4 ms·
I think there are a few problems here: 1. Durability is hidden, cost and features are apparent. I can see on the box what features the OEM claims. I can see on
by csours 7y ago
I think there are a few problems here:
1. Durability is hidden, cost and features are apparent. I can see on the box what features the OEM claims. I can see on the box what it costs. I cannot see the common failure modes on the box.
2. People want appliances that are durable and repairable, but often end up replacing them before end of life of the product, or destroy them some other way (cell phones).
3. Survive the warranty. Unless there is a resale market for the product, the only durability requirement is to survive the warranty.
4. Efficiency (on some metric). The linked video discounts the increased efficiency of the newer fixture, but that's not how product engineering works. If the product has a goal to be more efficient or lighter, then everyone has that goal. Lighter may mean less durable or less effective overall, but more portable or useful.
- TeMPOraL 7y agoRe 2. and 3., resale market is enabled by durability. If a product still has plenty of life in front of it but I want to get rid of it anyway (e.g. to buy a newer one), there's a good chance someone will be willing to buy it off me, whether to use it or to strip it for parts. Manufacturers don't make money off secondary sales of used products anyway, so the pressure to make products barely survive the warranty is always there.
- icegreentea2 7y agoThe question revolves around how do we ensure that companies that optimize to maximize long term customer value do not get undercut and out-competed by companies that optimize to maximize short term customer value. And it's a very challenging thing to do, since most human's natural instincts are to apply hyperbolic discounting models, while companies have to operating on... non-hyperbolic discounting.
- tgsovlerkhgsel 7y agoCreate incentives for (or simply mandate) longer warranty terms. In Germany, anything you buy has a 2-year seller's warranty, plus a presumption that any issues occurring within the first 6 months are a manufacturing defect unless the seller proves otherwise. Turning that into a 5-year warranty on large appliances would be relatively trivial and immediately provide an incentive to make long-lived products.
- csours 7y ago> " Manufacturers don't make money off secondary sales of used products anyway, so the pressure to make products barely survive the warranty is always there." I agree there is not a strong price pressure in most cases, but resale value is priced into new cars/trucks to some degree for instance.