|
|
|
|
|
by ncmncm
1467 days ago
|
|
You talk like you have never heard of Planned Obsolescence. But it has been in business school textbooks since probably before you were born. Whirlpool refrigerators have a "light control" circuit board to make the dome light come on slowly when the door opens. It has two resistors carefully underspecified to fail after warranty end, requiring a $150 replacement board. (Lots of pics online.) Good for them, bad for us. A $2 transformer and diode would last forever. Whirlpool washing machines have a Motor Control Unit board carefully designed so parts on it literally explode shortly after warranty end, requiring a $300 replacement. (Lots of pics with exploded parts online.) There is of course no need for the parts to explode, and commercial washers from the same manufacturer do not share this failure mode. There is literally no legitimate reason why moisture on the bottom surface of an optical mouse should possibly have any effect on its operation or longevity. |
|
Sure there is. You got a lemon with an unexpected gap in the base panel and electronics don't like water much. That happens; that doesn't mean it's a defect by design, and the shouting about it needs a lot more substantiation than "well have you heard of this thing in another industry entirely?". Tolerances exceed, stuff breaks, warranties are sometimes necessary. This sniffing about capital-P Planned capital-O Obsolescence when this stuff works in the main quite well for a lot of people (and, as mentioned, my own pretty wide array of hardware from them) has a long road to hoe to substantiate it.
You buy a dishwasher once a decade or so. You buy mice rather more frequently than that. From where I sit, there's more incentive to hand you a decent product so you come back and buy another from the same manufacturer--and, as it happens, that's much of why most of the input devices kicking around my house and my studio are Logitech, because they're generally a decent floor of quality.