Right to repair for 10 years

[Portada HL]

The EU wants to extend the right to repair to 10 years, not only obliging manufacturers to have spare parts during that period but also obliging them to do the repair.

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[Gallina]

It seems like common sense to me. You can't just throw away equipment that can be recycled and that have a longer lifespan.

[jordiqui]

@gallina XD soy Jorge, que he contestado pero pensaba que ya estaba logueado. Lo de gallina me acaba de hacer reir de buena mañana. Un saludo y empezamos la semana

[Gallina]

Well, the only thing it will do is increase prices, although it is true that sometimes manufacturers go overboard.
Example from my own experience.
A PC with DDR2 Corsair brand top model, Corsair Dominator.
Changed the PC to DDR3.
Memory for a family member, one module blows, they process the RMA and offer him a chestnut of RAM because they no longer have that model in stock, mind you it was 3 years since I bought them.
And Corsair gives a lifetime warranty on RAM (with certain conditions, it is replaced with a model that is the same or equivalent) which was not the case.

[Gallina]

¡Esta publicación está eliminada!

[palotes]

It is evident where we come from, where we are and where we are going.

We come from a society that has managed to get by with durable and repairable goods. Until well into the 90s, it was very common to take the TV or VCR to be repaired several times during its useful life. It was done because these were very expensive appliances. And they were expensive because they were made by people in countries with living standards equal to or higher than ours.

The 21st century arrives and everything changes. The TV breaks, a new one. The DVD player can't read discs, a new one. Washing machines that last 3 or 4 years, refrigerators that are a mess after 8, phones that become obsolete due to fashion every two years and a very long etcetera. Part manufactured by Asians with low living standards. Part assembled at home with Asian components at a ridiculous price.

Everyone is happy. Consumers are happy because they can afford to constantly be getting new appliances. The Asians are happy because the money is pouring in.

China, which is the factory of the world, begins to converge in lifestyle. Manufacturing costs begin to resemble Western ones and Africa is not the answer. There is no longer a cheap manufacturer. Raw materials are becoming more and more expensive. The scarcity of energy makes it unfeasible to manufacture thousands of kilometers away. Geopolitical tensions of unknown origin begin with excuses that insult the intelligence of the most foolish, but that are very convenient for both parties. For one, to justify investments of hundreds of billions to regain the technological advantage. For the other, to justify a stagnation of prosperity due to the change of era. Because the era of use and throw away is over.

Production is being repatriated because this type of globalization is no longer profitable. And suddenly we return to the starting point.

To give the final blow, lawmakers decide to attack where it hurts the most for manufacturers of cheap products: quality. If China could barely compete with the West by lowering all kinds of standards to the maximum, now no one will think twice. Manufacturing components and assembling at home is now competitive. It only remains to loosen a few billion here and another few billion there and in a matter of not many years, the technological advantage will have been recovered.

The journey has not been bad. We workers believed ourselves to be kings for a season with our brand new, eternally new appliances. And China has gone from being a predominantly rural country with not many expectations, to a world superpower.

But the journey does not end here.

[defaultuser]

@palotes I love how you explain these things Jjj

There have been some good things, like evolving a lot in the cheapening and simplification of productive methods, that is, in the massification of access to many things. But normal obsolescence, the one from before, must return for the good of all.

Besides all that has been said, it happens that the race we are carrying out so as not to destroy the planet also involves these issues, and it is never talked about much, only about fuels and the CO2 released, and it happens that unnecessary manufacturing and the poor level of recycling are a good part of the cake.