[Workaccount2]

>I don't think actual malicious planned obsolescence is as prevalent as many believe.

Working in the electronics industry, I have never once heard anyone talk about this. Engineers love engineering, and if it was real their would be a whole field devoted to it. But there isn't.

Also, since this board is stacked with software guys...

Planned obsolescence is way easier to implement in software. How many of you have been asked to put a time bomb in a warrantied product?

Planned obsolescence is a term that lay people use to describe unfortunate breaking of things that are sufficiently complex to be considered "a magical black box". In reality it is just another apparition of Murphy's law.

[devbent]

Last time this topic came up on HN an engineer whose job it is to do these calculations and then re-engineer products not last as long popped into the thread