On Fri, 26 Feb 2016 19:08:33 +0000, Julian Barnes wrote:

Are these things deliberately designed
to be unserviceable nowadays?

Probably.


Is that the idea? ******* manufacturers
want us to buy new stuff instead of fixing old?

Surely.

Sigh. Does anyone know a ruse to defeat this darstardly scam?

They're a PITA - IME at any rate. This is one of the better explanations
on how to deal with them:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z38WsZFmq8E