Not sure if this qualifies as planned obsolescence but Acer stopped supporting a tablet I bought in less than two years. I have been avoiding Acer products ever since.
Dishwashers, the 3 most recent dishwashers that I have had experience using across 3 very different households and use levels, from 3 different manufacturers, have all had minor to major faults in the 4-5 years since installation, just after the warranty period ended.
Mostly drawer and roller related, but also a pump failure.
New appliances. A matter of time until the fridge chokes itself since the coils are covered in dust and impossible to reach without tipping the whole fridge over. Also sorely regret replacing the old electromechanical washer instead of repairing it. New one fills with too little water at random and apparently it's a controller board issue with no easy fix in sight.
Also Apple mobile devices, I understand they can't keep supporting them forever, but the bootloader's locked so I can't even put something less demanding on it.
Wow you totally reminded me of this building I managed several years back now, and they all had washing machines with that only filled a few inches, maybe 8 at most.
It was explained to me by my appliance tech, perhaps he's not entirely correct on somebody may inform me better... But he said they were built to some water savings standard from california, and rather than making different models for different markets, they just foisted the low water ones on people.
I remember endless grieving from residents. I also remember a very common complaint of the person above them using their washing machine for 9 hours a day. Well fucking yeah, try having two working parents and three kids and seeing how much laundry you can get done in those pieces of shit!
Windows 11 refusing to install on hardware it can absolutely run on.
IP rating on smartphones so there's seals and glue everywhere and opening them up is a fucking nightmare.
My desktop won't run Windows 11 according to Windows 11. But if I make a VM with fake TPM on it, it will run perfectly well inside a VM on a machine that won't run it lol
It wouldn't install on an all-in-one PC I was selling, until I clicked the bypass options (RAM, TPM, etc) in Rufus
Dumbest thing about those IP ratings is that they don‘t even provide any warranty rights for water damage.
"IP rating only describes the sealing properties at the time of assembly and may deteriorate with time." my ass!
the worst part is that there are plenty of examples of older phones that achieved high IP ratings while also being more repairable. they just gaslight us into accepting it.
(also obligatory 🐧)
Windows 11 refusing to install on hardware it can absolutely run on.
RUFUS is not only a great tool with which to build your USB installer (it has an option to download the correct and latest ISO directly from Microsoft), but in the subsequent steps it also asks if you want to modify the installer in some pretty useful ways. Such as bypassing a Microsoft account in favour of a local account, and neutering some of the more recent requirements. IIRC the TPM 2.0 requirement can still be nerfed.
Washing machines. In the stores, you see a shiny stainless steel drum, but holding up the drum is a raw aluminum spindle. Those spindles corrode with typically caustic laundry detergents to last about 6 years. Replacement was possible, with a day of work. Now, manufacturers seal the drum unit with welded plastic so replacement is impossible.
Probably doesn't count as I didn't buy it, so I'm technically not dealing with it. But let's talk about electric riding lawnmowers. Last year I was looking to replace my 20+ year old riding lawnmower with an electric one. Could not find a single manufacturer who would also provide the parts lists. Digging deeper, seems like they simply do not sell parts, like at all. The mowers just aren't repairable - straight up, if it breaks, buy a new one. That's irresponsible when talking about an electric drill, but a full riding mower? WTF?
To be fair, this might be a chicken & egg problem. Low adoption rates means there's a very small market for parts, so there's no aftermarket support. And that aftermarket is where I get parts for my current mower. So maybe it's not fair to blame the manufacturer? But I think that's a stretch. From where I'm standing, it sure looks like intentional planned obsolescence.
John Deere ztracks have replacement part lists I managed to find on a retailer website. Most of the parts for mowers are off the shelf anyway, I would imagine the power supply stuff is off the shelf too.
eh, they are already making the parts anyway. just make them available on order or something, not ideal but acceptable. beats forcing consumers to take a leap of faith for a product that looks pretty clearly to be disposable.
Win11... The amount of perfectly good hardware that became ewaste in October is insane to me
Samsung Galaxy S8 Pro. It's one of these curved phones with glass on the back.
The front glass is hardened Gorilla Glass. The back glass breaks when you're looking at it wrong. Because of the curved soapbar style, the phone easily slips out of your hand, shattering the back glass.
I am very delicate with my phones and never broke one in all of my life. The S8 was the final boss for me, though. I had to have the back glass repaired two times, one time it just fell off of my bed which is only 15cm above the floor. Fuck you, Samsung.
I've never personally dealt with them and don't ever intend to get a Switch 2 so I probably won't deal with them, although I can imagine them being catastrophic when Nintendo eventually sunsets the console in question, but Switch 2 Game-Key Cards.
I can not understand why GKC specifically are getting targeted with the hate when the whole "Physical, but actually it's a download key" bullshit is rampant on all systems.
Do they suck? Absolutely. But at least you can resell them, and they're labeled. Better than "Download key in a box"
I'm targeting them specifically because although Nintendo says they're portable and will last, what if Nintendo decides to revoke all those download keys when they sunset the Switch 2 instead of allowing them to be redeemed on the Switch 3, if there even will be a Switch 3 and the entire gaming industry doesn't collapse before such a console has a chance to even go into conception?
You'll have larger amounts of now-useless plastic littering landfills than with the optical discs that are glorified license keys on the PS and Xbox consoles.
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