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Phoebus Cartel

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81–90 of 126 posts

Re: Phoebus Cartel

#81
post #14

Related https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planned_obsolescence I would argue that the current economic system does not plan for maximum longevity of products. Rather it can be more profitable for an manufacturer for planned obsolescence or simply make products which does not last that long. As long as they do not get caught that is.

Another possibility is that unplanned obsolescence is part and parcel of chasing bigger margins, and the companies with the biggest margin win out organically.

I'd call that implied obsolescence

Re: Phoebus Cartel

#82
post #64
post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apple is a bad example. The fixed battery increase the overall durability and reduces materials over a design where there was a compartment that could be opened. Apple does battery replacements inexpensively relative to the cost of the device, and they supply batteries to 3rd party repair shops. They have also explicitly declared their intent to increase useful life of their devices as much as possible. The mantra th…

> The fixed battery increase the overall durability and reduces materials over a design where there was a compartment that could be opened. > Apple does battery replacements in expensively relative to the cost of the device, and they supply batteries to 3rd party repair shops. How long does such a replacement take, and why would someone need to leave their phone in the hands of a third party in the first place? Back…

Last time I had it done with my current phone, it was done in less than 15 minutes.

Extra materials are not negligible - at the scale of the iPhone, even 1% of additional material is vast.

In any case, is not only the extra materials that are the problem, it is that phones with a battery compartment are much more fragile, harder to waterproof, etc, and so they fail sooner anyway regardless of whether the battery is changed.

Battery compartments are a red herring. It is already easy and economical to replace an iPhone battery.

People discarding otherwise serviceable phones because they have been misinformed about the ease of battery replacement is the real problem.

Re: Phoebus Cartel

#84
post #3

Today, another halogen lightbulb failed at my house. These are the very unreliable replacements for incandescent bulbs as mandated by the EU.

Halogens burn out quickly, I think it's because they run too hot. I had a bunch of them in my previous apartment, and had to replace a bulb every few months or so. There were even dark marks on the ceiling from the heat.

Re: Phoebus Cartel

#85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

why not use LED lights? at this point they are much cheaper and a magnitude more efficient compared with halogen

Seriously, they're not that expensive. I haven't changed a lightbulb in like 2 years, except for moving. Haven't even needed to buy any new ones since my city utility got some state subsidies (or something along those lines) and gives out bulbs multiple times a year. Also would advocate for more strip lighting in homes. Looks better and saves a lot of space. My home office is all strip lighting.

They do loose some of the light over the years. I read it somewhere online, a guy tested the output after a few years and compared to new ones. Don't know correctly, but it was something like ~10-20% of loss in 2-3 years or something. I'm probably way off, but it was definitely not insignificant.

Re: Phoebus Cartel

#86
post #14

Related https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planned_obsolescence I would argue that the current economic system does not plan for maximum longevity of products. Rather it can be more profitable for an manufacturer for planned obsolescence or simply make products which does not last that long. As long as they do not get caught that is.

To some degree you can get products with longer lifespans, if you look at commercial/industrial models. Sometimes you have to sacrifice fancy features though. I think the reason consumer products mostly suck is that manufacturers have been hiding inflation by cheapening construction. Occasionally it's for weight savings, but I think keeping prices lower is the main reason. People don't realize they're getting vastly…

Marketing tends to follow a tick-tock model.

New and improved! (we made the box smaller)

25% more! (box back to normal size, price goes up.)

Re: Phoebus Cartel

#87
post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is truly a "The Sun"-tier comment. So many things are wrong. The EU did not mandate halogen bulbs, it phased out incandescent bulbs, with many exceptions for situations and use-cases where alternatives are inadequate . You can (and should) buy LEDs which are many times more efficient and cheaper (per hour of life) that incandescent bulbs. Finally, halogen bulbs are not only not "mandated" but actually in the pro…

This is truly a comment with a sign-of-the-times : polarisation. "There is something wrong in your statement. You must be a deplorable." Thank you for participating in this forum.

I never said the poster was a "deplorable", so you must be projecting. The reference to The Scum is due to the fact that British tabloids have a recurring trope of making up ludicrous facts about "totalitarian EU regulations". I hope I cleared up that misunderstanding.

Re: Phoebus Cartel

#89
post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Use these: [1] https://duckduckgo.com/?q=led+filament&t=ffsb&ia=web

Most ‘filament’ LED bulbs are driverless and flicker horribly.

Could be, mine don't. And i consider myself sensitve to flickering. I just grabbed some from the hardware store while i was there and saw them on special offer. Some well known brand name. Guess i've been lucky.

Re: Phoebus Cartel

#90
post #14

Related https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planned_obsolescence I would argue that the current economic system does not plan for maximum longevity of products. Rather it can be more profitable for an manufacturer for planned obsolescence or simply make products which does not last that long. As long as they do not get caught that is.

The counter to this is that people, despite saying otherwise, are not actually interested in spending more money for a better product. Combine that with some markets that have relatively short life between product generations and it removes the need to create products that last a long time. It's more fun and easier to blame corporate greed, but it's rarely the case. More often than not it's just that people want "che…

This is the case.

People will buy el cheapo LED bulbs even now rather than well known brands. And those el cheapo bulbs have low quality electronics that fail quickly.

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