I am something of a computer geek. I use them for work. For fun. Everything in betweeen. But my gosh, they sure don't make them very well anymore. Now generally speaking I am not a conspiracy theory kind of guy. But you spend much time on geeky tech blogs and there is a large percentage of people that think the major computer makers (including Apple) design their products to fail. I mean if you make a computer that will work well for 5 or 6 years, why would you need to buy another one?
I say this cause I just had to order a new computer. My two year old Sony Vaio laptop, which I paid more than $2,000 for, just died. As did my two previous Apple laptops (video cards in each). None of them made it three years. The two Apple laptops could be fixed, but the video cards they need is worth way more then the computer itself.
Join me below the fold for a little rant and some more thoughts on designing to fail.
Introduction
The first computer I had was a TRS my dad and I made out of a kit in the early 80s. The next was a Commander 64. Then a Mac SE in 1987. Funny thing, I still have each and they both work. I even have the Mac SE in my kitchen, mounted under a cabinet, that I run Hypercard on to store recipes. Heck my Atari 2600 still works. And if you wonder, yes I have a room in my house where I have all these old machines hooked up. Kind of my computer museum.
Background
The first thing that stopped working on my Sony was the wireless card about two weeks ago. Then the keyboard. Then, well it just died. How can a $2,300 machine made with the best hardware in 2008 just stop working?
Designing Computers To Fail
I am not remotely the first person to mention that the major computers makers design their computers to fail so you end up buying another one every couple years. I mean how else can I view my experience. I have computers in my house that are 30 years old that work, but three laptops in the last seven years have failed.
Most people use their computers to write letters, check their email, and browse the web. That can all be done, as I am posting this, from a 10 year old HP. It won't run some of the high-end programs I need for work, like PhotoShop, Dreamweaver, and Camtasia Studio, but for about 90% of the population they can do everything they want on a box that is a decade old.
So how does Apple, HP, and Dell move more product? Well they design their computers to fail. As you might guess this pisses me off. But alas, I guess we're at a place where it is what it is.
So HP just got another $500 from me. The computer with the specs I wanted was $1,300. But alas, I can go to eBay and buy all the parts from some cheap hardware maker and do the upgrades myself.
I guess this business model must work for them, but alas I don't see how.