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I think so. Why are cellphones and headphones so easy to break?
Easy to break is kind of a hard term to pin on electronics. The smaller we make them, the more delicate their internal connections become. When you have a printed circuit board which is populated with a large number of extremely small microchips you are limited by the amount of solder you can use to hold those chips down. These bonds can become pretty fragile, dropping the phone or headset can easily break a solder bond, and a bad connection is usually the same as no connection at all. In many cases losing the information transfer on even one pin on one chip can greatly affect the performance of the product, or cause it to stop working altogether.
Also, all microchips and electrified components come with ratings called MTBF (mean time between failure) which is a general statistical guideline for how long a product should last based upon the smallest MTBF part within. So while they aren't really designed to fail after a specific time, the are designed to last at least as long as their weakest part…… which can kinda be the same thing from a non-technical standpoint.
People need to understand one basic fact of life here.
We Humans are not perfect. We Humans were never designed to be perfect. We Humans will never be perfect.
Therefore it stands to reason that nothing – I mean absolutely NOTHING – we have ever designed and built has ever been perfect. Nothing we ever will design or build will ever be perfect.
One other fact of life needs to be understood here – and that is the simple fact that nothing – I mean absolutely NOTHING – lasts forever. The Universe is in a constant state of change, we Humans are in a constant state of change, and just like our Universe, we will not last forever.
Not our cars, our houses, bridges, airplanes, boats or trains will last forever. Everything breaks eventually. That is why we have Doctors and mechanics. Get used to it. Live with it.
Just my not-so-humble opinion. B)
Thats called entropy pdawgy and it's quite true.
Well thank you for stating the obvious papadawg (to me at least). But the question I think was meaning do manufactuers purposefully make items that break easy so you have to buy a new one. Ya know like when people say “They sure don’t make ‘em like they used to”.
Yea but some products can be made to break too easily so you have to buy another one.
Yea that's what I thought too.
Electronic designers study so their product will break after the warranty is no longer in effect so you, the consumer, have to replace it. DVD players? Expect a year and a half of daily use. Cellphones? Depends on the brand but they last 2 years on average. Desktop computers? 4 years…laptops? Less than that. Washer and dryer? About 3 years until something needs to be replaced. This is from personal experience. Longest running appliances? Fridges and our old coaxial TVs
Most frustrating ones? Microwaves. Those can break after just a few months of use.