Goh's Law and an Eco-rant
This is the air flush button for our toilet. This button is attached to the cistern by an air tube. If you have a toilet with a flush button that that isn't actually on the toilet, chances are it works like this.
The point is, it's broken, after only about 2 years. We do not push this button particularly hard or often. That is a very very very short time for something like a toilet flush, compared a regular toilet flush.
Here's the second point. I can't fix it. The rubber inside is split, so it doesn't work. The dead rubber thing inside it is a specialist part, not a normal sized standard thing you buy in a plumbing store. I can't find exactly where to get one online either. So it looks like I have to buy a whole new button which costs £20.
This trend is happening across all manufactured goods sectors. For example, washing machines and dryers are at the point now where they are just about as difficult and expensive to repair as to replace, especially as manufacturers have no incentive to sell cheap spare parts. Even good guys do it - go look at how expensive spare parts for a Dyson Vacuum Cleaner are compared to the new unit.
In the old days, if you knew a little electronics, and your stereo broke, you would have a fighting chance of fixing it. Now, no chance. In more and more categories, it's getting cheaper to get a new one than repair.
This leads me to Goh's Law:
Every N years, devices become twice as likely to fail, and twice as difficult to repair.
N is a constant for a given industry.
Aside from being annoying for people like me, it is incredibly wasteful and irresponsible for manufacturers to make stuff like this. In an age where we are probably heading towards a global energy and natural resources crisis, this is simply not on.
How can we help? As punters, buy stuff that is built to last, and buy stuff that is built with standard replaceable parts (as much as possible).
The point is, it's broken, after only about 2 years. We do not push this button particularly hard or often. That is a very very very short time for something like a toilet flush, compared a regular toilet flush.
Here's the second point. I can't fix it. The rubber inside is split, so it doesn't work. The dead rubber thing inside it is a specialist part, not a normal sized standard thing you buy in a plumbing store. I can't find exactly where to get one online either. So it looks like I have to buy a whole new button which costs £20.
This trend is happening across all manufactured goods sectors. For example, washing machines and dryers are at the point now where they are just about as difficult and expensive to repair as to replace, especially as manufacturers have no incentive to sell cheap spare parts. Even good guys do it - go look at how expensive spare parts for a Dyson Vacuum Cleaner are compared to the new unit.
In the old days, if you knew a little electronics, and your stereo broke, you would have a fighting chance of fixing it. Now, no chance. In more and more categories, it's getting cheaper to get a new one than repair.
This leads me to Goh's Law:
Every N years, devices become twice as likely to fail, and twice as difficult to repair.
N is a constant for a given industry.
Aside from being annoying for people like me, it is incredibly wasteful and irresponsible for manufacturers to make stuff like this. In an age where we are probably heading towards a global energy and natural resources crisis, this is simply not on.
How can we help? As punters, buy stuff that is built to last, and buy stuff that is built with standard replaceable parts (as much as possible).
Labels: eco, enviroment, repair, spares, waste
