Enterprises are able to pay huge maintenance fees. Single consumers are not and game theory teaches us, that they are unable to unite to get it (free rider problem). So I fear, that we need stronger consumer protection for software products. I do not know the situation in the US, but in the EU we have a mandated 2 year warranty for almost every product with very few sensible exceptions (food and the like). We need th…
> Related to that, double or triple the warranty periods. I'm not convinced that this solves anything. When you buy a 50 euro/dollar vacuum do you expect it to have the same life expectancy as the 500 dollar vacuum made with higher quality parts? If the company is required to provide a 6 year warranty for a machine that they estimate to last 2 years, they will simply stop producing the cheaper vacuums, meaning everyo…
The law makes distinctions between a manufacturers warranty (e.g. Apple says it's devices come with a 12 months warranty, which is true and legal.) and, and the manufacturers/retails obligation to resolve defects (Apple will repair/replace devices for free even after that 12 months).
The law is purposefully vague around this (I believe it says products should last for a reasonable period of time, depending on it's price and perceived quality), and different retailers/manufacturers honour this in different ways.
This lead to some interesting situations, like Apple covering mobile devices for 24 months since purchase OR last repair/replace date, so it's actually possible to get infinite warranty on a device if you get to replace every 24 months.