The Degradation Of Electronics

[Slang]

I remember we had one of the first vhs players (JVC) when they came out, rented a crazy amount of movies that always had to be rewound before return, thousands of movies and rewinds later, it still works. *Is on third dvd/blue ray player.

We had a Sony Trinitron when they first introduced picture-in-picture and it is still working till this day at my mothers home. *Finds dead pixel in lcd screen 3 months in.

I have a Sony Walkman with the switch so you didn't have to flip the tape over, still works. * Burnt out 3 cd players and an mp3 player in the same time frame.

Had and NEC Powermate Pentium 75 with 8 megs of ram and 540 MB hard drive (lol), still boot ups *Is on 4th laptop.

Are the quality of electronic components purposefully reduced in order to boost a high turnover rate. Are manufactures using low quality components to further their bottom line? What are the companies you would say are dedicated to providing high quality electronics?

 

[NkrumahWasRight Is Wrong]

I remember we had one of the first vhs players (JVC) when they came out, rented a crazy amount of movies that always had to be rewound before return, thousands of movies and rewinds later, it still works. *Is on third dvd/blue ray player.

We had a Sony Trinitron when they first introduced picture-in-picture and it is still working till this day at my mothers home. *Finds dead pixel in lcd screen 3 months in.

I have a Sony Walkman with the switch so you didn't have to flip the tape over, still works. * Burnt out 3 cd players and an mp3 player in the same time frame.

Had and NEC Powermate Pentium 75 with 8 megs of ram and 540 MB hard drive (lol), still boot ups *Is on 4th laptop.

Are the quality of electronic components purposefully reduced in order to boost a high turnover rate. Are manufactures using low quality components to further their bottom line? What are the companies you would say are dedicated to providing high quality electronics?

yes, otherwise they will never have a continued profit. from a business prospective, theres no point in creating something so vastly superior to the competition that it is basically the only product in that specific market you can ever make a profit off of, unless the company is just shooting for a one time explosion into the market and then to sell the company and get out...but even if thats the plan, gaining market share with all the current competition is very hard, even with the best product out.

 

[CouldntBeMeTho]

Planned Obsolescence - in industrial design is a policy of planning or designing a product with a limited useful life, so it will become obsolete, that is, unfashionable or no longer functional after a certain period of time.[1] Planned obsolescence has potential benefits for a producer because to obtain continuing use of the product the consumer is under pressure to purchase again, whether from the same manufacturer (a replacement part or a newer model), or from a competitor who might also rely on planned obsolescence.[1]

 

[Slang]

yes, otherwise they will never have a continued profit. from a business prospective, theres no point in creating something so vastly superior to the competition that it is basically the only product in that specific market you can ever make a profit off of, unless the company is just shooting for a one time explosion into the market and then to sell the company and get out...but even if thats the plan, gaining market share with all the current competition is very hard, even with the best product out.

I understand but what kept me and my family loyal to companies like sony is the build quality. We liked the quality of our tv so much we bought other sony products, now I avoid them since having my dvd/cd players burn out. I may start buying German electronics.

 

[Slang]

Planned Obsolescence - in industrial design is a policy of planning or designing a product with a limited useful life, so it will become obsolete, that is, unfashionable or no longer functional after a certain period of time.[1] Planned obsolescence has potential benefits for a producer because to obtain continuing use of the product the consumer is under pressure to purchase again, whether from the same manufacturer (a replacement part or a newer model), or from a competitor who might also rely on planned obsolescence.[1]

I'd rather they make components more modular/upgradable/replaceable than using silly marketing tactics in the manufacturing process. Disgusting

 

[Slang]

Imagine if this was the case for architects and construction firms. A house only lasting ten years before the foundation collapses.

 

[88m3]

You think some really deep thoughts, friend.

 

[Slang]

This is a NAD electronics example of modular design principles, future forward thinking.

​

 

[Slang]

At the studio the majority of the instruments that crap out on us are the Japanese manufacturers (Roland, Yahmaha and Korg) while the Nords, Moogs and Kurzweils require little more than general maintenance. This phenomena may be a Japanese design principle. Aside from Apple, are there examples of American or European companies employing these tactics.

 

[NZA]

when most of what you buy comes from china, you should expect mixed quality at best. even the companies that contract their work to chinese production plants are sometimes lied to about quality standards. when a representative from the company (japanese, european, or american) visits, they just take them on a guided tour of the stuff they want them to see. foxconn is the elite of these companies and even they do shenanigans that apple and sony might not be aware of.

 

[Domingo Halliburton]

my mac book still works from 6 years ago. My playstation 2 works. you just have to take care of it.


to your point my super nintendo that I got in first grade still works and I play super mario world every once in a while.

 

[Xtraz2]

 

[Kritic]

as OP states, japanese products are generally high or highest quality. when it comes down to the motherboard components japanese make the highest products and export the technology to lower quality taiwan, indonesia, china for cheaper labor. Japanese electronics are the highest quality of asian electronics. they try their best to make flagship items in japan while have their lower end products made in taiwan, indonesia etc
the problem today imo i think is that technology moves fast. most ppl just for obvious reasons don't buy high end products because they'll be outdated in a few years anyway. most ppl would rather buy a cheap dynex tv with cheaper components than a sony.
the cheaper lines has been hurting the high end products to the point that the high end guys gone in on the cheap entry lvl products.

but generally speaking anything made in japan/germany is quality. korea's samsung has stepped up.
nec is highest quality. sony's good. apple went with foxconn cause they're the best factories..



so even though the Roland's and yamahas that break give the japanese companies a bad name it's probably cause they're coming out of factories in indonesia and what not. the yamaha professional quality equipment hangs with the best of them if not better. but labor in japan is high. just like the cost of labor here is high.

so the next question is why is it not worth it to repair sh1t anymore.. cause technology moves so fast it isn't worth it. manufacturers have incorporated warranties in their products...

china's still way behind. china's standards are low. when I see the made in china on anything I get nervous. high end american products made in china like dell are alright. dell quality standards are high and are backed by dell warranty. unlike samsung which is high quality but are more difficult to honor their warranties.
anything can fail these days cause technology's moving so fast so at a large scale quality control's slippin

 

[Kilgore Trout]

Products have a design life.

 

[Slang]

Products have a design life.

That really doesn't make sense. The way a product is manufactured shouldn't be a trend, it should be a way of doing business. Why would a vhs player with more movable parts outlast a dvd player ten fold? Is the move to digital to blame?

What I was alluding to, it seems, that the components used are now of lower quality (thinner pcb boards, cheap capacitors). Is it simply a cost saving measure or are they tying marketing practices into their manufacturing process?