4 ms·
It shouldn't be illegal because it's stupid, it should be illegal because it's a needless artificial restriction that the product would be functionally identica
by ball_of_lint 2mo ago
It shouldn't be illegal because it's stupid, it should be illegal because it's a needless artificial restriction that the product would be functionally identical without.
It would literally have cost them less development time to make the headphones without this restriction. And that would be better for the consumer. The only purpose this restriction serves is to make the headphones easier to break (possibly increasing the number of purchases? It's deliberately anti-consumer.
This is exactly one of those places that capitalism doesn't work well and regulation is needed. Businesses would rather have you purchasing a new item every year instead of building something that lasts, but it's dramatically better for society when products are actually good instead of crap.
- eru 2mo agoWhy doesn't the competition undercut them, if it's such a no-brainer? It's not like Bose has a monopoly on headphones.
- ball_of_lint 2mo agoBecause there's (at least a perception of) less money to be made making a product that doesn't break within a few years. As an example of this, look up Instant Pot.
- eru 2mo agoSorry, could you please elaborate. No one is forced to buy a Bose product, and there are plenty of competitors. I can see why companies would try to sell you a product that breaks, sure. But competitors can point out that their product doesn't break (in case it actually doesn't), and try to win over customers.
- ball_of_lint 2mo agoInstant pot went through bankruptcy, at least in part because they made a good durable product. The durability resulted in them not geting many repeat customers. People liked it so they bought one and it just worked for years and years, quickly satisfying the market. https://www.bonappetit.com/story/instant-pot-bankrupt?srsltid=AfmBOoq85yIWaKqxtwv3D9plbYMXZCbatItK3P8Lp2yAl-7yFx8a492O https://www.bonappetit.com/story/instant-pot-bankrupt?srslti... Generically, yeah there's some markets where that works alright. For example, I don't think the car industry is unhealthy in this way. The phone market is unfortunately rife with this - the biggest players are all doing it, to their own benefit, and it's difficult enough to seriously enter the market that it's not very open to disruption.