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clare at snyder.on.ca clare at snyder.on.ca is offline
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Default Planned Obselescence....A Good Thing?

On Tue, 16 Jan 2007 09:34:36 +1100, "Rod Speed"
wrote:

clare at snyder.on.ca wrote
Rod Speed wrote
Too_Many_Tools wrote


What explains the electric toothbrushes that don't have
replaceable batteries? You have to toss a $60-$120
device just because a $5 battery has failed.


Using the battery to enforce product obscelence
is standard practice in the industry.


Mindlessly superficial. The reality is that its a lot easier to
allow battery replacement with some items than with others.


I totally disagree.


Your problem.

No reason they can't make a new standard - Lithium Polymer battery
pack about the size of a SD card that just snaps into a device.


Wrong again. There's a real problem with Lithium anything
and separate chargers. Thats why you dont see the standard
AA and AAA cells in Lithium anything format either.


Nobody said anything about separate chargers. ANd you DO see lithium
AA and AAA batteries - they are just not rechargable lithium (and in
fact, there ARE rechargeable Lithiums in the AA format.)

That would look after all the ipods and
ipodlikes, as well as all kinds of PDAs etc.


There's a reason cellphones dont all use the same standard battery.

Yes, there is. It's called "marketing" and "catch'em while you can"

On the ipod nano it's just the simplicity of assembly that counts


Nope.

Please explain.

- it's crimped together, but not sealed, so if it gets wet it's finished,


It would be anyway even if the case was sealed, just like with cellphones.

and it IS possible to take it apart - but the battery is soldered
on, rather than plug-in, because it's simpler/cheaper.


Its obviously still possible to replace the battery.

Not if you can't get them, it isn't.

Could still replace the battery - but they are NOT AVAILABLE.


NOT YET.

And by the time they are, the units will be obsolete.

And if you get the beggars wet, the battery goes south.


Same with cellphones. There is no evil conspiracy,
its about producing a cost effective product.


I didn't say it was a conspiracy. I said it was building as cheaply
as possible (and often cheaper).
It's the bean-counters running the shop. I've worked for a company
(computer industry) that was quite successful until a harvard MBA type
started "managing" the company. It went from profitable to 1.5 million
dollars a year loss in 18 months. Was gone in 22.





Everett M. Greene wrote
Rod Speed writes
terry wrote


Although recent discussion/discovery that IPods will
exhaust their batteries in approximately one to two
years do clearly raise the question? "Designed to fail?".


Doesnt explain stuff like cordless phones that use standard batterys.


What explains the electric toothbrushes that don't have
replaceable batteries? You have to toss a $60-$120
device just because a $5 battery has failed.




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