5 ms·

How is it planned obsolescence?

by frenchie4111 8y ago

omegaworks 8y ago
There are only 32 such fuses.
- sov 8y ago
  So? How would blowing all 32 "fuses" make the console obsolete?
  - apostacy 8y ago
    It would be obsolete because it would no longer be as usable. This has happened to several phones, and especially Apple devices. At least when Microsoft forced people to update to Windows 10, you could still install Windows 7 later if you really wanted. But your iPad or phone can go from being fairly usable and fast, to being slow and useless with the last update. And it almost always does.
    - sov 8y ago
      > It would be obsolete because it would no longer be as usable. What on Earth makes you think this?
      - apostacy 8y ago
        Permanently slowing my device down = Making my device less usable = obsolete I could have gotten many more years of usability out of it, but they nearly bricked it with an update that I could not say no to.
        sov 8y ago
        That's not what these "fuses" do.
- favorited 8y ago
  That only means they can use this mechanism to prevent software downgrading 32 times. It says nothing about consumer hardware obsolesce.
- myelin 8y ago
  Nothing stopping them from ditching this method and making release 33+ just expect that all the fuses are blown. It's just a software check, so Nintendo has a ton of options to keep things going.
- tedivm 8y ago
  That doesn't prove your point. Once they run out of fuses it just means they they can't lock versions in anymore, it does not mean that they will not be able to release new versions.
ergothus 8y ago
It may be more accurate to say "it seems likely the intended purpose of this is planned obsolescence" After all, this doesn't prevent people from NOT upgrading, it just prevents them from un-upgrading. It adds the ability for the company to release whatever they want as the "last" upgrade and be sure that no one (of ordinary consumers) would be able to undo it. That last upgrade COULD be wondrous and happy...or it could be a massive degradation of performance. In the former case, there's not much of an argument for forcing people to be unable to leave it. But effort was expended to make that the case, so planned obsolescence seems a reasonable conclusion. More generically, this feature exists so the company can change the product after you purchase it and you can't undo that change. Planned obsolescence is your product not longer working "as well" as it did initially, forcing a replacement. Those concepts seem awfully close.
- apostacy 8y ago
  The "last" update that my Mom's iPad got rendered it virtually unusable. Apple support told her to just buy a new iPad. iOS10 is far too slow for her iPad 4, to the point where the onscreen keyboard lags severely. And many of her favorite apps no longer work. I somehow doubt that it would be in any company's best interest to leave older devices on the market that compete with new devices.
  - CodeCube 8y ago
    I wonder if this is less a result of a newer OS, and more a result of the reported slowing of the CPU, due to a bad/old battery. Try replacing the battery and seeing if that speeds things up
    - frio 8y ago
      Battery throttling was introduced somewhere in the iOS 11.x series; 10 didn't do it.
    - apostacy 8y ago
      First of all, this iPad was almost untouched for years, she only got it to use this one particular presentation software, so it was in near mint condition. Secondly, I've seen this happen to other iOS devices, in a clear progression.

How is it planned obsolescence?

omegaworks 8y ago

There are only 32 such fuses.

sov 8y ago
So? How would blowing all 32 "fuses" make the console obsolete?
- apostacy 8y ago
  It would be obsolete because it would no longer be as usable. This has happened to several phones, and especially Apple devices. At least when Microsoft forced people to update to Windows 10, you could still install Windows 7 later if you really wanted. But your iPad or phone can go from being fairly usable and fast, to being slow and useless with the last update. And it almost always does.
  - sov 8y ago
    > It would be obsolete because it would no longer be as usable. What on Earth makes you think this?
    - apostacy 8y ago
      Permanently slowing my device down = Making my device less usable = obsolete I could have gotten many more years of usability out of it, but they nearly bricked it with an update that I could not say no to.
      - sov 8y ago
        That's not what these "fuses" do.
favorited 8y ago
That only means they can use this mechanism to prevent software downgrading 32 times. It says nothing about consumer hardware obsolesce.
myelin 8y ago
Nothing stopping them from ditching this method and making release 33+ just expect that all the fuses are blown. It's just a software check, so Nintendo has a ton of options to keep things going.
tedivm 8y ago
That doesn't prove your point. Once they run out of fuses it just means they they can't lock versions in anymore, it does not mean that they will not be able to release new versions.

ergothus 8y ago

It may be more accurate to say "it seems likely the intended purpose of this is planned obsolescence" After all, this doesn't prevent people from NOT upgrading, it just prevents them from un-upgrading. It adds the ability for the company to release whatever they want as the "last" upgrade and be sure that no one (of ordinary consumers) would be able to undo it. That last upgrade COULD be wondrous and happy...or it could be a massive degradation of performance. In the former case, there's not much of an argument for forcing people to be unable to leave it. But effort was expended to make that the case, so planned obsolescence seems a reasonable conclusion. More generically, this feature exists so the company can change the product after you purchase it and you can't undo that change. Planned obsolescence is your product not longer working "as well" as it did initially, forcing a replacement. Those concepts seem awfully close.

apostacy 8y ago
The "last" update that my Mom's iPad got rendered it virtually unusable. Apple support told her to just buy a new iPad. iOS10 is far too slow for her iPad 4, to the point where the onscreen keyboard lags severely. And many of her favorite apps no longer work. I somehow doubt that it would be in any company's best interest to leave older devices on the market that compete with new devices.
- CodeCube 8y ago
  I wonder if this is less a result of a newer OS, and more a result of the reported slowing of the CPU, due to a bad/old battery. Try replacing the battery and seeing if that speeds things up
  - frio 8y ago
    Battery throttling was introduced somewhere in the iOS 11.x series; 10 didn't do it.
  - apostacy 8y ago
    First of all, this iPad was almost untouched for years, she only got it to use this one particular presentation software, so it was in near mint condition. Secondly, I've seen this happen to other iOS devices, in a clear progression.