tech

Have you ever encountered such a "strange thing": just after the warranty period, a household appliance fails, and when you seek after-sales repair, the quote makes you feel like it's better to buy a new one... This kind of thing doesn't happen infrequently around me, and I've also seen many people online sharing similar experiences, giving the impression that manufacturers are deliberately controlling the lifespan of their products. Is this really the case?

01

The Pros and Cons of Planned Obsolescence

Take light bulbs as an example. Although today's LED bulbs are advertised as having a long lifespan, those who have used them know that the frequency of replacing household light bulbs is not low. In fact, the lifespan of bulbs produced in the early days could reach 100 years. In the Fire Station No. 6 in Livermore, California, USA, there is a light bulb that has been shining for 123 years and is still emitting light and heat.

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While for consumers, a light bulb that could be passed down as a family heirloom seems to be both cost-saving and worry-free, for businesses, a light bulb with such a long lifespan obviously becomes a "one-time deal," cutting off the potential for future profits. Therefore, related companies established a "Phoenician Cartel" in 1924, aiming to reduce the lifespan of light bulbs, stipulating that the lifespan of every incandescent bulb on the market could not exceed 1000 hours, and exceeding this would result in a hefty fine. This plan is also known as "planned obsolescence."

Electric toothbrushes, which are more difficult to disassemble, are a prime example of "easily breaking after the warranty period."

In terms of modern electronic products, black appliances such as computers usually have a warranty starting from one year, while white appliances like refrigerators have a longer warranty period, generally more than three years.

Black appliances mostly emphasize performance, and their application directions change relatively quickly over time. To ensure the experience, users' willingness to update is often high, so many manufacturers will deliberately make trade-offs on some consumable parts, such as the ear pads of headphones, the microswitches of mice, the batteries of electric toothbrushes, and so on. Of course, there are also many that "abandon old users" from a software compatibility perspective, such as an app that can only be used on a newer version of the system, and the newer version of the system only supports some newer products.

For example, some printer manufacturers use a counting chip in the ink cartridge. When users print a certain number of pages or use it for a certain period, it will actively trigger a low-ink warning, even though there is still ink in the cartridge. Users with some technical skills can simply reset the counter to continue using it normally...For manufacturers, planned obsolescence can reduce costs and increase profits, while also encouraging users to actively pay attention to the new product market, opting for replacement rather than repair, and actively entering the product replacement cycle. However, the aforementioned tactics can only be considered minor strategies, and some are inherently designed with insufficiencies. Moreover, even when users have detected these issues, the products continue to be produced and sold without change.

02

Intentional Design Flaws

The most typical example is the all-in-one water cooling radiator used in PCs. The combination of a copper water block and an aluminum cooling fin appears to take advantage of copper's good thermal conductivity and aluminum's good heat dissipation. However, copper and aluminum can undergo chemical reactions. As two metals with different reactivities, they can produce hydrogen evolution reactions in the closed-loop environment of a water cooling system, forming aluminum hydroxide and copper hydroxide. Under high-temperature conditions, oxidation reactions can also occur, leading to the formation of aluminum and copper oxides. These byproducts can eventually cause blockages in the micro-channels of the water block, and may even corrode the water block, leading to leakage.

As a result, many all-in-one water cooling systems in computers may experience thermal throttling and increased temperatures by several degrees after a period of use. Common solutions such as replacing thermal paste or cleaning dust are ineffective, likely due to the blockage caused by reaction products. Because of the fixed structure of these all-in-one water cooling systems, they are typically replaced rather than repaired. Therefore, many enthusiasts, after experiencing this issue once, opt to build their own custom copper cooling solutions, which, although more troublesome, significantly extend the service life.

Motherboard Solder Material Affects Service Life at High Temperatures

In addition, the low-temperature solder incident with Lenovo Xiaoxin laptops is also a classic example. Last year, a repair technician on Bilibili reported receiving multiple Lenovo Xiaoxin ultrabooks with frequent crashes. It was discovered that the issue was due to the use of low-temperature solder, which is a solder material with a melting point of 138°C. The technician found that it only took 2 seconds with a hot air gun to remove the motherboard inductors from those Lenovo Xiaoxin laptops.

In contrast, the motherboard inductors of other brand laptops required 2 minutes to be removed. In reality, low-temperature solder becomes unstable at around 100°C and can lead to desoldering due to vibration. Although Lenovo issued a statement afterward, insiders have revealed that the purpose of using low-temperature solder is to save more than half of the cost.