing phone

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motorola_StarTAC

Not that amazing. It worked well enough, but the antenna snapped off twice on mine, costing $40 to replace each time. It was such a common repair that the shop kept a supply of them, and could replace the antenna in less time than it took to print the invoice.

As for planned obsolescence, I remember seeing a reader's letter to an AV magazine. He grumbled about the flimsy build quality of video cameras. The editor responded that it didn't matter, since most users bought a new videocam every couple of years, so they'd have the latest features.

I wasn't too impressed with that.

I remember the later model had a antenna that did not come out. As with the repair, yep it was easy to repair.

I have a denon 3805 receiver (made in 2005) and is working fine but struggling to try and rewire it in a way that works as it lacks hdmi. Sooner or later anything electronic will become obsolete. I don't understand the mentality of lifetime tools versus electronics. People complain that their cellphones become obsolete so fast compared to say a professional hand tool. The handtool does one thing well, a "smart phone" does more than just make calls now.

The thing is that the cell phones are intentionally designed to fail at about 20 months after they are purchased (and no, they are not free, the price is built into the contract). They can last much longer but the battery, which is not designed to be changed, is intentionally designed to fail a few months before the contract ends. Is this just a coincidence? I have a calculator from undergrad that still has the original battery (from the late 1980's).

again The handtool does one thing well, a "smart phone" does more than just make calls now.

You are comparing a calculator that does one thing well compared to a multipurpose tool like say a swiss army knife. Do I expect my swiss army knife to be able to saw like a real saw, hammer like a 12 ounce framing tool, drill like a 24 volt? No. And the calculator in terms of energy use is much less so than a smart phone. I wager the battery in your calculator has less discharge on it in it's whole life than one recharge cycle on a smart phone.

This argument is boiling down to some certain political points a certain party tries to shove down their consitutents when in fact it does nothing to the national budget.

[tigerwoodKhorns]

Jay,

The battery was merely an example that I need to expand upon. If I replace the battery in the calculator, a new one will last a year or two at the most. This happens with my watch, the one that came with it lasted many years, the replacements, not matter how "high quality" only last 18 months. So I have a battery that was designed 20 years ago that is still working, but I cannot buy a battery today that will last that long.

I think that I can rephrase this, and do correct me if I am wrong. So please, the next two paragraphs are a summary.

You are completely fine with your cell phone being designed to fail in 20 months because you plan on upgrading anyway, because you like cell phones and their various new features, as do millions of people. That is your choice, you probably would not like my collection of 678 china plates with pictures of shih tzus on them.

However, because you and many others enjoy buying new cell phones every year or two, I should not be forced to do the same thing, because I do not care about the newest features. And here is the crux of the matter, it does not cost any more to build a higher quality product, in fact, additional R&D is performed (the cost of which is passed on to the consumer) to make the phones fail earlier. So I have to pay for a phone that it designed to fail early, even though I prefer to keep it for 4 or 5 years.

As a quick aside, I bought a top of the line android last year for $500 (that is what you actually pay when you sign up for the $200 phone). It broke and the immidiate solution from the cell company was to buy their new greatest phone. It was out of warranty and I did get them to replace it after some effort.

[Jay481985]

I think battery technology improved as of late. As with the battery in the calculator, its a fluke and you cannot compare apples to apples. are you sure the new battery will last only a year or two?

With the new smartphones, I believe apple does the lithium polymer batteries to cram as many maH as possible to extend their use time. Had they put less than optimal, well then you are going to get some angry customers.

And I think its more in line with the hairdryer situation. Hair dryers last about a year or two with constant use. But a professional hair dryer for a barber or salon lasts much longer but also costs 500 dollars or so. Imagine a cellphone made to those specs, oh yeah here it is

http://www.gadgetreview.com/2011/10/vertu-constellation-t.html

[Marvel]

I have a Sony Ericsson W810i that I purchased new in early 2006, so it's coming up on being seven years old. It has the original battery, and the phone still works flawlessly. I charge it every other day, probably, but I could replace it if I wanted to. I bought an unlocked phone so that I could put in a gsm card from the Philippines when I traveled there. that way I would have a local number and not have to pay for overseas service on my regular contract. This may seem like a distraction to the thread, but my wife's phone was flaky until I unlocked it. Perhaps you get my drift. The phone itself works great, but the cell provider, in this case AT&T, probably had something weird going on.

Bruce

[Jay481985]

I am not sure since the phone was from 2006 but bloatware does use a lot of battery. I unlocked my phone so I can turn off half of the "required" apps that verizon puts on my phone.

[Islander]

And I think its more in line with the hairdryer situation. Hair dryers last about a year or two with constant use. But a professional hair dryer for a barber or salon lasts much longer but also costs 500 dollars or so. Imagine a cellphone made to those specs, oh yeah here it is

You must do a lot of drying. I've had the same $30 Philips for 22 years and it still works well.