4 ms·

Why not just print a $.0001 sticker and stick it the machine listing all of the info needed to fix the machine... instead of building a $86million datacenter a

Why not just print a $.0001 sticker and stick it the machine listing all of the info needed to fix the machine... instead of building a $86million datacenter and burning through $100,000 of clean electricity every month that could have been used to power homes, but was instead used doing this?

Nevermark 1y ago
As long as, and some suppliers seem to find this onerous, the sticker can be peeled off cleanly. (I once bought a grass rake with 2 or 3 dozen metal tines, and it arrived with a huge sticker across all the tines. Which when I attempted to peel off, left a scattered layers of paper hard glued to all the tines. Not happy. Same with a rolling hot dog cooker. Glued “temporary” sales sticker covering half the transparent hinged top. Not happy.)
- freedomben 1y ago
  Fender did this with my bass guitar. Trying to get the sticker off without scratching it was impossible, and even after using alcohol there's still some residue D-:
  - hedora 1y ago
    Goo Gone is your friend. My usual flow chart: Nothing, water, alcohol, goo gone. I’ve never ended up with a marred surface.
    - Nevermark 1y ago
      Tried that on the transparent cooker cover and it took off just enough of the cover surface with the sticker to look horrible. Otherwise, yes!
    - 1970-01-01 1y ago
      +hair dryer heat, between nothing and water, can make a difference in a difficult peel.
imgabe 1y ago
The sticker will get lost, peel off, get scratched until it's unreadable and then the user has no way to get that information. Maybe if they are really on top of things they will take a picture of the sticker when they first get the machine and save it somewhere that they will remember 5 years later when they need it, but most people will not do that. And if you aren't the first owner of the machine, well then, you're just sol.
- crinkly 1y ago
  Rubbish. The sticker is still on my 14 year old washing machine. Hell I've got a 55 year old piece of electronic equipment here with the serial number sticker still on it.
  - semi-extrinsic 1y ago
    I've got a 65 year old FM radio with manufacturer-supplied circuit diagram still inside the case.
    - hedora 1y ago
      I’ve got a tube based oscilloscope with a hand written sticker saying service is due in the ‘40s. The important info is stamped metal (model, serial number), or internal paper stickers (field manual). It still worked last time I plugged it in. I’m not sure if I’ll be able to find someone to calibrate it when the 40’s roll around again. :-)
- ElevenLathe 1y ago
  Do you really think this cloud service will be up and functioning for 20+ years? How much stuff like that was set up in 2005 and is still working? But even without that calculus, you can put a bunch of stickers on, all over the machine. They cost nothing and can be applied automatically. Better yet, punch it into some central metal part of the washing machine like the VIN on a car.
- Printerisreal 1y ago
  instead of sticker, they can just code something like dog tag, that is thing for century or more
hedora 1y ago
For the same reason the rep hung up on him after he sat on hold.
Workaccount2 1y ago
As someone who has a side job doing repairs, I charge more when customers try to repair things themselves. There is a whole class of people who are smart enough to fix simple things, but not smart enough to recognize their limited ability. They will strip out all the screws on the machine and then claim warranty after replacing random electronic components on the control board. In reality the problem will be a dirty contact that is a 5 minute fix.
- mid-kid 1y ago
  On the one hand what you're saying seems somewhat fair, but on the other hand, I prefer encouraging the attempt. A portion of the people who do this will never have to call you, having managed to solve the issue, and any experience gained with the attempt will go into doing it better next time. In a world where people know less and less about how to solve problems themselves, I think repair skills are incredibly important for people to have. Personally, I would happily pay more if you show me what you're doing and/or explain what I did wrong :)
  - MostlyStable 1y ago
    Yeah, I had the pump on my washing machine go out. I called the repair guy, he said there was nothing to fix, it just needed a new pump. He told me he could do it for $X (on top of the call-out fee), but it wasn't that hard and I could find the replacement pump online for ~1/3X and do it myself. I did that and it took 20 minutes. We will definitely be using that repair company in the future for anything that isn't immediately obviously trivial
- Hackbraten 1y ago
  > but not smart enough to recognize their limited ability. Exploring the boundaries of one's own ability is not being "not smart enough." It's learning.
  - Workaccount2 1y ago
    You're only gonna learn you made a dumb mistake when you go poking around $10k equipment with no documentation, no schematic, and no community support.

Nevermark 1y ago

As long as, and some suppliers seem to find this onerous, the sticker can be peeled off cleanly. (I once bought a grass rake with 2 or 3 dozen metal tines, and it arrived with a huge sticker across all the tines. Which when I attempted to peel off, left a scattered layers of paper hard glued to all the tines. Not happy. Same with a rolling hot dog cooker. Glued “temporary” sales sticker covering half the transparent hinged top. Not happy.)

freedomben 1y ago
Fender did this with my bass guitar. Trying to get the sticker off without scratching it was impossible, and even after using alcohol there's still some residue D-:
- hedora 1y ago
  Goo Gone is your friend. My usual flow chart: Nothing, water, alcohol, goo gone. I’ve never ended up with a marred surface.
  - Nevermark 1y ago
    Tried that on the transparent cooker cover and it took off just enough of the cover surface with the sticker to look horrible. Otherwise, yes!
  - 1970-01-01 1y ago
    +hair dryer heat, between nothing and water, can make a difference in a difficult peel.

imgabe 1y ago

The sticker will get lost, peel off, get scratched until it's unreadable and then the user has no way to get that information. Maybe if they are really on top of things they will take a picture of the sticker when they first get the machine and save it somewhere that they will remember 5 years later when they need it, but most people will not do that. And if you aren't the first owner of the machine, well then, you're just sol.

crinkly 1y ago
Rubbish. The sticker is still on my 14 year old washing machine. Hell I've got a 55 year old piece of electronic equipment here with the serial number sticker still on it.
- semi-extrinsic 1y ago
  I've got a 65 year old FM radio with manufacturer-supplied circuit diagram still inside the case.
  - hedora 1y ago
    I’ve got a tube based oscilloscope with a hand written sticker saying service is due in the ‘40s. The important info is stamped metal (model, serial number), or internal paper stickers (field manual). It still worked last time I plugged it in. I’m not sure if I’ll be able to find someone to calibrate it when the 40’s roll around again. :-)
ElevenLathe 1y ago
Do you really think this cloud service will be up and functioning for 20+ years? How much stuff like that was set up in 2005 and is still working? But even without that calculus, you can put a bunch of stickers on, all over the machine. They cost nothing and can be applied automatically. Better yet, punch it into some central metal part of the washing machine like the VIN on a car.
Printerisreal 1y ago
instead of sticker, they can just code something like dog tag, that is thing for century or more

hedora 1y ago

For the same reason the rep hung up on him after he sat on hold.

Workaccount2 1y ago

As someone who has a side job doing repairs, I charge more when customers try to repair things themselves. There is a whole class of people who are smart enough to fix simple things, but not smart enough to recognize their limited ability. They will strip out all the screws on the machine and then claim warranty after replacing random electronic components on the control board. In reality the problem will be a dirty contact that is a 5 minute fix.

mid-kid 1y ago
On the one hand what you're saying seems somewhat fair, but on the other hand, I prefer encouraging the attempt. A portion of the people who do this will never have to call you, having managed to solve the issue, and any experience gained with the attempt will go into doing it better next time. In a world where people know less and less about how to solve problems themselves, I think repair skills are incredibly important for people to have. Personally, I would happily pay more if you show me what you're doing and/or explain what I did wrong :)
- MostlyStable 1y ago
  Yeah, I had the pump on my washing machine go out. I called the repair guy, he said there was nothing to fix, it just needed a new pump. He told me he could do it for $X (on top of the call-out fee), but it wasn't that hard and I could find the replacement pump online for ~1/3X and do it myself. I did that and it took 20 minutes. We will definitely be using that repair company in the future for anything that isn't immediately obviously trivial
Hackbraten 1y ago
> but not smart enough to recognize their limited ability. Exploring the boundaries of one's own ability is not being "not smart enough." It's learning.
- Workaccount2 1y ago
  You're only gonna learn you made a dumb mistake when you go poking around $10k equipment with no documentation, no schematic, and no community support.