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Your Stuff Really Is Breaking Faster Than It Used To

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IainB:
I've bumped this discussion because it has an appropriate title for what I wanted to mention - deliberate and/or planned obsolescence.
There are quite a few references to "planned obsolescence" in various DCF discussions.
For example, I had a bit of a rant about the HP ScanJet 3400C scanner:    :mad:
EPSON Perfection V330 Photo Scanner + ABBYY and ArcSoft software
...Yesterday I bought a new flatbed scanner (EPSON Perfection V330 Photo Scanner) to replace the HP ScanJet 3400C which I have been obliged to throw away as HP do not support this scanner in Windows7 (they only barely supported it in XP). Its HP drivers and software made it an excellent scanner under Windows98, but it is not good for much now. A case of new and better technology (hardware and software) replacing the older, obsolete technology. ...
________________________________
-IainB (February 20, 2011, 08:21 PM)
--- End quote ---

...though  am extremely pleased with the EPSON V330 flatbed scanner (and especially the bundled software), HP's strategy annoyed me no end as it seemed to be quite deliberate forced obsolescence by HP. "No upwards compatibility. Tough luck if you don't like it."

The hardware was great and would probably last forever.
The software (HP Precision Scan LTX or something) was excellent.
The scanner resolution was a bit dated by modern standards - max 1200dpi - but good enough for most stuff.

HP decided to cease support/upgrade of the drivers and LTX software a while back, so those things wouldn't work in XP, and I had to rely on Microsoft drivers - which worked just fine, but I lost that useful LTX functionality.

Reminded me of the '70s book by Vance Packard "The Waste Makers". ...
________________________________
-IainB (February 21, 2011, 12:10 AM)
--- End quote ---

I also had an excellent HP DeskJet 3740 A3 printer that was similarly deliberately made "obsolete" through its drivers not being updated by HP.    :mad:

I was reminded of this today when reading an interesting old post in my bazqux feed-reader, from the ashampoo.com blog:
Ruthlessly calculated failure
Sven Krumrey
October 23, 2015

One day, my printer acted up. With my blood pressure spiking, I went on Google and quickly discovered that I had just been the victim of what is considered a classic error that would appear roughly after two years on the dot. I phoned the hotline and spent about 30 minutes in hold music limbo until I finally reached a noticeably tired support agent. In these moments, I like to remind myself not to blow my top but to stay calm and explain my situation with facts. Maybe it was because she was so tired but she was surprisingly blunt and honest. "The error occured in the warranty period? That's not supposed to happen!" ...
(Read more at the link.)
________________________________

--- End quote ---

Earlier this year, there was the HP scam (so it seemed to be) where, by means of an online Windows software update, or something,  HP deliberately locked-up the printers in "fail" mode" if they had non-HP ink cartridges loaded.

By the way. in the ashampoo blog post, the author refers to ifixit.com as a useful source of reference, so I went to look there for some help on fixing the blocked print-head on my Brother multi-function printer-whatsit, and found the very thing I needed:
How to Unclog Brother Inkjet Print head Nozzles

mwb1100:
>  "The error occured in the warranty period? That's not supposed to happen!"

That would be funny if it weren't so deplorable.  I gave up on HP a long time ago when they retired support for a perfectly good printer of mine.

app103:
>  "The error occured in the warranty period? That's not supposed to happen!"

That would be funny if it weren't so deplorable.  I gave up on HP a long time ago when they retired support for a perfectly good printer of mine.

-mwb1100 (December 11, 2016, 05:49 PM)
--- End quote ---

I gave up on HP printers when they tried to charge me $20 for a single use contraption to clean "factory dust" out of a brand new printer that should have been clean when it left their factory. Apparently, failures caused by "factory dust" are not covered under their warranty.

I gave up on just about everything else HP, for a variety of other crappy quality based reasons. The only things I will still buy are the inexpensive off lease refurbs of their business class (not consumer class crap) small form factor PCs. At just over $100, they still make for reliable emergency backup PCs, with a long life expectancy. (example)

IainB:
Gary North's latest newsletter would seem to pretty much describe Apple's apparently appallingly cynical, corporate-approved behaviour (re these batteries) to a "T":
 
Subject: iPhone $29 Battery Replacement
From: "Dr. Gary North's Weekly Tip" <[email protected]>

GARY NORTH'S TIP OF THE WEEK
Apple for years has used its OS updates to slow down older iPhones. This pressured users to buy the latest model. The money flowed in!

Now the class action lawsuits are flowing in.

Here was Apple's official explanation, after the policy was exposed: the enforced slowdown was due to older batteries, which were depleted too fast by the upgraded OS. To reduce battery depletion, the company wrote the OS code so that it would be slow on older models. https://www.garynorth.com/snip/1308.htm

As to why the company concealed this policy, the company's lawyers apparently have decided to avoid this issue until the trials.

To try to undo the PR damage, Apple is now offering a deal to owners of older models: an upgrade for $29. To find out how to take advantage of this, go here: https://www.garynorth.com/snip/1307.htm

Gary "Flip Phone" North
Visit my site, www.garynorth.com, for the latest charts on the U.S. dollar, gold's price, and Federal Reserve statistics.
---

--- End quote ---

tomos:
North's latest newsletter would seem to pretty much describe Apple's apparently appallingly cynical, corporate-approved behaviour (re these batteries) to a "T":
-IainB (January 07, 2018, 10:24 AM)
--- End quote ---
@IainB:

EDIT//
I didnt mean to be stroppy when asking the following -- mouser has given a probable explanation below
//EDIT


* why are you putting indirect links to other sites?
* Why no direct link to the quoted article? **
* And the advertising at the end that has no relation to the topic, why include that?
** I see you do include a link at the top of the quote: when I follow that I get the following:

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