Do the manufacturers build things to go wrong after a specific time ?

Question

I bought this Epson GT-F500 scanner around 2 years ago. This morning in the middle of scanning it stops working. No warnings, no signs of strain. Just stops working.

It makes me wonder if manufacturers build things to break down after a certain time so we have to buy the new model.

Answer 1

Most Items have a minimum life span,longer or shorter dependant usually on price, obviously if things lasted forever manufacturers would run out of customers, I'm still using my grand mothers clothes brush and apart from a chip or two in the varnish where it's been dropped over the last hundred years or so it still as good as new. but I would be very surprised if the manufacturer was still in business

Answer 2

yes, just after the warranty runs out

Answer 3

yes so they can sell another one to you.

Answer 4

I don't think that companies are able to calculate exactly when a product will break down, and thus, build them that way.  I'm sure it is possible from a historical perspective to measure what the average useful life of a product that has not materially changed will last.

There are far too many factors involved in what causes a product to break down. Anything mechanical is going to be prone to break down eventually.  Properly maintaining a product will extend its useful life.  However, some products may have had problems during the manufacturing process that are not readily identifiable at that time, but do become evident after testing or actual use by the end user. Therefore, many products have some kind of warranty coverage in case the product fails prematurely. If you don't have a good product, eventually you lose sales - not a good business plan. For instance, since your scanner broke down only after two years, does it make you want to go out and buy another Epson scanner?  Probably not.

Answer 5

This is not, though it sounds as though it is, apocryphal.

A close friend took a printer into his local Staple's store after it ceased to function.

He is a well established customer in that store, who owns a company that has a large spend per annum there.

The manager took the printer from him into a back room, and asked him to "come back later, so we can see what we can do".

Several hours later, he returned.

He was presented with a fully functioning, but the same, printer.

He asked the manager "how much", and, acknowledging his large annual spend, the manager said "nothing - this happens all the time with these printers. It's built into them, but we can get round it. If you have an extended guarantee, we pretend to send it back to the manufacturer, but put it right in the back".

Questioning this, he was told that the printer has a "life" of a certain number of prints, after which it will "die". It was a cheap printer from that particular maker, but, had it been more expensive, would have "lasted" longer.

Kind of reassures you, doesn't it?

Answer 6

Yes.  They don't see it as in their financial interest to make products that last forever, then they can't sell them more.  They're not built to last.  I had a stereo that went temperamental as soon as the guarantee was up, that's very suspicious timing.

Answer 7

Of course they do - they build in obsolescence so they can't be repaired and consumables can't be replaced and they use key components with limited design life.

Its how they shift product.

Answer 8

Yes.

Most stuff is made to break

Its a bit like light bulbs. They can last for decades but they are all made to last for months instead so we have to keep spending

Answer 9

yes and no.

they don't build things to break.

they do build things to last at least a specific number of hours, but not a lot more.

there is a difference.

there is what i thought was a very good story about Henry Ford.

he told one of his employees to go around to the local junk yards and look at the ford cars there.

look specifically for parts of the car that were in really good shape.

the answer was that all of the king pins were in perfect shape.

he then told his designers that they could save some money by not making the king pin as strong, since it obviously did not need to be.

most manufacturers do cycle tests on products to see how long they last.

when there's a problem, they make the part stronger.

Henry ford was the only one i've heard of that made a part less strong, although one would have to assume that it's happened thousands of times -- to save money.

Answer 10

Yes, they are all plotting against us poor consumers!!!

Answer 11

I think so ever buy a new printer cartridge its cheaper to buy a whole new printer than the ink refill and the refill kits never seem to work for me.And have you heard about the RED RING on the X box 360 apparently if the unit is overplayed it overheats a chip inside that cannot be replaced and you can get a new game counsel set to you under the warranty just heard about this on the news.The manufacturer seems to make things so expensive to repair that your better off buying a new unit.

Answer 12

I've thought that for years, nothing lasts as long as it should, and seems to be symptomatic of the throwaway society.

If things were made to last longer there wouldn't be so much to throw away, filling up landfill sites or cluttering up the land.

Answer 13

Yes, in a word. I was talking to a Black & Decker designer who told me that their DIY drills are "6 hour" drills but their de Walt models for the professionals are "300 hour" models.