Just some ramblings on some minor events in life that all seem to converge going in one direction.
First thing. I have joked on occasion that I have a tendency to need to get dental calculus (literally, "tooth math") on my teeth so I need to have then cleaned more often than normal people do. Decades ago, my dentist told me it wasn't my hygiene but a genetic thing, probably made worse by having allergies that force me to be a mouth breather more than most people. Because of that, I got my first high-end electric toothbrush around that time; a Philips Sonicare, because my dentist had told me that these were particularly effective. Call it 1997.
That toothbrush was simple, but rugged and reliable. That brush lasted a long time with twice daily use, traveled around the country with me, until the battery would no longer hold a charge. I think it was 15 years. I replaced it with another. The replacement added some little feature and lasted nowhere near as long. I've had three Sonicare brushes and the latest one I bought on January 3, 2021. This one had more features added. It failed Sunday night. When I turned it on, it made an oddly louder noise and didn't feel right. In three generations the toothbrushes went from a lifetime of 14 or 15 years down to not even lasting two. It's actually still under warranty but (1) I'm not sure I'd want another - this one is actually a replacement for the first one I got in early '21 which suddenly wouldn't turn on. Not exactly an impressive product. And (2) while looking for a replacement online Sunday the website actively discouraged my business.
The one that just broke.
If you're keeping track, the easy explanation is that every time they add features to the product they shorten its life. I get it. I'm an engineer. I understand that all design decisions are a compromise and TANSTAAFL There ain't exactly a lot of room in one of those things and if they add anything that takes up room, it's a tough trade.
The next morning, Mrs. Graybeard was using our immersion blender to make home made mayonnaise, as an ingredient in Caesar dressing. The blender suddenly broke. This is the second of this model blender we've had. We bought the first one on April 1st. At the end of June, it broke. The company customer service was nice enough and once we sent them a phone video of how it failed they sent us a replacement. This one hasn't been here longer than 3 weeks and has barely had a workout. Before the first one hard failed, it ruined things she was blending by getting too hot to touch, thereby overheating and "breaking" the mayonnaise.
There's a point to this rambling. If you're used to living in a world where things last more like that first Sonicare, but when something breaks you can fix it - or even just get it fixed - that world seems to be coming to an end. Unlike big things like my vacuum cleaner adventures, neither of these small appliances could be fixed. If we have to get used to the idea of buying a new electric appliance, toothbrush or blender, every few months or every year, how different is that from paying rent every month to always have one that works? (Except for not always having one that works!) Remember "you will own nothing and you'll be happy" from the World Economic Forum? Doesn't that refer to no one being able to own homes, cars or other major purchases and being forced to rent?
I see the whole world pushing in that direction. In my other big hobby, my metal shop, it has become common for CAD programs to be sold on the yearly maintenance fee model. I know for sure that some of the big photo editing programs work on a rental model. If you buy an electronic doorbell with a camera like so many people have, it virtually always works under the monthly fee model. The same for some medical devices. It's arguable that Microsoft is pushing in this direction for Windows 11. This guy, a PC repair shop owner, points out how the things Microsoft has done to improve security also have the effect of making you unable to control what you can install and run on YOUR computer
I had been looking at this change to everything going to a monthly subscription model as independent of and different from what the Great Reset people are talking about. My toothbrush made me start thinking maybe not. Then it made me start thinking, "what's the difference?"
Designed/planned obsolescence. You make more money selling crap that doesn't last and has to be replaced often.
ReplyDeleteAh, Windows 11. Got a new computer, because Panasonic Toughbooks are too expensive, and you can't load non-MicroSerf products unless you take it out of "S" mode (I guess the 'S' is for Safe or Soft or a secret icon for $.)
ReplyDeleteMicrowaves. I buy one every two years or so. Induction cooktops last 4 years (and have obscure screw heads that you can't buy normally.)
The only thing still built like it used to be is a Kitchenaid Stand Mixer. Just the mixer. The attachments are mostly poop, but the mixer itself is built almost just like it was 100 years ago.
Except for that one plastic gear in there that fails after a while.
DeleteThey still make models with steel gears. They're a lot noisier, but last forever. You might have to look around to find one, though.
DeleteI have railed about this subject many, many times.
ReplyDeleteIt obviously is getting worse.
I have also seen labor saving devices that one used to assume would last for years either break, malfunction or just quit altogether long before one would assume it should.
Garbage materials and who gives a sh!t assembly workers.
I have found that the most common failure point is the on off switch. The switch may not fail itself, but seems to induce a voltage spike over and above what leaving the switch in the off position and inserting the plug into the socket. Whether this a bug or a feature, I haven't a clue. Also if the switch fails, it is near impossible to replace. If as happened once, I wired around the switch with an old US made switch from the fifties. Works just fine,but probably don't meet code, as if I care.
ReplyDeleteBoy, did you hit a sore spot with me, SiG! Stuff just does not last as long "as it used to", and the replacements have a laughable failure rate. I just rebuilt a Sunbeam hand mixer for my Sweet Little Wife. She's had it since the 1970's, and it was a used item then! Her mother in Law gave it to her. The brushes finally wore out, and needed replacements. After cleaning 50+ years of flour, powdered chocolate, and other residue out of it, I relubed the OilLite bearings, replaced the brushes, and used some synthetic grease on the worm drive for the beaters. She's gone through several current model hand mixers, and always fell back on this one until it died.
ReplyDeleteBeing a Bearded One, all the electric beard trimmers I've had in the last 15 years share the same trajectory as your toothbrushes. The new ones have "features" and "styling", and are smaller and lighter than the old ones, But They Just Don't Last! Two years, tops, with a current "premium" model. The first one I had my Dad bought me in 1976, and I used it for 25 years.
I've bought two since we moved here five years ago.....
I see the move to a "Subscription Model" as very troubling. If you don't OWN it, you really have little or no control over it. Look at how the farmers and mechanics had to fight to get a "Right To Repair" law enacted so they could work on equipment.
The "consumer advocates" used to squawk about Planned Obsolescence in the 1950's and 60's, but at least there was choice involved in it. These Subscription-based items really makes me leery of buying ANYTHING new these days....
The more "modern" an item, the leee-inclined I am to purchase it.
ReplyDeleteI can fix darn near anything, and usually do so, but parts are getting harder to find. A lot of my stuff no longer looks like the original design, because I've tacked various and sundry items on it, and the biggest culprit is (as stated above), the cheap-ass On.OFF switches. Sometimes the stuff just needs lubrication or PM, and it runs just as good as new.
My "newest" car is an 03 with NO major electronics in it. Well, other than the Engine Management computer (ECU)...
My folks bought a propane operated fridge when I was too young to remember. After I was married and living elsewhere, my dad sold it to a guy living in the Colorado Rockies who did not have electricity. It was still going strong after something like 40-50 years.
ReplyDeletePlanned Obsolescence sure put a stop to that.
I wonder how the throw-away mindset will react when the supply chain crashes.
I don't mean to be a total curmudgeon
ReplyDeletebut just how much of this stuff is made in the U.S.A. where if we raise a ruckus, the companies might just listen.
Anybody speak Chinese?
FWIW, my toothbrush was made in Indonesia and while I think the blender was Chinese, I tossed it in the garbage Tuesday so I can't make sure of that. I have no idea whether the average factory in Indonesia is better or worse than China, or if that's even relevant.
DeleteBut I do want to say something I didn't say last night, since several people have brought up the idea of planned obsolescence.
My tendency is to see the other viewpoint which is that it's not planning to make a product that fails under warranty, which both of these did, it's planning to make the lowest cost product that they can and cutting costs too much. After all, failing under warranty costs the company more money. I never worked in the consumer marketplaces, but look up immersion blenders on Amazon and you'll find a billion and six. The fight is to take out every penny to get near the top on searches by price.
About 45 years ago, a high school acquaintance went to work for GM after studying mechanical engineering in college. The only "what's it like" feedback I ever got from him was that the tough part was to design something that would outlast the warranty so that GM didn't have to pay for the replacement, but then they didn't care how much longer it lasted. That was at the dawn of 5 year/50,000 mile car warranties.
The plan is to design it to last just long enough to make it past the warranty period. Sometimes, they cut that a bit to closely and it fails under warranty.
DeleteThe Wahl Groomsman trimmers I had in the past were very durable, but battery hogs. My first one lasted 25 years, and the second for 20 years. The new model I got three years ago is smaller, not a good design for sitting upright with no stand base like came with the older model. It uses two instead of three batteries, and those last twice as long as the older model. The workmanship on the new one is poor, and the power switch is the cheapest possible design (sliding contact like a cheap flashlight) and is gradually making poorer and poorer contact as it slowly fails. Eventually I will have to disassemble the case (hopefully without damaging it too much), clean, and re-tension (bend) the contact. It was cheap in more ways than one when I bought it. Wahl used to mean quality. Not any more. Same is true of many other brands.
A couple of days ago, my next door neighbor bought a new Stihl chainsaw. The first one never left the store since it wouldn't start. The second one started, so he brought it home. It would idle, but died every time when you opened the throttle. He exchanged it for another. The third one ran correctly. Just another brand name that used to mean a quality product.
Oh my. Perfect timing. The magnetic clutch Coil on my 2009 Toyota Tacoma Refrigeration Compressor went open last week. Hence no A/C in South Florida. Simple right. Well Toyota designed the refrigerant dryer, a $25 part into the Condenser, a $200 part. So instead of replacing the Compressor and low cost dryer I had to pay for a condenser/dryer assy in addition to a new compressor. This was a $1800 job, and had I been a younger man I would have done it myself for a tad over $500. I am thankful the evaporator and its thermister dud not fail as that requires the entire dashboard and streering wheel assy to be removed which would have pushed the cost up another grand. Designed by monkeys is an understatement. Today nothing in the consumer domain is designed for repairability. Hence its a minimum design life, and certain landfill occupation at end of a 10 yr life at most. Im a retired greybeard in the electric power industry where the design life of systems is in multiple decades, 30 plus years and more.
ReplyDeleteTodays cars, appliances, and consumer devices are designed to meet warranty timeout, and no more.
I still have a "Monkey Wards" chest freezer that I inherited from my parents who purchased it back in the 60s. I have to admit that I only use it occasionally during deer season since the kids have grown and moved out.
ReplyDeleteWith regards to the propane refrigerator referred to above, they last because there are so few moving parts. I worked for a public utility for forty years and when a customer would retire one. the repairmen would fight over it.
The more things change, the more they break.
ReplyDeleteConsider checking the Salvation Army type stores for the old Oral-B/Braun electric toothbrushes. Those internal batteries can be replaced. Fiddly process, with web videos to help. Well made units. I was given a couple of the old type (type 3731) with the charge window display. Plus, the brush heads that are available that have the plastic flappers in the brushes clean really well.
ReplyDeleteI've got the (2012?) version. Still working like a champ - fingers crossed.
ReplyDelete