Black Friday In Name Only

[Lencoboy]

You may joke Terry, but we have a WEEE skip at work: and what gets put in there...

Seriously - tech "stuff" has become so complex and has so much bang for your buck that it is (mostly) impossible to repair, and when manufacturers actively pursue a path of replace rather than repair, we are using up resources at an alarming rate.

It does have to stop: do people really need to replace their three year old telly with something even bigger, just to impress their neighbours? I've only just got a flat screen (secondhand, of course) because I can't be arsed to fix my CRT at the moment...

That's exactly what I've been thinking for the past few years, let alone the past year or so since climate change really started to become a mega-hot topic.

I've been reading several articles online recently about the concepts of 'rights to repair' and 'mend and make do', which have mostly disappeared since around the 90s when most brands started prioritising quantity over quality and also started jumping on the 'Made in China' bandwagon en masse, both at the expense of employment in the previous countries of manufacture, and also the planet with the extra planes and ships, whose exhausts cause even further pollution.

From a personal point, I have often been gutted when a favourite 'modern' electrical/electronic device has had to be scrapped due to being virtually impossible to repair (a typical example of 'planned obsolescence' from the manufacturers/designers) and having to replace it with a (usually) inferior item, and thus the cycle continues.

Just design and manufacture devices better and more easily repairable in the first place, which would hopefully help to reverse the 'throwaway' culture that has evolved over the past 30-odd years or so.

[Lencoboy]

I think Lenco is troubled by the fact that it's misleading to specify a certain day of the week as regards "Black Friday" when it is in fact a glorified spell of sales prior to Christmas. it jars with him because it's not just a named day. It isn't right therefore.

It may be hard for some of us to appreciate the impact of this and why should it matter..but it does to Lenco and it would do to my son as well.

Totally correct, Pulisa.

I personally couldn't give a monkeys as to whether or not people partake in the BF events (which is by all means their choice), but as you say, it's the event still referring to a named day that has over more recent times strayed both before and beyond that specific day/date which really jars with me, when a more fitting title like 'Global Discount Week/Month' would be far better IMO.

'Black Friday' has also become just another 'buzzword' over the past few years.

[MyNameIsTerry]

It has often become cheaper to buy than repair. You might spend £50 to repair something worth £100. It can become a false economy when other old parts could go wrong later compared to a fully new piece of equipment.

The opposite end of the scale being older cars. You car might only be worth £500 but when the clutch goes it's over £1000 to repair.

Always a pain in a crash too since your insurance will right it off leaving you having to spend far more on a newer car without even causing the accident. My GF had that problem and ended up getting it done herself without the insurance so she could keep her trusted car longer until she fancied upgrading to a newly new (she likes to run them until they're beyond help) and all because someone banged it on a car park at low speed.

[MyNameIsTerry]

Just design and manufacture devices better and more easily repairable in the first place, which would hopefully help to reverse the 'throwaway' culture that has evolved over the past 30-odd years or so.

Where's the money in that for manufacturers? If everything lasted donkeys years, which would be good for the planet, their profits would be down.

In the elec business mechanical meters would last 30 years before needing recertification (replacement). Newer digitals were more 10-15 (PPMs towards the lower end of that). Progress...as pulisa would say, bring back the quill!

[Lencoboy]

Where's the money in that for manufacturers? If everything lasted donkeys years, which would be good for the planet, their profits would be down.

In the elec business mechanical meters would last 30 years before needing recertification (replacement). Newer digitals were more 10-15 (PPMs towards the lower end of that). Progress...as pulisa would say, bring back the quill!

I guess that's the quandary many firms have found themselves in over the past 30-odd years or so, but new hasn't always meant better.

What's more, many of the iconic brand names we've all come to know and love over the years have long ceased to be the actual manufacturers of their products, now usually made by some anonymous third-party manufacturer in the Far East, and nothing to do with the original named firm, which kind of renders many brand names meaningless, as their logo badge can be stuck on the front of almost anything these days, regardless of the actual manufacturer.

Then again, many tell-tale signs are the basic shape, size and layout of certain items that are likely to be cast from the same moulds.

[MyNameIsTerry]

I guess that's the quandary many firms have found themselves in over the past 30-odd years or so, but new hasn't always meant better.

What's more, many of the iconic brand names we've all come to know and love over the years have long ceased to be the actual manufacturers of their products, now usually made by some anonymous third-party manufacturer in the Far East, and nothing to do with the original named firm, which kind of renders many brand names meaningless, as their logo badge can be stuck on the front of almost anything these days, regardless of the actual manufacturer.

Then again, many tell-tale signs are the basic shape, size and layout of certain items that are likely to be cast from the same moulds.

I don't think it matters to much to firms, they want your money. If their products lasted longer they would sell less. There has to be a certain standard but really anyone selling a product wants you to come back to buy newer versions. So they just add bits on to tempt you to upgrade.

People tend not to know what their products are made of. There is a great deal of preference for Japanese, time tested motorbikes over the newer Chinese market. A great deal of the parts in a Japanese or German motorbike came from a Chinese plant. Often the same plant knocking out Chinese bikes under other licencing. Chinese bikes are becoming more reliable in recent years. Some say the Japanese control of Chinese output for their bikes kept the standard higher despite being in the same plants.

[Lencoboy]

I don't think it matters to much to firms, they want your money. If their products lasted longer they would sell less. There has to be a certain standard but really anyone selling a product wants you to come back to buy newer versions. So they just add bits on to tempt you to upgrade.

People tend not to know what their products are made of. There is a great deal of preference for Japanese, time tested motorbikes over the newer Chinese market. A great deal of the parts in a Japanese or German motorbike came from a Chinese plant. Often the same plant knocking out Chinese bikes under other licencing. Chinese bikes are becoming more reliable in recent years. Some say the Japanese control of Chinese output for their bikes kept the standard higher despite being in the same plants.

I suppose it does depend on individual firms, as not everything that bears the words 'Made in the PRC' is crap, even though some historically reputable brands have shot themselves in the foot by going down the plasticrap route, regardless of country of manufacture.

But of course, as you say, it's more profitable for the companies, despite their often no longer being responsible for any defects, should they arise, apart from the odd exceptions like the Japanese and German motorbikes you mentioned above.

[MyNameIsTerry]

I suppose it does depend on individual firms, as not everything that bears the words 'Made in the PRC' is crap, even though some historically reputable brands have shot themselves in the foot by going down the plasticrap route, regardless of country of manufacture.

But of course, as you say, it's more profitable for the companies, despite their often no longer being responsible for any defects, should they arise, apart from the odd exceptions like the Japanese and German motorbikes you mentioned above.

How little of Harley Davidson is made in America? A brand seen as iconically American.

Yes, cheaper for the consumer and more profitable for firms but sadly lost jobs for traditional industry. I can still remember how redundancy hit the pottery industry. But everyone wants everything cheaper. Progress has it's downsides.

Yeah, sometimes you don't need to buy top quality when all you need is the job done. And some would hide behind that traditional label to keep prices up, just think overpriced school clothes and how upset the old firms are we can now get reasonably priced clothing from the supermarkets.

[Lencoboy]

How little of Harley Davidson is made in America? A brand seen as ironically American.

Yes, cheaper for the consumer and more profitable for firms but sadly lost jobs for traditional industry. I can still remember how redundancy hit the pottery industry. But everyone wants everything cheaper. Progress has it's downsides.

Yeah, sometimes you don't need to buy top quality when all you need is the job done. And some would hide behind that traditional label to keep prices up, just think overpriced school clothes and how upset the old firms are we can now get reasonably priced clothing from the supermarkets.

'Instant grat' and all that.

[WiredIncorrectly]

Planned obsolescence first appeared with the invention of lightbulbs. Read more here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoebus_cartel

Purposely making something ineffective over time to sell more of the same product is a discussing business model and it only exists for companies to keep making money off the consumer. Hello Apple.

Most of the big tech today will fail when it shouldn't. I have a Chromebook from 2014. It's so slow that it's impossible to use. So what I did was install Linux on it. Now it works blazing fast again. The reason why this Chromebook ran slow using ChromeOS is because Google did that on purpose.