Re: This is exactly why I now avoid Apple gear
A colleague with boss-level electronics experience recently repaired a fairly new smaller Samsung TV (21") whose power IC decided to let some of its magic smoke out and make a second component (HV ceramic cap) to fail in sympathy. It's apparently a fairly common failure mode in modern TVs due to the cheap caps they fit, a £5 component to replace, and an hour's worth of effort (apparently taking the casing off takes the most time). The TV once again works perfectly, whereas most people would either take it down the tip or RMA for a new unit if in warranty (we know the original would be binned eventually).
When I bought a Samsung 32" TV about five years ago from Richer I fortunately took out the 5 year cover... The LCD panel packed in with nasty vertical bars 15 months in so an engineer replaced the panel and it's worked perfectly since (touch wood). I would have been screwed otherwise: arguments of CRA/SOGA aside, you're often SOL unless you have a benevolent manufacturer warranty outside of 6 months.
This reinforces the point: technological advances leave us in a situation where things often prematurely fail due to complexity of manufacturing. Because they're so much more complex than even ten years ago, fewer people understand how to diagnose and repair the commonest types of failures.
I hate seeing good kit thrown out that's otherwise functional except for one failed component preventing it working. It happens on such a huge scale now. My employer alone must bin many tons of equipment which is declared as 'beyond economical repair'.
More than that, I hate things deliberately being made incredibly hard - or impossible - to repair or return to good condition. Making a phone a couple of mm more slender by glueing in a non-replaceable battery is a common example and it's been a primary motivator for buying LG phones up to now. But even they've caved to integrated batteries now.
I used to repair my own mobile phones if I damaged them, cracked the screen, damaged the speaker or camera assembly... It's just getting too hard now, even with disassembly guides, and kiss that manufacturer warranty goodbye if you try. But the general public doesn't need to give a shit about sustainability or longevity when the latest fondleslabs get glossy media launches every 12 months.
Crazy high industry-wide wastage, the wrong mindsets all round, and even after recovering all salvageable things like rare metals it's got to be doing our ecosystem no good. I wonder when we'll get the balance right between innovation and sustainability.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
