Surrounded by Bad, Broken Gadgets
The Red Ferret Journal is challenging everyone to list all the gadgets they have in their lives that don't work as they hoped or expected. Here's mine, culled from things that are just at arm's length:
• D-Link DGL-3420 Wi-Fi Bridge – Stopped working after I updated the firmware on my D-Link DGL-4300 router. Status: Unusable on my network.
• Dell 2001FP Monitor – While Dell replaced this broken monitor under warranty, I still have to ship it back to them. Not complaining, just saying. Status: Borked.
• eVGA GeForce 7900GT Video Card – Endless video errors forced me to replace this card. Waiting on RMA. Status: Busted.
• Epson CX7800 All-In-One Printer – Dust and pet hair inside the printer—despite that I always closed it up between uses—have rendered the print head irreparably crappy. Status: Only good as a scanner.
• Netgear HDX101 Powerline Ethernet Adapter – Died just after warranty expired. Died when I removed it from the socket. Status: Trash.
• Microsoft Xbox 360 – Works just great, but is as loud as a vacuum cleaner when in use. Status: Waiting for RROD.
All in all I'm actually pretty surprised—I'm not doing as badly as I might have thought. That said, I'm not counting any of the literally dozens of gadgets that sit in Tupperware tubs in my basement or have been donated or thrown away. I don't like keeping broken things around me, because they make me sad.
Red has followed up his much larger list with a "Gadget Manifesto," a salient list of all the crimes perpetrated against gadget buyers by gadget manufacturers. Too many products. Planned obsolescence. Shoddy build quality. Unengaged customer service. Devaluation of trusted brands.
Every issue is one that gadget owners have been saddled with before. I'm still not sure what we as the nerdy edge of the market can do to fix the problems, but it's obvious most of the manufacturers aren't going to do it on their own.
The Gadget Manifesto - or 25 reasons why we're getting tired of trashy Far East manufacturing... [RedFerret.net]
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Why stop with gadgets? What about every dishwasher and washing machine and drier with nightmares of user interfaces? When was the last time you used a washing machine that didn't have a dial with at least three different scales on it indicating different kinds of washes it can perform?
If only Apple would make home appliances…
@ #1 - I'm sorry, but dishwashers and washing machines with terrible user interfaces? Has anyone actually had trouble figuring these things out? If you can use a TV, you can probably use these devices. It sounds like you only have one kind of clothing and never use the different cycles (which is understandable, as you are most likely a guy based on your username), but there is a reason for the different water temps, load sizes, and cycles. Please share, what would your ideal washing machine interface be? I see very little room to improve on what is currently out there.
And if you think Apple products don't have problems, then you haven't been paying attention - every new product they launch has problems. The difference is that they are the hardware supplier, the sole distributor, and the sole support, so it is typically easier to get these problems taken care of, relative to PCs. It's not necessarily the quality of the products, it's the structure of the business.
..then your Apple washing machine would only work with Apple clothes and you wouldn't be able to lend anyone your t-shirts.
@Pork musket: One obvious improvement would be to learn from a car radio: let users define a couple of presets. I bet 95% never use more than 2 of their washing machine programs.
@3:
LOL! And they'd never license the technology out, so vice versa would be true, too: you'd be forced to wash your Apple clothing in the Apple washing machine, whereas the Microsoft washing machine would wash just about anything except Apple clothing. (And Linux would have a washing machine, but you have to look for special Open Source clothing that it can handle.)
@original posting:
I actually have a hard time thinking of gadgets I genuinely had trouble with that weren't the result of something I did. Like my Rio Karma player was great until I dropped it and broke the spinny wheel...
Or my DVD player recently died, but I'm pretty sure that's because I had it plugged straight into the wall (I was out of sockets on the surge protector...) and it probably got zapped at some point.
The closest I can think of is the fact that I will never buy an LG phone without closely examining it first. My old LG, if placed in a pocket, tends to switch to silent mode (no ring) as the external button gets pressed (e.g., when sitting down). I checked out an LG Chocolate recently and it was way worse, as it can actually unlock and dial random people on your contact list via some pretty sensitive external buttons. Basically I find I can't keep an LG phone in my pocket because they all have external buttons that do something annoying.
Boy ... I think I'm a record holder here.
A few years back I cleaned out two tons of used electronics from my garage. Stacks of old PCs that had been rendered obsolete, electronics waiting to be "salvaged" for parts. Stuff like that.
I decided that it had sat so long that I really wasn't going to use it as planned. So, I bit the bullet and hauled it all off to the dump. The only reason I know how much it weighed is that the dump charged by the pound.
The sad part is that I've still got about half a garage of crap still left to get rid of.
#6, find a local electronics recycler! There are some that will take the stuff for free and send the raw materials on to a new and hopefully more useful life.
As far as my actual broken (and not just obsolete) gadgets, I have:
1) D-Link PCI wireless card, 802.11b, machine won't bring up video if it's inserted. Was under warranty but the hassle of RMA'ing it wasn't worth it to me. Status: broken, shelved.
2) Apex DVD player: picked up alongside the recycling bin, worked for a few weeks, now won't play any discs. Status: broken, taking up living room stereo rack space. (I just listen to the iPod anyway...)
3) Motorola/Nextel i875 phone: Acts like you're pressing the hangup button every second or two. Causes it to exit from menus, end calls, etc. Early unit design flaw. I gave up. Bought it as an unlocked Boost phone, so I can't get warranty service on it. I keep meaning to open it up again (yes, again) and just cut a trace or tape over the contacts for the hangup button. Status: Probably rescuable, shelved project.
4) 2nd gen 20gb iPod: Screen has vertical lines in it; solid black when backlight is on. Still usable, but short names can be hard to decipher. Status: Still in daily use.
5) aOpen CD/DVD burner: Tray won't eject without a lot of coercion. Probably a worn rubber belt. Status: Not worth fixing.
I fix a lot of my gadgets, so I don't end up with many that are shelved or recycled for being broken. I do end up with some that are so old they're not useful, though. If they have any modicum of usability left, I donate them to the thrift store or give them to friends.
@pork musket:
To be honest, I've never seen a washing machine with a well-devised interface. And you're right, I am a guy and despite what your assumptions may tell you, I am also aware that these other washing parameters have a purpose. It's just that they generally do a poor job of delineating these controls. My washing machine puts all of these various washing cycles on the same knob which causes a grey area in the boundary between the portions of the knob that line up with this or that washing cycle.
I'm an interface engineer, and of course I'm not the best and I'm no genius, but these interfaces frustrate the daylights out of me. In my opinion, there's actually a huge amount of room for improvement. I, however, do not have the solutions (if I did you can be sure I'd be knocking on Maytag's door right now) but I sure do recognize a problem.
Also, regarding my Apple comment, you're absolutely right that their products do contain problems. They were, it turns out, made by humans. It it also the case that time and time again they're designed better than the competition (n.b. better does not imply perfect).
I tend to churn through techno-stuff on a couple of levels, either recycling older broken stuff or trading or selling the stuff of value I don't want anymore.