"Ulysses" wrote in message
...
|
| "Jeff Liebermann" wrote in message
| ...
| On Sun, 31 May 2009 12:12:03 -0400, George
| wrote:
|
| Its the "walmart syndrome" at work. People are trained to think that
| price and not value is all that matters. So manufacturers do their best
| to make cheap stuff to meet low price-low value demands.
|
| Yep. In consumer electronics, for every dollar added to the cost of a
| board, the final product ends up costing about $4 more at wholesale,
| and perhaps $6 to $8 more at retail. Needless to say, keeping costs
| in line is fairly important to the manufacturer. Minimal design and
| component selection is epidemic everywhere. Having worked on some of
| these designs in the distant past, I can assure you that the choice is
| make it cheap or it won't sell. I called it the "NBC" (Nothing But
| the Cheapest) effect. However, think positive. The only thing that
| has prevented electronics from hitting rock bottom in quality are the
| various regulatory and certification agencies, which demand a minimal
| level of quality to insure the survival of the user, not the product.
|
| Drivel: One of my friends is a rabid advocate for enforced quality in
| product design. He wants minimum Federal quality standards for
| consumer products along with mandatory lifetime testing, mandatory
| warranties, and litigatory relief. His theory is that if the US can't
| compete on the basis of price, it will need to do so on the basis of
| quality. Sounds like a plan.
|
| I have become extremely hesitant to buy any electronics any more. All of
| the stuff seems to be crap that barely outlasts the warranty. For the
first
| time I actually paid for an extended warranty on a DVD recorder and ended
up
| needing it.

Buy it with a credit card that extends the mfgr's warranty by up to an
additional year and forget the "extended warranty."