01.01.2021 at 04:00 pm
The devices that spend the most money on are light bulbs! In recent years I have not changed it anymore because I know that after 3 months it will burn! But in the end, I have to change it because my wife cannot cook well in the kitchen due to the light.
This made me ask an important question, why do light bulbs burn in a specific time even though I am very keen to buy the best international brands in the market with a guarantee as well? ๐
Why is there no bulb on the market that can be put on and forgotten forever?
And Why are there so many products that have a long shelf life, but expire quickly? ๐ก
The answer that we will be discussing in this article is that the electronic product has expired because its useful life has expired! This is a good and logical answer, but it raises two important questions:๐ค
On what basis is the life span of electronic devices determined by the manufacturer?
Can these manufacturers make the product life span 10 years instead of 1 year?
In fact, yes, manufacturers can extend the life of the product, but it is not in their interest to do so, we will know why it is not in their interest after you bring your cup of coffee โ to focus well with me, welcome to OTTO Magazin:
๐ On December 23, 1924, the world’s top businessmen met in the Swiss capital to discuss their business for the largest lamp companies, which are German Osram, French Philips, French La Comp and finally America’s General Electric, to discuss the problem of low lamp sales that these companies were suffering from, because they They used to manufacture high quality lamps with a very long service life, and this was in the interest of the consumer on the one hand, but on the other hand it was causing an economic crisis for the manufacturers due to the long life of the product.
At the same meeting, the director of the German company Osram, Mr. William Meinhardt, suggested that the manufacturers present at the meeting work an alliance called Phoebus, so that the global market will be divided between them, each company having its own region, and its specific production share, while reducing the useful life of the products. !
The lamps had an average life span of about 2,500 hours, but they admit that the number is very much! So they decided to limit it in 1000 hours only! Because the consumer is greedy of course! ๐ They agreed to reduce the life span of the light bulbs, and agreed to sign an agreement to develop and advance the international industry of incandescent light bulbs! ๐๐
The funny thing about this agreement is that any new manufacture of electric bulbs must be examined in an international laboratory in Switzerland, before they are put on the market, to find out the life span of this new product, and if it is discovered that the life of the product is longer than what is stipulated in the agreement, the manufacturer will be fined millions of dollars! This is now known by the term, Planned obsolescence! It is intended to determine the life span of any product, linked to the sales policy, so that after a specific period, the customer returns to buy the same product and this brings important profits to the manufacturers.
This policy has become mandatory in all electronic products and others, including what is stated publicly in the products, and some of them are hidden for the consumer, in November 2003, Apple got into a big problem because of a young man who bought an iPod, and after 16 months of use, it was found that IPod battery does not talk! ๐ Then he went to the Apple store to repair or buy a new battery, but he was surprised by the store’s answer that they could not change the battery or repair it! And that the warranty period of one year has expired, and therefore a new device must be purchased only! ๐ฅต Average price is $ 450! And this young man felt that Apple laughed at him! Due to the short life span of the product! He decided to take revenge on her, and with his brother’s help, he made a short video, which he called iPod’s Dirty Secret, in which he explained that the device had only 18 months of life span, and the video had 6 million views before Youtube appeared!
Because of the fuss made by this young man, Apple decided to sell the battery for $ 99 and extend the life of the device for $ 59 as well! ๐โโ๏ธ
This plan, which was adopted by most manufacturers of electronic devices, to determine the life span of products, not only harm the consumer, but also the environment, because all the products that we stop using in a short period of time turn into waste, and the most difficult is that we dispose of them randomly! In the year 2019, there were more than 50 million tons of waste, half of them are household electrical appliances, and the other half are televisions, computers, phones and chargers!
Only 20% of 50 million tons are recycled! On the one hand, this harms the environment and on the other hand hurts the consumer’s pocket!
So what is the solution ?!
The only solution is that manufacturers produce products that have a long life span, and at the same time provide the ability to repair old electronic devices, and this is called Right to Repair, which is a slogan raised by many associations and environmental activists and consumers, for example Apple As well! Its current market value exceeds 2 trillion dollars, and most of its profits are from iPhone sales and its popularity, and it is the first company in the world to reach this number of market value in the world, and for the company to reach this large number, it is involved in unethical practices to describe some organizations, it designs a device iPhone in a smart way, impossible to repair! And if you want to repair the deviceโs screen, for example, you will not find the original screen except in its Apple stores at a great price, and the screen is installed with sophisticated and encrypted tools that only Apple stores have! And assume that you are James Bond electronics, and you were able to provide the original screen and installation tools, after installing the new screen, you will get a text message from Apple with the following text: We are not sure that the new screen is original! ๐๐๐
In short, all roads lead to an Apple Store, either repairing it at a great price, or buying a new device.
France is the only country in the world that considers that the planned statute of limitations for electronic products and the determination of the life span of devices is a criminal offense against the consumer, who applies it is punishable by imprisonment for a period of two years, and a penalty of up to 300 thousand euros, or equivalent to 5% of the company’s profits according to the law The French No. 990 of 2015, I am a good acquaintance with laws, my main profession is legal advice for companies and I know the secrets of companies well, so I established a modern electronic magazine OTTO Magazin that cares and defends only consumer rights. and Most digital magazines are involved with commercial companies to help them ignore the consumer with the quality of the product. This is what we do not do.๐
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