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Electronics are built with death dates. Let’s not keep them a secret

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Re: Electronics are built with death dates. Let’s not keep them a secret

#311

Post by ChoGGi »

yetanotherloser wrote: post #205
fzzt wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Many LED lightbulbs make claims about their expected lifetime. Except these numbers are often a fantasy. The LED itself may last almost forever, but the capacitors commonly go bad in a year or so. I suspect that would be the reality with a lot of the proposed mandatory labeling for electronics, too.

I'm surprised so many people's experience of LED bulbs is short lifetime. Most of the LED bulbs I ever bought have lasted many, many years. I only had one type ever fail and those looked clearly inferior in build to all the other types. ("free" with some light fittings, not my choice). Took one of those apart, no capacitors in the design any more but dodgy wire connections that creep with the hot-cold on-off cycle in…

My friend had about ten led potlights installed (by an electrician) two years ago, must've had a bad batch as one died and another is dim.

Re: Electronics are built with death dates. Let’s not keep them a secret

#312

Post by fiddlerwoaroof »

coldtea wrote: post #219
fiddlerwoaroof wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Recent Macs have cords that come in three parts: brick-to-plug, brick, brick-to-laptop. It’s one of my favorite changes in the newer MacBook models.

That has been available in Macs since 20+ years. It depends on the model, as not all get this.

My 2015 MacBook Pro and all the previous MacBook chargers I’ve seen have two-part chargers: the brick-to-laptop connection was hardwired into the brick and typically would fail and require buying a whole new charger. Starting around 2016, MacBooks fixed this issue.

Re: Electronics are built with death dates. Let’s not keep them a secret

#313

Post by fiddlerwoaroof »

Twisell wrote: post #276
fiddlerwoaroof wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Recent Macs have cords that come in three parts: brick-to-plug, brick, brick-to-laptop. It’s one of my favorite changes in the newer MacBook models.

That is actually not so new if I remember correctly this model begun with the 2016 USB-C models. Glad they kept it this way while reintroducing the magsafe connector for "brick-to-laptop".

Yeah, 2016+ is still new to me :) I used 2015 MacBooks until a couple years ago.

Re: Electronics are built with death dates. Let’s not keep them a secret

#314

Post by GauntletWizard »

coldtea wrote: post #220
GauntletWizard wrote: post #146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They can't; Apple has a patent on Magsafe.

Since they already make it and sell it, they can (standardize too). They just can't call it Magsafe (trademarked) or use the patented Magsafe design.

Just because someone is doing something, doesn't mean anyone can do something without Apple filing a lawsuit. The small players are small enough to fly under the radar. A consortium standardizing would be a target.

Re: Electronics are built with death dates. Let’s not keep them a secret

#315

Post by nautilius »

hellgas00 wrote: post #153
nautilius wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's rarely the engineer deciding this.

It is.. Civil engineers have the opportunity to design for quality in their specs and drawings. If they don't it means the client is getting a raw deal or the client optioned for a cheaper engineering solution.

> or the client optioned for a cheaper engineering solution.

Haha, sure. Let me rephrase: an engineer with a job.

Re: Electronics are built with death dates. Let’s not keep them a secret

#316

Post by deathanatos »

guerby wrote: post #115
deathanatos wrote: post #87

It's not even just batteries. Every laptop I've ever owned comes with a AC to DC converter. Every laptop I've ever owned has outlived that AC-to-DC converter. Every converter that has failed has failed in exactly the same way: the plug/cord connection at the laptop end becomes unreliable. And every single one of them, across a range of manufacturers, has had the cord not be detachable from the brick. So what could ha…

Same experience here. That's why my current laptop is a https://frame.work - USB-C to USB-C adapters means that the part that will fail is changeable - All four USB-C are able to charge the laptop. And the power brick also has detachable USB-C AND power cord cable. (And just for fun I ordered an upgrade to the motherboard, will use the old motherboard as always on PC in my home)

I thought about and perhaps should have mentioned USB-C.

Overall, yeah, where USB-C can be applied, I like it, and it definitely helps turn the charger into a bit more of a commodity, and for whatever reason, USB-C chargers seem to not suffer the design flaw I mentioned above as much: the cables tend to detach at the converter. The two big issues I have is that a. chargers are terrible at listing the max wattage they can supply (and laptops their draw), so it's hard to impossible to know if a given charger will be able to supply enough power. My work desk had built in power & USB-C charging, for example, and I now comically charge my USB-C work laptop off the desk's AC plug (a MBP¹, so that's thankfully USB-C). USB-C never really charger, and eventually we figured out that the desk (and this was hard to find) was a USB PD of like 15 W. And MBPs need 87 W or so.

And b., my current laptop alleges to have a max draw of 135 W, which is above the max for USB-C. (Which is why I suspect it has a custom adapter… but who knows.)

¹I am glad Apple switched to USB-C, and they allievated the design flaw I mention in their chargers when they did so, for which they should be praised. But there is so much else wrong — completely unservicable design, the butterfly keyboard problems, cable-gate, battery recalls, ergo fails, heat dissipation issues, macOS, crap warranty — with their laptops that it isn't sufficient to tip the scales to me buying.

Re: Electronics are built with death dates. Let’s not keep them a secret

#317

Post by bandie91 »

scarface74 wrote: post #106
slategruen wrote: post #76

I think the smart thing to do now is to buy products with the fewest features as possible and has decoupled components like easily replaceable batteries. I've noticed that the dumber the device is, the longer it usually lasts. I'd rather buy an analog watch than a smartwatch. I'd rather have a dumb TV than a smart TV. I'd rather have a mouse with hot swappable batteries than one with a built-in charger.

Unfortunately, analog watches don’t allow me to leave my phone at home when I go for a run and let me listen to music, take phone calls, get directions, track my speed, etc.

my analog watch does not prevent my to leave my phone at home :) tbh, it can not prevent me from doing anything, it's just there ticking…

Re: Electronics are built with death dates. Let’s not keep them a secret

#318

Post by cmeacham98 »

gsich wrote: post #294
cmeacham98 wrote: post #280

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Let me provide an alternative way of thinking about it: you _gain_ one port when you're not charging. If we replaced the usb-c charging port with a normal charging port you would permanently lose it.

Not replaced, in addition. Like Apple does.

Ports take up space on the outside and inside of the computer. If we're going to add an extra port for some proprietary charger, why not just make it an extra usb-c port instead?

Re: Electronics are built with death dates. Let’s not keep them a secret

#319

Post by sizzle »

amelius wrote: post #227
GauntletWizard wrote: post #146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They can't; Apple has a patent on Magsafe.

MagSafe is derived from a magnetic power connection that deep fat fryers used to keep dangerous accidents from happening in the kitchen

First time hearing this, super interesting. Got any links to read more on how this prevents a dangerous accident? What does it do to stop the accident, from sparking the oil and ignoring it if the cord is accidentally sheered and exposed?

Re: Electronics are built with death dates. Let’s not keep them a secret

#320

Post by what-imright »

deltasevennine wrote: post #190
what-imright wrote: post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes the lightbulb conspiracy and planned obsolescence. Here’s why that’s no longer a threat; it’s bad business. It’s a PR nightmare, and totally unnecessary. For instance my last (17 inch) MBP lasted a full decade including the battery without any service required. In fact it became a problem for me in that I was waiting for it to break so I could go by a new one. Apple learned that having products with planned obsol…

>Apple learned that having products with planned obsolescence was bad for business and just stopped doing it. This is False. Apple is one of the companies that completely buys into planned obsolescence. They never stopped doing it. They still do it and they practically invented it for iphones and ipads. If other phone companies are doing planned obsolescence then they most likely learned it from apple. Apple is one o…

You cite no evidence. I have the opposite experience first hand. Phone manufactures have been copying Apple since the iPhone because they have no sense of innovation whatsoever. The batteries are cheaply replaceable, just not as easily. But your average Jo doesn't want to take a class in watchmaking to change a phone battery, he’ll work an extra shift and drop it at the Apple store. No people aren’t irrational in groups, they simply don’t want to preserve their products more than 5 years. They want to upgrade. Don’t care about supporting the used market. There’s no incentive. They get their money’s worth and move on. These are transient objects for humans passing through their years. A useful novelty, a pleasant experience, that’s all they want.

And not accepting a democratically elected official; again they voted for what was perceived to be in their interests. Trump incentivized. There was no mistake.

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