New technology is garbage as usual...

[BoaConstrictor]

*sigh*

Why is it that the newer a piece of technology is, the less reliable it is? It seems that companies specifically make electronics that will malfunction and break down, and specifically keep reliability down, so that people buy them new again.

Case in point, for 10 years, I had a simple, inexpensive, Canon inkjet printer. It worked fine for all those years. Then Canon decided to stop making ink catridges for it, and I was forced to buy a new printer 2 years ago. Reading reviews, I went with an Epson.

2 years down the road, the Epson (used lightly, I dont do much printing) is now malfuctioning. The automatic paper feeder is not working, and it seems there is no fix for it other than to send the printer back to Epson (which would be expensive).

Why is it that older technology is in general, a lot more reliable than anything made now? These days, you have to pretty much expect that whatever new piece of electronics you buy is DESIGNED to break/malfunction in a couple of years, whereas in the past, things were made to last.

So frustrating, companies have absolutely no accountability to the quality of their products.

[vairox]

I Don't know, I just buy a new printer, it's cheaper than the ink and comes with new ink cartridges...then just throw the other one away. I have done this I don't know how many times. Maybe I should donate them to Goodwill for the tax write off?

[Vindir]

It isn't really a technology thing so much as the general long-term trend by businesses to build their sustainability into the product. Great for corporations, stock prices, and often the end-user short term costs. Awful for the environment and the public in the long term.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planned_obsolescence
http://www.economist.com/node/13354332

[BoaConstrictor]

Nah, buying a new one isnt cheaper than the ink, its an inkjet, not a laser. Still, very dissapointing.

[vairox]

ah, see, I buy the cheaper HP inkjets...they are about $5 less than getting new ink...so I save $5 by throwing the printer away and buying a new one v.s buying new ink cause the new printer comes with ink. Very wasteful I know, but it's just cheaper that way.

[Learux]

Vairox u might wanna check that, not saying you are wrong but I remember reading that printers are shipped with cartridges that are not filled to capacity.

[wh666-666]

*sigh*

Why is it that the newer a piece of technology is, the less reliable it is? It seems that companies specifically make electronics that will malfunction and break down, and specifically keep reliability down, so that people buy them new again.

Yea it's the same with everything. Fridges for example, they all tend to fail after five years, just after the warranty ends. I remember the old days, when fridges lasted decades. When I was in college, my mums fridge was almost older than I was!

It isn't really a technology thing so much as the general long-term trend by businesses to build their sustainability into the product. Great for corporations, stock prices, and often the end-user short term costs. Awful for the environment and the public in the long term.

Yea I wrote about this in my degree thesis for one module. I argued how new consumer grade laptops weren't environmentally friendly due to how quickly they died. Really is ridiculous!

Vairox u might wanna check that, not saying you are wrong but I remember reading that printers are shipped with cartridges that are not filled to capacity.

I think they are only filled 2/3rd's of the way up. But still, why bother getting a new cartridge, that will use some ink cleaning the nozzles on an old printer? Also many, don't have the option to pay more for something less, just because it may yield a few more prints.

[wh666-666]

ah, see, I buy the cheaper HP inkjets...they are about $5 less than getting new ink...so I save $5 by throwing the printer away and buying a new one v.s buying new ink cause the new printer comes with ink. Very wasteful I know, but it's just cheaper that way.

PS: Good to see you back by the way. I laugh at your quote in every thread, then miss UA a bit ... Hope retirements treating him well.

[ImaNihilist]

10 years ago there wasn't as large a distinction between consumer grade and business grade products. Today you can buy a consumer grade printer for $50. It's going to be a piece of crap. But if you actually spend on a decent business grade solution, it will last for years.

10 years ago you might have bought a desktop printer for $300. Today you can buy something good for $300, or you can buy a piece of crap for $80.

This is true for just about everything. Things haven't gotten crappier, per se, just cheaper. We expect more from cheaper products for some reason.

[Vindir]

This is true for just about everything. Things haven't gotten crappier, per se, just cheaper. We expect more from cheaper products for some reason.

It seems natural to expect longevity and quality in construction from the things we buy. If the price of things can't be dropped to affordable levels without turning the product into something that won't last longer than a single president then maybe it shouldn't be.

I'm hardly a card carrying eco-hippy, but the way we've begun building things to break down as we do at the economies of scale that we do is pretty awful when the only justification is a wider purchaser demographic.

[BoaConstrictor]

10 years ago there wasn't as large a distinction between consumer grade and business grade products. Today you can buy a consumer grade printer for $50. It's going to be a piece of crap. But if you actually spend on a decent business grade solution, it will last for years.

10 years ago you might have bought a desktop printer for $300. Today you can buy something good for $300, or you can buy a piece of crap for $80.

This is true for just about everything. Things haven't gotten crappier, per se, just cheaper. We expect more from cheaper products for some reason.

Except I bought the printer for $300, and its suppose to be the top of the line solution, designed for heavy printing.
But hey, you can put anything on the box these days, companies are not responsible for anything they write on the box!

[vairox]

PS: Good to see you back by the way. I laugh at your quote in every thread, then miss UA a bit ... Hope retirements treating him well.

lol, thanks man. I've been out of the loop for a while! UA, good dude... many many debates in the megamouth...

[ImaNihilist]

Except I bought the printer for $300, and its suppose to be the top of the line solution, designed for heavy printing.
But hey, you can put anything on the box these days, companies are not responsible for anything they write on the box!

Did you actually buy a $300 business printer, or did you buy the $300 consumer version of a $500 printer?

[Timman_24]

I've had the same 80 dollar cannon inkjet printer from the time I started college until I graduated with my master's a week ago. I've never had trouble and ink was only about 20 dollars for 800-1000 pages. Maybe I got in on the cheap printer before they started to make crap. My mom bought an HP laser printer a few years ago and has put 20K+ pages through it without any problems. I think she only paid around 350 for it.

[kpxgq]

shrug, i have an epson inkjet (workforce 610) that i got for $30 and i print over 500 sheets a day on it (color and b/w) for promotional materials for my side business and it has been chugging along fine for about a year now... it has actually outlasted my HP laserjet

i go through about 4 ink cartridges a month on it and i get them for $2 shipped/ea on amazon

i think its just luck of the draw...

ie i have gone through about 5 sandforce2 basedd SSDs this year (OCZ, Corsair, Mushkin, and Intel) and have never run into any BSOD issues while if you check their forums, many are screaming bloody murder left and right

on the other hand, we have been having issues with our commercial grade ice maker at my gf's restaurant ($3000 scotsman model) and it is only 2 months old, these things are supposed to last 20+ years with minimal maintenance