That's the thought that runs through my mind whenever I visit the market section of the forum. Roughly 10 years ago, I bought PC parts which are running even now without any noticeable wear. On the other hand, seen many threads for various items on sale, mostly GPU, HDD, some PSU and MoBo, which have had history of "RMA". This give me the perception that PC hardware these days isn't as reliable as it used to be. Could be "Planned Obsolescence" or " Poorer Quality Control" or maybe neither. So I want to discuss if this is just my skewed idea or is their some truth to it. If it is, then why so?
They don't make 'em like they used to
- Thread starter LaatSahab
- Start date
There is more than enough truth to it. And it's not just PC parts. I'd say it's with everything. TV's to even gaming mice.
How else do you think that Logitech and the others apparently refuse to acknowledge or do anything about offering their products with the infamous Omron switches which are literally known to fail much earlier than most would like. The dreaded double click issue and inconsistent drag and drop unclick issue is well known.
TV's are the same. LCD's from 10 years ago so last with no issues.. but LED's / nanocell and what not have failed within months!
These days manufacturing focus has shifted to sync with the average "shift" in technological progress in every industry resulting in actually prioritising designed to fail after X amount of time rather than the earlier focus to extend the mean time between failures. That's my opinion anyway.
I agree with you. I am typing this from a system with an i5-2400 processor and Intel motherboard bought in 2011. This has been my workhorse for the past decade and it still surprises me that everything works decently. Nowadays things break so soon, like mach9 mentioned above, my Logitech keyboard failed and so did a Corsair PSU and few Kingston RAM sticks.
I think most companies are focusing on pushing out new stuff without focus on QA or reliability. They believe that if there is a failure only a small % of the users will actually RMA while others will just dump and buy new. So why put effort into making a product good enough to run for 10 years when half of that will suffice?
Also from a user standpoint - users upgrade much sooner than before. I will upgrade in 2021 but I am sure that my next upgrade after that will not be 2031. Probably in 5 years? So 5+ year reliability is good enough for me. Certain things like PSU, yes I expect longer life, but most other stuff 5 years is good enough. However, even 5 years reliability is quickly becoming a rare thing nowadays. I tend to invest in tech which has a longer warranty, like for e.g. Zotac GPUs with 5 year warranty. I hope that there are still companies that offer reliable products with longer warranties in the future.
I think most companies are focusing on pushing out new stuff without focus on QA or reliability. They believe that if there is a failure only a small % of the users will actually RMA while others will just dump and buy new. So why put effort into making a product good enough to run for 10 years when half of that will suffice?
Also from a user standpoint - users upgrade much sooner than before. I will upgrade in 2021 but I am sure that my next upgrade after that will not be 2031. Probably in 5 years? So 5+ year reliability is good enough for me. Certain things like PSU, yes I expect longer life, but most other stuff 5 years is good enough. However, even 5 years reliability is quickly becoming a rare thing nowadays. I tend to invest in tech which has a longer warranty, like for e.g. Zotac GPUs with 5 year warranty. I hope that there are still companies that offer reliable products with longer warranties in the future.
We are the reason for the same. A product logivity depends on the demand from the consumer. Like mobile, if you use mobile for atleast 5 years. product demand will be focus on quality and software updates. then that of new products and innovation which is not ground breaking change and benefits end user in most cases.
nRiTeCh
Skilled
And these days pc market has gone so costly as if we are investing in gold and stock market. Yet there is no guarantee when your gpu, psu, hdd, ssds or mobo might conked off without any intimation and signs...
I still have components as old as from yr 2k7 and they still run rock solid stable with 100% health etc. They can take resist any amount of dust and crap yet stand strong while todays hardware is so fragile and delicate.
As for other electronics they are cheap as everything is conquered by china and its luck by chance...either it will last forever or give issues periodically or every often..
No option but to cope with current market at the cost of gold purchases...
I still have components as old as from yr 2k7 and they still run rock solid stable with 100% health etc. They can take resist any amount of dust and crap yet stand strong while todays hardware is so fragile and delicate.
As for other electronics they are cheap as everything is conquered by china and its luck by chance...either it will last forever or give issues periodically or every often..
No option but to cope with current market at the cost of gold purchases...
Ohk! So my observations weren't out if the place. That being said, what about "industrial grade" device equivalents? "Server grade" MoBo, RAM, SCSI HDD whose USP was Robustness, is the scene equally glum there? Would using such items in a home build be an improvement in terms of robustness over their commercial counterparts?
tech.monk
Adept
I agree, however if you see Apple ecosystem it reflects your comment but they also made sure that they're not competing with the likes of Mi or other Chinese brands - selling in quantity. Instead focus is into Quality making sure the iPhone 6+ receive iOS 14 - which is pretty decent and makes people restrict to buying frequently.
On Android side also, this thing persists with Pixels or 1+ to the few selects from Motorola (dirt cheap Moto G 1st Gen was rock solid till A9/A10).
psyph3r
Skilled
Depends on your choice tbh, if you do your research before your purchase you can still be safe with PC components that will last you until EOL.
Taking inflation into account, manufacturers too cannot offer the same quality for the same price decade after decade so they have to compromise on one thing or another. Just look at the size of the Rs.20 packet of Lays today compared to the one from 10 years ago.
You can still buy quality electronics but they'll cost you a bomb.
Obligatory planned obsolescence documentary post.
Taking inflation into account, manufacturers too cannot offer the same quality for the same price decade after decade so they have to compromise on one thing or another. Just look at the size of the Rs.20 packet of Lays today compared to the one from 10 years ago.
You can still buy quality electronics but they'll cost you a bomb.
Obligatory planned obsolescence documentary post.
This brings the discussion to 2 counter view; one being Indian dictum of "Sasta, Sundar, Tikau" and other more modern idea of " Fast and Cheap won't be good, Good won't be Cheap".
In a consumer-driven economy/market, only way for Manufacturers to increase profits is either by increasing customer base or raising cost/consumption among consumers by increasing their 'options'. The fallacy of choice/option will always exist as a subterfuge to monopolies existing in the market. But this mode of operation has given birth to "Right to Repair" movement. Product longevity isn't a requirement just limited to technology domain. Today vehicles(Cars,Tractors, Harvesters) worth lakhs are rendered inoperable by a simple ECU failure. People bought Samsung phone (Note 7 or Galaxy 7, whichever it was) after paying a premium at that time and still inadvertently got turned into "Jihadi Johnny".
So if even a price premium cannot guarantee product quality/longevity then what "choice" does a consumer really has?
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yea normally peoplem will change in 2 years or so as they get bored and we have advertisment on that to motivate new buying.
rdst_1
Skilled
For home appliances, I have decided that I will go for commercial ones instead of consumer grade stuff for my next purchases.
The commercial grade stuff will surely have less features, but at least my refrigerator won't get crippled because the touch console went bad in 5 years. Also, most commercial stuff is built more rugged and with repairability in mind. So even if it isn't as reliable as products from 2 decades ago, it will still be easily repairable.
This want of new smart features is the bane of most mechanical stuff that would otherwise last years.
The commercial grade stuff will surely have less features, but at least my refrigerator won't get crippled because the touch console went bad in 5 years. Also, most commercial stuff is built more rugged and with repairability in mind. So even if it isn't as reliable as products from 2 decades ago, it will still be easily repairable.
This want of new smart features is the bane of most mechanical stuff that would otherwise last years.
tech.monk
Adept
It depends - my wife received the bosch food processor - its in different league and still cost the relevant to market.
Sometimes some reputed companies are still making the better chips.
manucitc
Disciple
Also speaking from experience bosch home appliances are prone to failure and not relatively easy to fix/source part for repairing.