I just wanted to send a hearty and collective thanks to the people who
posted on this subject, especially Sam Wasserman who pointed me here in the
first place. The sci.electronics.repair group is clearly filled with people
on the frontlines of keeping technology running. Several people took time
out of their busy day to give me a clearer perspective on quality decline
and I appreciate their response.

A few QC factoids that should interest this group:

1. Extended-warranties have a profit margin 18 times higher than the
devices themselves at most big-box electronics dealers.
2. The average cell phone is in use for less than 18 months.
3. An early manufacturer of floppy disks defined a 'lifetime warranty' as
being until the media failed.
4. Consumer electronics has the smallest warranty reserve as percentage
of gross sales of any major manufacturing industry.
5. The Chinese government executed 18 managers of a refrigerator plant in
1989 for poor quality control.

An interesting aside - I've had several sources comment on how the
complexity of consumer electronics is resulting in more and more 'false
failures' where the device actually works but, whether through interface
design failures or consumer confusion, appears not to. Two sources have said
this accounts for over 25% of all returned electronic goods.

I'll post the story once completed since I expect it would be of interest to
the readers and will provide full attribution for any quotes/materials used.

Thanks,

Jim Conley


"Jim Conley" wrote in message
news:x3vQd.399406$8l.360834@pd7tw1no...
Hello,

I'm a journalist writing a story for Mobile PC Magazine on the decline of
quality in consumer electronics. I sent Sam Wasserman an e-mail regarding
this topic this morning and he recommended posting to the newsgroup. I'd
be interested in the thoughts of sci.electronic.repair readers about
whether the quality of electronics is genuinely on the decline and if so,
why?

Here's some of the questions I hope to answer with this article.

Has there been a quantifiable decrease in the life span of consumer
products over the last fifteen years?
What segments of consumer electronics seem to be hardest hit?How long are
consumer electronics meant to last?
Are they any documented cases of electronics being intentionally crippled
to reduce shelf-life?
Does the concept of a manufacturer's warranty mean anything anymore or has
point-of-purchase warranty become expected of consumers?

I appreciate your input.

Jim Conley