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New UK plan "could spell end of throwaway culture" (BBC News)

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blacksheeplogic:

--- Quote from: AndyC_772 on March 12, 2020, 05:20:09 pm ---For example, not too long ago, the phone in my pocket had a sliding battery cover which was trivial to remove. The battery was clipped into place and could be easily swapped out with no technical skill whatsoever. Nowadays almost every phone on the market has an integral battery which cannot be replaced without special tools and a risk of permanent damage to the phone - and there's no good reason for them to be made that way.

--- End quote ---

This has probably made negligible real difference. Basic market research showed consumers 'upgrading' there phones, they weren't replacing their phone batteries and using 10 year old phones. Sure a few do, But there's a ton of consumers who will say 'yea, if I had the option', but when they had the option..... different story, that what everyone else should do.

MK14:
On reflection, I'm increasingly thinking, this (almost a) disposable car situation is probably where we have been headed to, for a large number of reasons.

Let's consider the cars side mirrors.

The mirrors of cars from many decades ago, were just that, 'mirrors'. If it needed replacing, e.g. a parking accident. You just needed to change the mirror glass (fairly cheap, £7 ?), or the complete unit, which was also probably reasonably priced, many decades ago.

These days, you usually have an incredible amount of functionality, crammed into the limited space mirror.

They can be electrically heated, electrically adjustable, flashes when someone indicates (part of the assembly), is electrically retractable/foldable. They can also, detect passing vehicles (electronically), have cameras in (I suspect, possibly lane change detection), and probably other stuff.

So, in order to put all that functionality into a relatively small space. You have to have assemblies, with lots of stuff on PCBs. Many motors, mechanical bits, sensors, heater(s), etc etc.

Therefore, instead of the old days, when it hypothetically can be repaired for £7 (guesstimate of many decades ago pricing), by buying a new mirror glass. The whole unit probably needs replacing, and it probably costs a small fortune, to get it repaired  (changed).

CatalinaWOW:

--- Quote from: MK14 on March 12, 2020, 09:57:31 pm ---On reflection, I'm increasingly thinking, this (almost a) disposable car situation is probably where we have been headed to, for a large number of reasons.

Let's consider the cars side mirrors.

The mirrors of cars from many decades ago, were just that, 'mirrors'. If it needed replacing, e.g. a parking accident. You just needed to change the mirror glass (fairly cheap, £7 ?), or the complete unit, which was also probably reasonably priced, many decades ago.

These days, you usually have an incredible amount of functionality, crammed into the limited space mirror.

They can be electrically heated, electrically adjustable, flashes when someone indicates (part of the assembly), is electrically retractable/foldable. They can also, detect passing vehicles (electronically), have cameras in (I suspect, possibly lane change detection), and probably other stuff.

So, in order to put all that functionality into a relatively small space. You have to have assemblies, with lots of stuff on PCBs. Many motors, mechanical bits, sensors, heater(s), etc etc.

Therefore, instead of the old days, when it hypothetically can be repaired for £7 (guesstimate of many decades ago pricing), by buying a new mirror glass. The whole unit probably needs replacing, and it probably costs a small fortune, to get it repaired  (changed).

--- End quote ---

The solution to this and similar problems is both simple and impossible.  Simple in that a standardized unit used by everyone would be relatively inexpensive due to large production volume.  Repair of the unit would be possible for the same reason (big market).    But this will never happen because everyone wants unique style and features to differentiate their car from the neighbors and competitors.

james_s:
I hold out hope that eventually we'll have a trend toward minimalist cars, cars that are just cars, without the extra 1,400 pounds of silly gadgets to break. Things like these ridiculous power actuated tailgates that take 5 times as long to open and close as just manually lifting and closing the gate on the back of a wagon or SUV, it's dumb. Infotainment units integrated into the car are completely stupid, just provide a place to plug in a smartphone which everyone already has anyway and use that for navigation.

The lack of bumpers is probably the dumbest trend ever though. The entire purpose of a bumper is to absorb minor impacts and prevent damage to the expensive painted bodywork. They should be rugged plain black polymer over a sturdy shock mounted frame that protrudes several inches past the bodywork with an inexpensive and easily replaceable outer cladding. There is no excuse for these stupid jokes that modern cars have where the entire end of the car is a sacrificial structure and a minor parking lot bump can easily cost you thousands. It's purely form over function, it was great back when the law required bumpers that could absorb a 5mph collision without damage, yeah they were big and ugly on some cars so maybe 2.5mph that we had later is more reasonable but what we have now is ridiculous.

SilverSolder:

--- Quote from: james_s on March 12, 2020, 02:59:20 am ---
--- Quote from: SilverSolder on March 12, 2020, 02:53:56 am ---Yes, I agree with this analysis.  The cost of actually changing a vehicle (time, risk, and $$$) can make it worth spending "theoretically too much" to fix.

--- End quote ---


It almost always makes sense provided you have taken reasonable care of the rest of the car. I've never understood the "but it costs more to fix than the vehicle is worth". So what? With few exceptions a car is not an investment, you're always going to pour much more money into it than you get back out later if you sell it. That's especially true if you buy brand new cars, you lose tens of thousands of dollars in value. I don't even know how I'd manage to spend that much repairing my car. I don't care how much I could sell it for because I'm never going to sell it, I'll spend the money to maintain it and just keep driving it until someone hits me and wrecks it again.

--- End quote ---

Sadly, rust is a big problem in some parts of the country, it ends up killing otherwise perfectly functional cars...

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