One thing to remember with non removable batteries is that you can increase the battery capacity by doing so. Apple reported a 40% increase when they switched to unibody construction because they didn't have to install a door, locking mechanism, physical sides to the battery shell, etc. Imagine if the iPad had a removable battery and got 60% of the battery life it does... no one would be happy.Zachary Amaranth said:
The death of the fix-it-yourself generation
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I must agree that it's not universal and there are a lot of long-lasting things out there, but it gets worse and worse.Blablahb said:
Also, the way most big companies work really is suicidal.
I wouldn't blame the current capitalism if our economy wouldn't be on a constant crash course because of it. (also just to clarify: I prefer capitalism over communism, it's just that we're apparently not able to do it RIGHT)
You admit cars are much better (durable) than before. If that takes an onboard computer that you yourself cannot fix, I guess you can considder it a dual edged sword. But to me it's just a good innovation. And this issue has ALWAYS been around; in medieval times you would see a specialist for stuff we now easily can do ourselves at home. This is because technology in general is hard to fully grasp, no matter what the level it is at. For example, I can program and make any computer do whatever I want. I can rebuild it and build new ones no problem. But can I invent an entire new CPU from scratch? Nope. Maybe *everyone* can do that on the Enterprise... but then they'll be looking for a genius with a massive laboratory who can build a new warpcore that's faster than the current one...
Bottom line: I can't fix a car, but I can fix any PC problem. Guess I'll put that money towards car repairs, like once they paid the town witch grain to cure their lepracy... ?
And specifically about car manufacturers making them hard to fix on purpose:
PURE nonsense! They want a reputation for never breaking down/low cost to run it year by year. They have ZERO interest in keeping garages in business! Companies truly associated with that company make money selling the car, not milking it for repairs. That's just bad business for them.
Bottom line: I can't fix a car, but I can fix any PC problem. Guess I'll put that money towards car repairs, like once they paid the town witch grain to cure their lepracy... ?
And specifically about car manufacturers making them hard to fix on purpose:
PURE nonsense! They want a reputation for never breaking down/low cost to run it year by year. They have ZERO interest in keeping garages in business! Companies truly associated with that company make money selling the car, not milking it for repairs. That's just bad business for them.
So what, your father was lacking the needed tool. A tools who's need is screamingly obvious?
This is the cars companies fault?
Smack him upside the head and tell him to get an OBD-II scanner. Having a car with an on board computer and not having one of those, is like bitching about not having a basic wrench set. Really.
This is the cars companies fault?
Smack him upside the head and tell him to get an OBD-II scanner. Having a car with an on board computer and not having one of those, is like bitching about not having a basic wrench set. Really.
It's funny but capitalism, when you think about it, is both extremely efficient and extremely wasteful. It's much quicker and easier to throw old stuff into a dump and buy a new one than simply fix whatever was wrong with it. It's the price of progress I guess.
If it makes the OP feel any better my car is as old as I am, every time something on it breaks I try to fix it the cheapest way possible, which usually involves some work on my part, and I have no intention on buying a new one anytime ever. I love my shitty old car.
If it makes the OP feel any better my car is as old as I am, every time something on it breaks I try to fix it the cheapest way possible, which usually involves some work on my part, and I have no intention on buying a new one anytime ever. I love my shitty old car.
Jesus freakin' christ, is there anything that wasn't better in the old days? This is all I see on the internet these days. And the sad thing is that most people who say these things are at most 25, which means they didn't even get to live the "good ol' days".
What the hell internet? Why so whiney?
What the hell internet? Why so whiney?
The bit I am annoyed about is the lack of release testing.
It used to be that products were tested in the factory prior to being shipped.
Now it has been found to be cheaper for the manufacturer to ship faulty goods to the customer, have the customer return the faulty product and get a replacement.
Of course this is cheaper for the manufacturer as we, the customers, are now paying those costs.
A mate of mines dad just passed away, he was a master mechanic and renown for being able to fix anything.
He once sold tractors, a customer bought one on the condition he service the tractor.
Over 50 years later, 3 months before his death he was still servicing that same tractor.
It used to be that products were tested in the factory prior to being shipped.
Now it has been found to be cheaper for the manufacturer to ship faulty goods to the customer, have the customer return the faulty product and get a replacement.
Of course this is cheaper for the manufacturer as we, the customers, are now paying those costs.
A mate of mines dad just passed away, he was a master mechanic and renown for being able to fix anything.
He once sold tractors, a customer bought one on the condition he service the tractor.
Over 50 years later, 3 months before his death he was still servicing that same tractor.
Veiled swipe at consoles? Maybe, I'll read it as such.
My first car was a FIAT, you're damn right I learned how to fix everything, balancing the dual Webber carbs was a nightmare. My second car was a 1976 toyota corolla, I learnt then that toyota's don't break down unless you do something stupid to them. I did many stupid things to my corolla. Before I got rid of it I could swap the engine in about two hours, and 2nd hand engines cost less that a water pump or an oil pump. My next car was a Subaru, if your Subaru breaks down set fire to it and claim insurance, ugh what a horrible car to work on.
My first car was a FIAT, you're damn right I learned how to fix everything, balancing the dual Webber carbs was a nightmare. My second car was a 1976 toyota corolla, I learnt then that toyota's don't break down unless you do something stupid to them. I did many stupid things to my corolla. Before I got rid of it I could swap the engine in about two hours, and 2nd hand engines cost less that a water pump or an oil pump. My next car was a Subaru, if your Subaru breaks down set fire to it and claim insurance, ugh what a horrible car to work on.
I get where your coming from, and I'm glad I can at least say I'm not one of those people. I try to fix everything that breaks on my own, as long as its within my skill. Much more cheaper, and I get to tinker with electronics and mechanics 
whenever something in the family broke, I would always force my parents to let me try to repair it before taking it to a professional (and hope I didn't damaged it further :/). Surprisingly, I was successful a lot.
But I agree. People seem more prone to just take their damaged equipment to the shop rather than try to fix it themselves. I find the lack of common repair skills sad nowadays.
whenever something in the family broke, I would always force my parents to let me try to repair it before taking it to a professional (and hope I didn't damaged it further :/). Surprisingly, I was successful a lot.But I agree. People seem more prone to just take their damaged equipment to the shop rather than try to fix it themselves. I find the lack of common repair skills sad nowadays.
CAPITALISM HO!
I will admit that I don't know much about cars beyond their basic operation, I'm better with computers, which is why I avoid tinkering with my car.
Anyway, your situation can be applied to computers as well to a certain extent. What I'm talking about is how unwilling people are to just do a little bit of research to figure out simple problems for themselves, rather than come to people like me to fix them. You'd figure with the internet and all, it would be easier to learn how to do things on your own.
This is probably one of the main reasons Apple is so popular. Everything is proprietary and they encourage "simplicity". You don't need to know anything about this, we'll do it for you!...for the low low price of $X.xx.
I will admit that I don't know much about cars beyond their basic operation, I'm better with computers, which is why I avoid tinkering with my car.
Anyway, your situation can be applied to computers as well to a certain extent. What I'm talking about is how unwilling people are to just do a little bit of research to figure out simple problems for themselves, rather than come to people like me to fix them. You'd figure with the internet and all, it would be easier to learn how to do things on your own.
This is probably one of the main reasons Apple is so popular. Everything is proprietary and they encourage "simplicity". You don't need to know anything about this, we'll do it for you!...for the low low price of $X.xx.
This is also part of my Apple/computer gripe. They release the iPhone 4 with the antenna problem, you'd figured they had tested that. Nope, Jobs just tells you like the smug asshole he was that you're holding it wrong. Solution? Get a case for it.TechNoFear said:
It's not quite like that - they aren't killing off simplicity, mechanical things naturally get more complicated as designers add more functions.
As for the death of the "DIY" generation - yeah, well, that was always going to happen. As society gets more and more complicated, jobs get more and more specialized and time grows short. In ye olden days, the vast majority of people had to learn to grow food for themselves and make their own clothing and hunt and carve stuff out of wood. These days, you don't have to do that, and what's more, if you have a stressful, time-consuming job, you don't have the time nor the patience for doing that.
Cars rarely break down these days anyway, if you buy a good one.
A lot of people complain that this "new generation" is useless and doesn't know how to do things right. Every generation has said that about the next generation throughout all of time. But you know what? They've got it wrong. What they are really angry about is that we have it easier than they do. They resent the fact that we don't HAVE to go through what they went through - life is easier for us, it's always been easier for the next generation, which has grown up with better technology, more social organization and higher education.
Rather than be angry about how "those darn tootin' younguns don't know how good they have it! In MY day, we'd have to fend off a bear, walk 10 miles in the snow and climb a mountain just to get to school! And we were glad to do it! And we had to literally CARVE all our schoolbooks out of wood and make our own ink by harvesting Octopuses on the coast once a month! Bah, these darn younguns, what with their fancy Ipods and internets and the you-tubes, they're just coasting through life! Without a care in the world!" why don't they just say "Well, son, I'm glad you didn't have to go through the crap I went through. Did you know that in my day, I had to walk through the snow for 10 miles up a mountain just to get to school? Thank god you don't have to go through that, that sucked!" That's what my dad says to me - he's always telling me how much better life is for me, and how thankful he is that it is better for me. He honestly longs for the day where we won't have to fix anything ourselves, and we can get robots to do it.
Well, I'm sorry older generation - I had thought that you would have WANTED a better life for your children! That you would celebrate the fact that we don't have to go through the trials and tribulations that you did. It's odd that the older generations would resent the subsequent generations for taking advantage of the advancements they made.
As for the death of the "DIY" generation - yeah, well, that was always going to happen. As society gets more and more complicated, jobs get more and more specialized and time grows short. In ye olden days, the vast majority of people had to learn to grow food for themselves and make their own clothing and hunt and carve stuff out of wood. These days, you don't have to do that, and what's more, if you have a stressful, time-consuming job, you don't have the time nor the patience for doing that.
Cars rarely break down these days anyway, if you buy a good one.
A lot of people complain that this "new generation" is useless and doesn't know how to do things right. Every generation has said that about the next generation throughout all of time. But you know what? They've got it wrong. What they are really angry about is that we have it easier than they do. They resent the fact that we don't HAVE to go through what they went through - life is easier for us, it's always been easier for the next generation, which has grown up with better technology, more social organization and higher education.
Rather than be angry about how "those darn tootin' younguns don't know how good they have it! In MY day, we'd have to fend off a bear, walk 10 miles in the snow and climb a mountain just to get to school! And we were glad to do it! And we had to literally CARVE all our schoolbooks out of wood and make our own ink by harvesting Octopuses on the coast once a month! Bah, these darn younguns, what with their fancy Ipods and internets and the you-tubes, they're just coasting through life! Without a care in the world!" why don't they just say "Well, son, I'm glad you didn't have to go through the crap I went through. Did you know that in my day, I had to walk through the snow for 10 miles up a mountain just to get to school? Thank god you don't have to go through that, that sucked!" That's what my dad says to me - he's always telling me how much better life is for me, and how thankful he is that it is better for me. He honestly longs for the day where we won't have to fix anything ourselves, and we can get robots to do it.
Well, I'm sorry older generation - I had thought that you would have WANTED a better life for your children! That you would celebrate the fact that we don't have to go through the trials and tribulations that you did. It's odd that the older generations would resent the subsequent generations for taking advantage of the advancements they made.
Problem is, the advancement has been pretty superficial. Sure, my car doesn't have leather heated seats, an onboard computer, HUD, satnav, et cetera... but it gets better gas mileage than a Prius, travels about the same speed, costs far less in maintenance, and was built in 1974... and because it's owned by me, it'll probably be driving long after the last Prius goes through an extremely costly disposal process... but that's just one example.hulksmashley said:
Also, I can fix a new car, but it takes much longer, thanks to space-saving tendencies of engineers. The biggest problem with maintaining a new car is how tightly everything fits together. Want to get to the transmission? Pull the skid plate, exhaust, half a dozen fuel lines... and that's if you have a lift. Want to get at it from the top? Pull the engine.
Oh, and my favorite... wanna get at the battery? pull the front left wheel. Christ I hate modern cars. Don't get me wrong, there's a lot of great technology in 'em, but the people designing 'em need to be in on building and fixing prototypes. Physically.