5 ms·

Adjusted for inflation, the cost of a computer has gone down, the cost of repair has stayed relatively steady.

vundercind 3y ago
PCs also had only a relatively brief period between “niche hobbyist toy” (because you don’t really need a computer to do much yet) and “niche hobbyist toy” (because most folks do all their important computer-related stuff on their phones). Perhaps 15 years. Maybe less. Did they have a lot of business contracts? If not, I don’t know how they’ve even hung on this long.
- AlchemistCamp 3y ago
  Everywhere I’ve ever worked, “important computer-related stuff” has been done on computers with large monitors and external keyboards. Those have often been laptops at docking stations, but I’ve never seen phones used as the primary driver.
  - vundercind 3y ago
    > Did they have a lot of business contracts?
  - Fire-Dragon-DoL 3y ago
    It's possible that you will need a couple more generations to get there
  - LikesPwsh 3y ago
    Phones with docked keyboard and mouse seems almost inevitable.
    - wolpoli 3y ago
      Both Apple and Google are resisting that future. Samsung seems to the only one embracing it.
      - krtkush 3y ago
        Android has Desktop Mode now - https://www.androidauthority.com/android-q-desktop-mode-demo-991055/ https://www.androidauthority.com/android-q-desktop-mode-demo...
        nedrylandJP 3y ago
        Just to be clear, that is 5 years old.
        wolpoli 3y ago
        Just realized that Pixel 8 does have display out. So Google is now embracing the future.
    - AlchemistCamp 3y ago
      Microsoft has been showing that kind of integration in videos about the future of work for at least a decade: https://youtu.be/SO49Q-HcuKE?si=iCYcBh-a9RmODiVf https://youtu.be/SO49Q-HcuKE?si=iCYcBh-a9RmODiVf
    - Avicebron 3y ago
      I mean you're not far off, I have clients who are pretty much all in MS surface + peripherals as their primary workstation for their employees. Similar thing with some clients and chromebooks/google workspace, not quite phones, but the idea of a portable device docked into a station is pretty much the norm. I've seen huge portions of different businesses barely rely on computers to be much more than a vessel for a different flavor of enterprise related apps
    - dingnuts 3y ago
      dock to what, and why? and why a mouse? the thing already has a touchscreen. If you want to type faster you can buy Bluetooth keyboards and stands for your devices today, including some Bluetooth keyboards that have a little slot in them to hold your phone or tablet. If you have enough money to have the space for a desk with a keyboard, monitor, and screen, the cost of a dedicated computer to plug into it isn't going to be an obstacle. I think this is the reason we haven't seen docking take off.
    - deleted 3y ago
      [deleted]
  - Vegenoid 3y ago
    > Everywhere I’ve ever worked, “important computer-related stuff” has been done on computers with large monitors and external keyboards. Geek Squad is not IT support for businesses, it's IT support for consumers. Consumers definitely have had computer usage/necessity displaced by phones. Many consumers will now only have a computer through their work or school, and those will have their own IT.
    - ipaddr 3y ago
      89% of Americans have a home computer. 97% have a phone. 8%.
      - Vegenoid 3y ago
        I'd be interested to see usage stats, as I'll bet the discrepancy there is way larger. I have a number of non-technical friends who own a laptop, but use it once every few months, or longer, because the things they used to need it for they can now do on their phone.
  - nytesky 3y ago
    PP was referring to the home computing needs, not work. geek squad is only for consumers more or less. very true, my kids and wife dont really email enough to need a keyboard, just message or app messages, banking and watching videos and shopping all done on phone or MAYBE tablet. Cloud stores all the photos and documents. You can do your taxes on the phone, which is probably the most complicated “home” task majority of people do.
    - AlchemistCamp 3y ago
      Still, most “important computer-related stuff” people have to deal with at home is work-related, at least from what I've seen. I know some older people who don't work with computers at all and just have mobile phones but they don't do anything important on them and instead continue doing those things by phone and dead tree mail for the most part.
  - deleted 3y ago
    [deleted]
gregmac 3y ago
Yeah, this is just a continuation of the demise of tv repair shops. Consider from the perspective of an average, non-technical person - someone who has never installed an OS or opened the case. Their $900, 3-year old system "breaks". It'll cost $100 to diagnose, and anywhere from tens to hundreds to fix. Is it worth it? They're going to consider just buying a new $900 system, which will be faster and back under warranty again. While a broken tv could be a $0.50 capacitor, the shame is a huge number of "broken" computers are purely software problems: sometimes malware, sometimes fixed by updating a driver, or even just changing a setting (And of course also "fixed" by paving over and installing a new OS). This isn't hard to learn, but understandably people don't have the time or desire. And the value-risk-cost balance is off when compared to buying new. So perfectly good hardware becomes e-waste.
Y_Y 3y ago
I'd say this is a textbook example of Baumol's Cost Disease. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baumol_effect https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baumol_effect
paxys 3y ago
There isn't much repair to be done anymore. It's not like these "Geek Squad" employees are opening up your iPhone to diagnose and fix a problem. They are simply salespeople.
- Wingman4l7 3y ago
  They didn't have the expertise nor care to do proper repair back even when they could. I had a friend in ~2006 take a Windows desktop PC to them that wasn't booting; they told her to buy a new (needlessly large capacity) hard drive. I took a look at it, and fixed it... by running CHKDSK.
- craftkiller 3y ago
  > There isn't much repair to be done anymore. I want to to qualify that as: "There isn't much repair to be done anymore at geek squad." Computer/cellphone repair is still alive. For example, pretty much anyone with some time on their hands and access to youtube can do cellphone screen replacements. I've personally replaced the screen on my phones 4 times, and the battery once, all without any training or past experience. Laptops are even easier since you don't have to pry a screen off.
  - creer 3y ago
    That has been the case forever. Geek Squad and Co cater to most people - who won' t attempt even the simplest repair themselves. After that, yeah, the incentives are poorly aligned for the customer - when the repair business is also one of the main sellers of new hardware...
  - ipaddr 3y ago
    Why so many screen repairs?
    - craftkiller 3y ago
      Try as I may, I haven't been able to find a solution to the treacherous force of gravity, my local government has ignored my pleas for softer sidewalks, and I can't shake my addiction to dropping things. My most recent screen replacement was because I placed my phone on a table outside, foolishly not realizing that flat != level.

PCs also had only a relatively brief period between “niche hobbyist toy” (because you don’t really need a computer to do much yet) and “niche hobbyist toy” (because most folks do all their important computer-related stuff on their phones). Perhaps 15 years. Maybe less. Did they have a lot of business contracts? If not, I don’t know how they’ve even hung on this long.

AlchemistCamp 3y ago
Everywhere I’ve ever worked, “important computer-related stuff” has been done on computers with large monitors and external keyboards. Those have often been laptops at docking stations, but I’ve never seen phones used as the primary driver.
- vundercind 3y ago
  > Did they have a lot of business contracts?
- Fire-Dragon-DoL 3y ago
  It's possible that you will need a couple more generations to get there
- LikesPwsh 3y ago
  Phones with docked keyboard and mouse seems almost inevitable.
  - wolpoli 3y ago
    Both Apple and Google are resisting that future. Samsung seems to the only one embracing it.
    - krtkush 3y ago
      Android has Desktop Mode now - https://www.androidauthority.com/android-q-desktop-mode-demo-991055/ https://www.androidauthority.com/android-q-desktop-mode-demo...
      - nedrylandJP 3y ago
        Just to be clear, that is 5 years old.
        wolpoli 3y ago
        Just realized that Pixel 8 does have display out. So Google is now embracing the future.
  - AlchemistCamp 3y ago
    Microsoft has been showing that kind of integration in videos about the future of work for at least a decade: https://youtu.be/SO49Q-HcuKE?si=iCYcBh-a9RmODiVf https://youtu.be/SO49Q-HcuKE?si=iCYcBh-a9RmODiVf
  - Avicebron 3y ago
    I mean you're not far off, I have clients who are pretty much all in MS surface + peripherals as their primary workstation for their employees. Similar thing with some clients and chromebooks/google workspace, not quite phones, but the idea of a portable device docked into a station is pretty much the norm. I've seen huge portions of different businesses barely rely on computers to be much more than a vessel for a different flavor of enterprise related apps
  - dingnuts 3y ago
    dock to what, and why? and why a mouse? the thing already has a touchscreen. If you want to type faster you can buy Bluetooth keyboards and stands for your devices today, including some Bluetooth keyboards that have a little slot in them to hold your phone or tablet. If you have enough money to have the space for a desk with a keyboard, monitor, and screen, the cost of a dedicated computer to plug into it isn't going to be an obstacle. I think this is the reason we haven't seen docking take off.
  - deleted 3y ago
    [deleted]
- Vegenoid 3y ago
  > Everywhere I’ve ever worked, “important computer-related stuff” has been done on computers with large monitors and external keyboards. Geek Squad is not IT support for businesses, it's IT support for consumers. Consumers definitely have had computer usage/necessity displaced by phones. Many consumers will now only have a computer through their work or school, and those will have their own IT.
  - ipaddr 3y ago
    89% of Americans have a home computer. 97% have a phone. 8%.
    - Vegenoid 3y ago
      I'd be interested to see usage stats, as I'll bet the discrepancy there is way larger. I have a number of non-technical friends who own a laptop, but use it once every few months, or longer, because the things they used to need it for they can now do on their phone.
- nytesky 3y ago
  PP was referring to the home computing needs, not work. geek squad is only for consumers more or less. very true, my kids and wife dont really email enough to need a keyboard, just message or app messages, banking and watching videos and shopping all done on phone or MAYBE tablet. Cloud stores all the photos and documents. You can do your taxes on the phone, which is probably the most complicated “home” task majority of people do.
  - AlchemistCamp 3y ago
    Still, most “important computer-related stuff” people have to deal with at home is work-related, at least from what I've seen. I know some older people who don't work with computers at all and just have mobile phones but they don't do anything important on them and instead continue doing those things by phone and dead tree mail for the most part.
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]

gregmac 3y ago

Yeah, this is just a continuation of the demise of tv repair shops. Consider from the perspective of an average, non-technical person - someone who has never installed an OS or opened the case. Their $900, 3-year old system "breaks". It'll cost $100 to diagnose, and anywhere from tens to hundreds to fix. Is it worth it? They're going to consider just buying a new $900 system, which will be faster and back under warranty again. While a broken tv could be a $0.50 capacitor, the shame is a huge number of "broken" computers are purely software problems: sometimes malware, sometimes fixed by updating a driver, or even just changing a setting (And of course also "fixed" by paving over and installing a new OS). This isn't hard to learn, but understandably people don't have the time or desire. And the value-risk-cost balance is off when compared to buying new. So perfectly good hardware becomes e-waste.

Y_Y 3y ago

I'd say this is a textbook example of Baumol's Cost Disease. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baumol_effect https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baumol_effect

paxys 3y ago

There isn't much repair to be done anymore. It's not like these "Geek Squad" employees are opening up your iPhone to diagnose and fix a problem. They are simply salespeople.

Wingman4l7 3y ago
They didn't have the expertise nor care to do proper repair back even when they could. I had a friend in ~2006 take a Windows desktop PC to them that wasn't booting; they told her to buy a new (needlessly large capacity) hard drive. I took a look at it, and fixed it... by running CHKDSK.
craftkiller 3y ago
> There isn't much repair to be done anymore. I want to to qualify that as: "There isn't much repair to be done anymore at geek squad." Computer/cellphone repair is still alive. For example, pretty much anyone with some time on their hands and access to youtube can do cellphone screen replacements. I've personally replaced the screen on my phones 4 times, and the battery once, all without any training or past experience. Laptops are even easier since you don't have to pry a screen off.
- creer 3y ago
  That has been the case forever. Geek Squad and Co cater to most people - who won' t attempt even the simplest repair themselves. After that, yeah, the incentives are poorly aligned for the customer - when the repair business is also one of the main sellers of new hardware...
- ipaddr 3y ago
  Why so many screen repairs?
  - craftkiller 3y ago
    Try as I may, I haven't been able to find a solution to the treacherous force of gravity, my local government has ignored my pleas for softer sidewalks, and I can't shake my addiction to dropping things. My most recent screen replacement was because I placed my phone on a table outside, foolishly not realizing that flat != level.