[imgabe]

The sticker will get lost, peel off, get scratched until it's unreadable and then the user has no way to get that information. Maybe if they are really on top of things they will take a picture of the sticker when they first get the machine and save it somewhere that they will remember 5 years later when they need it, but most people will not do that. And if you aren't the first owner of the machine, well then, you're just sol.

[crinkly]

Rubbish. The sticker is still on my 14 year old washing machine.

Hell I've got a 55 year old piece of electronic equipment here with the serial number sticker still on it.

[semi-extrinsic]

I've got a 65 year old FM radio with manufacturer-supplied circuit diagram still inside the case.

[hedora]

I’ve got a tube based oscilloscope with a hand written sticker saying service is due in the ‘40s. The important info is stamped metal (model, serial number), or internal paper stickers (field manual).

It still worked last time I plugged it in. I’m not sure if I’ll be able to find someone to calibrate it when the 40’s roll around again. :-)

[ElevenLathe]

Do you really think this cloud service will be up and functioning for 20+ years? How much stuff like that was set up in 2005 and is still working?

But even without that calculus, you can put a bunch of stickers on, all over the machine. They cost nothing and can be applied automatically. Better yet, punch it into some central metal part of the washing machine like the VIN on a car.

[Printerisreal]

instead of sticker, they can just code something like dog tag, that is thing for century or more

[exabrial]

Absolute garbage. I have node.js code < 6 months old that won't work anymore because some ding dong removed backwards compatibility or the infrastructure needed to run it.

[imgabe]

Skill issue.

Hosting a product manual doesn't need to be some whizbang React SPA with the framework of the month. It can be plain HTML that will work for 30 years.