this post was submitted on 23 Dec 2023
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[–] Gimly@lemmy.world 45 points 11 months ago (1 children)

But that's something that I witnessed change since the 80's and makes the electronic crappier, it's the fact that appliances in the 70's-90's were incredibly easy to fix. It was not rare for the manufacturer to even give schematics in the user's manual. There were shops to repair stuff everywhere and it was something approachable by anyone who could hold a soldering iron.

[–] cynar@lemmy.world 38 points 11 months ago (1 children)

They also had a far higher price. This changed the effective disposability. E.g. you likely wouldn't pay $500 to fix a $400 washing machine. If it were a $10,000 washing machine, it's more reasonable.

This is why TV repair shops disappeared. TVs got cheap enough that the labour cost would outweigh the replacement cost. I recently fixed a TV with a dodgy backlight. The parts cost £12, but it took me a few hours. If my time was factored in, in a business manner (including accounting for downtime, profit ,and expenses) it would have been over 75% of the replacement cost.

[–] dylanmorgan@slrpnk.net 4 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Also, a lot of newer features add complexity and make for more difficult repairs.

[–] EatYouWell@lemmy.world 8 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Eh, not really. If anything it's easier because all you have to do is swap out circuit boards instead of soldering in new parts.

[–] ApathyTree@lemmy.dbzer0.com 6 points 11 months ago

This. I had a winterized display (leaky roof inspired water damage) and replaced a board and fixed it. Took about 20 min including the time to disassemble the tv itself. $20.

The research to figure out what components caused the problem was significant, however. Because tv repair isn’t a thing anymore even tho it absolutely should be.