Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2006/06/16
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]It is not so much that the companies are being mean to us and are building in planned obsolescence, but rather that as countries become richer, the price of services tends to rise relative to the price of goods (because the goods can be imported from countries with cheap labour, like China, whereas services are mostly provided locally). Whenever we have something fixed around the house, almost invariably the labour is the biggest cost component. Same with my cars. You can easily see it when travelling to countries with much lower income than the US or Western Europe. For example, when I visit Poland (per capita income about 1/3 of the Netherlands), I find that things in an electronics shop cost more or less the same as they do in the Netherlands, but services are much, much less--whether it is a visit to the dentist, a haircut, eating out or a car repair. I always have my car serviced there--an Opel dealer, same parts, same factory tools and training as in the Netherlands, but far lower labour rate. I also get my teeth checked while there etc. For the same reason, things that we would replace in the US or in the Netherlands can still be repaired in Poland--on my last visit I brought my sister a nice big TV which had developed a serious problem with colours shortly after the expiration of the warranty. The cost to fix it in the Netherlands would have been a minimum of 300-400 Euro; my sister had it fixed at the local TV repair shop for the equivalent of 100 Euro and now has a nice, like new, TV set. BTW, when you buy anything electronic in the Netherlands, you pay a special disposal tax which ranges from a couple of Euros on a small item like an iPod to perhaps 20-25 Euro on a big-screen TV. The electronic retailers are obliged to take back the old appliances (as far as I remember, regardless of whether you buy something from that shop or not). The money raised through the disposal tax pays for this system. Nathan Scott McLoughlin wrote: > The technical progress is wonderful!!!! > > The issue is just that companies have abandoned ship on the > aspect of quality that makes something last and operate properly > for a long time, makes the item possible and economical to repair > and so on. > > Personally, I advocate a tax akin to a VAT, but it's calculated > based on environmental impact throughout the entire production > chain for an item and also includes paying up front for the full > disposal costs (again factoring environmentally sound disposal) > of the item purchased and the average useful lifetime of an item > prior to disposal. > > I actually consider this a rather "fiscally conservative" pay- > as-you-go type of policy. I'm really not too much of a tree > hugger. > > Sound policy? Dunno. But I imagine folks would be looking > to buy sturdy products that last *PRONTO*. > > Scott > > B. D. Colen wrote: > >> Actually, Dick, I'll be that any washer or dryer you'd buy today >> would be >> far more efficient, use less energy, etc., than your 35-year-old >> machine. >> The only thing inherently valuable in a 35-year-old washer or dryer, >> compared to today's machine, is the set of memories that goes with it >> - all >> those loads of little kids clothes, etc. etc. ;-) >> >> >> >> > -- Nathan Wajsman Almere, The Netherlands SUPPORT FREEDOM OF SPEECH, BUY DANISH PRODUCTS! General photography: http://www.nathanfoto.com Picture-A-Week: http://www.fotocycle.dk/paws Seville photography: http://www.fotosevilla.com Stock photography: http://www.alamy.com/search-results.asp?qt=wajsman http://myloupe.com/home/found_photographer.php?photographer=507 Prints for sale: http://www.photodeluge.com Blog: http://www.fotocycle.dk/blog