Do manufacturers purposely make computers, and other electronic gadgets with a limited life span?

Yes. It’s called obsolescence. Products are designed to become out-of-date or to have a limited lifespan.

I remember as a kid we owned a Hoover vacuum cleaner. That thing went for years. I don’t remember my parents ever buying a new vacuum cleaner. When I had to buy my own, I found I’d needed to replace it every couple of years! Same with washing machines. Our parents bought a washing machine and the thing trundled on for a decade or more. Not now. Now, washing machines break down within a few years. Keeps manufacturers in business though doesn’t it?

Or it is just that people want cheap shit. And cheap shit is made from cheap parts. It is has just hit the point where it is cheaper to replace then fix.

And a lot of engineers are more environmentally conscious than the general public. I doubt many would intentionally design things to break after a certain time. And if they were asked you would probably hear from a lot of whistle-blowers about it. But you don’t.

I am in @johnpowell‘s camp. We/our brains are under a constant onslaught of marketing that makes us consumers think we must have the latest greatest, fastest sleekest gadget where the same gadget made in 1998 would still satisfy our daily task demands. I know without a doubt that everything I do here on my computer would be accomplished in complete and in a timely manner under Windows 98 without ½ the grief and hassles I suffer under windows 8.fuck me.

I pine for the days of flip phones that actually were just for making calls and nothing else. Our penchant for bigger-better faster-cheaper gadgets only force manufacturers to produce pieces of crap that we then hungrily buy and in turn support this mindset that we will buy whatever you produce as long as it is a bigger better faster cheaper gadget that IMO we in the end we truly don’t really need. So stop buying these POS’s

When I was little, there were places that fixed TV’s, vacuum cleaners, radios, other appliances. Now you would probably not pay for a vacuum cleaner repair, because a new vacuum is relatively cheap so it’s cheaper usually to just buy a new one. My last vacuum cleaner was about $40. The minimum service feel alone at a place would probably be more than that.

I seem to go through a laptop around every few years. The one I am on now is a year old and I am already planning that around Christmas I might have to look for one. My phone is provided by my job, but they have upgrades that we’re given by the manufacturer or service provider, so it seems like people want the thing to become obsolete, because they take the upgrade anyway, and a new phone means new features and for some people, the status of whatever is the latest and greatest phone.

I think it’s a combination of what both @Earthbound_Misfit and @johnpowell said,and yeah it is because of a lot of cheap crap,but that doesn’t answer why the ECM crapped out in my transport truck after 2 years at the cost of $3500 that doesn’t sound like cheap to me.

@Cruiser they still make up to date flip phones, I have one ,I wouldn’t have one of those smart phones if you gave it to me.

As for being environmentally conscious,then tell me why is it cheaper to buy a whole new printer then just get the ink cartridge, or our cordless phone battery died and it was cheaper to replace the phone then buy a new battery, that doesn’t sound environmentally conscious to me when your throwing away perfectly fine working items.

Electronics these days are quite tough, much more so than they used to be. The drawback is that everything is much, much more integrated and nearly impossible for the average person or even engineer to work on. The higher integration makes them cheaper and consequently more disposable. I have some old radios from the 70’s and 80’s that I keep going because the circuit boards are not as integrated and parts can be replaced. The pace of tech is fast enough to make things obsolete quickly as well. Almost all of my old electronics still work just fine, there is just no real reason to use the stuff when I can do multiple things with a single device…my smartphone. Smartphones are big junk pile savers and contrary to popular belief that they just go into the landfill many are actually at least partially recycled.

Manufacturers don’t usually have to plan for obsolescence, we simply demand it by asking for more and more features.

My Macbook air (refurbished in the summer of 2013) just used up its battery. The local guy replaced it $75 and I am good to go for another 1000 charges, in theory.

@gailcalled so your saying yes there is a set to fail time?

I agree with @Earthbound_Misfit that it’s often Planned Obsolescence. I dread buying a washer and dryer to replace my 20 yo+ models. The gas stove may be as old, and I think the fridge (that came with the house) is at least an 80’s model, if not 70. I’m still using my Motorola Razor.

Also, the problem with the newest products is the same as I was once told about Cadillacs – All those groovy bells and whistles are just added liabilities if you buy it used. If you buy the latest and greatest you need to move on before the features start to fail.

@ibstubro one of the reasons why I bought my pick up plain jane, and I have had it 17years with very few problems.
The computers, bells and whistles and the other electronic goodies tend to fail long before anything real mechanical does.
At least this seems to be the case when it comes to vehicles.

The bells and whistles quickly become self defeating, in that the cost of fixing them is greater than buying new.

Despite the all the wailing and gnashing of teeth about the ‘disappearing middle class’, the fact of the matter is that people are awash in more money than they know how to spend. Something I seem largely immune to.

Keep in mind that the Corolla mentioned in the article is not a terribly high-end auto.

I don’t know. Sometimes it seems like they are, but that could just be an impression of mine.

I’m huge on plain jane for vehicles. My current vehicle is the first I have owned with electric windows.

Well, certainly computers and other hi-tech gadgets are made knowing that new updated versions will be made soon—and then the new versions are marketed as “must-haves”.

But as for mechanical parts in other electronics built to fail, sometimes I wonder. I had a washer and dryer that both crapped out after 5 years and I remember reading online from people with the same models saying that the same thing happened. Would take $200 to replace a faulty solenoid in the dryer and a few hundred more to replace a broken computer board in the washer. Absolute BS. It was hard to not think they were purposefully designed to fail.

Its a fact that American auto manufacturers were all to happy to have parts that broke on their cars so customers either had to replace parts or would buy a whole new car. Then the Japanese started to enter the American market with cars that didn’t fall apart and the American auto manufacturers continued to make inferior products not understanding Americans actually valued that type of quality. The Japanese gained incredible market share over time through the 80’s and 90’s. I know I probably never would have bought anything but Japanese if I had not married my husband.

My Ford truck, which we do love, has had to have all sorts of things fixed during it’s first three years of life. Springs in the visors for crap (a college friend of mine makes them for Ford). The emergency brake was terrible at first (Ford already had a better part for it, so they changed ours out when we complained, but they don’t do anything unless you complain. Maybe by now the newer trucks have the better part, but possibly not.). There’s more, I won’t bore you. I really considered a Ford Fusion the last time I wanted a car, but went with Honda in the end. If little things hadn’t broken on my truck I would have bought the Ford.

I don’t think Ford does it on purpose to make money on the parts anymore, I think they do it to save a nickle and dime here and there and make more profit. Or, as people said above, the American consumer wants things to be cheap. Not that a car is cheap. I think it is a combination of company greed and consumer demanding lower prices. It does seem the manufacturers make the engines better, fewer people breaking down, but the little bells and whistles are marginal.

There was a recent article about how clothing is ourposely made to barely last through a few washings. I have complained for years about the quality of clothing. It’s so frustrating. I can’t believe how much garbage is out there. You can still buy designer goods that are made well, but the average moderate garment has gone way down in quality. Actually, it’s hard to find moderate garments, they tend to be cheap or very expensive.