Between The Lines

Hi folks, one of my most popular blog posts “How long should a TV last?” still has legs and I’m happy to see is gathering comments many months after I wrote it. I originally wrote it for three reasons: First, my TV was busted and I was MAD because I had shell out lots of cash for a new one (though the new is very cool); Second, I’ve always wondered about the validity of what the conspiracy theory types call “built in obsolescence” (building circuitry into a product so that it fails after a given time and thus requires the user to purchase another--wonder if there is some secret convention or something?) And as a side reason, what types and how many comments a less esoteric topic such as TV reliability would garner (It’s what our Margery Conner once called “Click Whoring”). I came up with the name of the blog post because after my TV died, I Googled the question “How long should a TV last?” and was sadly dissipointed to see little of interest under that heading. I’m happy to see that indeed months after, the post still has had legs and is serving as bragging post as well as a vetting post.

In particular, I found the latest comment on the blog very interesting. It’s from someone going by the handle “Noel,” expressing the same angst I felt when my Panasonic died a premature death. Here is Noel’s comment cut and pasted:

“Just under four years ago, I purchased a Sharp Aquos 20" TV. It cost in the region of $2000. Two months ago it powered up to a blank screen and instantly powered off. Sharp are not interested, as it is out of warranty. Local service engineers I have called won't touch it. Spare parts to rectify the problem could cost anywhere between $600 and $1500, depending on the nature of the fault. Mel, if you expect your Sharp TV to last beyond five years, you are engaging in wishful thinking. When the inverter board goes, or the cold-cathode lamp goes, expect to be told that you will need a new LCD unit - at a cost similar to that you originally paid for the TV. Even so-called premium brands are churning out worthless, cheap junk these days, which is why I will NEVER AGAIN pay more for the false perception that I am buying quality when I buy Sony, Sharp or any one of the big names. While environmentalists are happy to bleat on ad-nauseum about the scientifically dubious idea of man-made global warming, the deliberate and environmentally damaging wastefulness known as planned obsolescence goes on unchallenged.”

It’s interesting how many other folks wrote in about their older TVs lasting decades.

So, given all this, one has to wonder with all the leakage issues in advanced ICs and leakage creating heat and heat creating leakage, potentially snowballing into thermal runaways, if the defect rates of these devices will increase. That may not be so bad if you are the captains of the consumer products industry trying to sell more TV units, but what does it mean for other products. I wonder what it means for testing and reliability too? A chip may work great in test in the fab and product may be feature rich…but I can’t help but think the big question we will all be asking or should be asking is: how long will it work?

So I've been thinking maybe someone should create a site called the “Electronics Products Obituary,” where folks can list the purchase and death dates of products along with cause of defect/death. Then maybe some of the consumer product cats would put a bit more time and effort into quality?

In fact, feel free to start here. List your crappy electronics products. Give the Name of the product, price you paid, approximate date of purchase, date of defect and how it died. Short and sweet so folks can find it quickly.