When will eReaders become at least as robust (long lived) as a calculator?

[Steeplechase]

My eReader bit the dust after just two years of very light use. On the other hand my statistical calculator still works fine after 33 years of regular use. When I bought my eReader I expected it to continue to work barring screen breakage, rough handling or moisture exposure as long as other common electronic devices. Though I knew that it would become more and more out of date as new features were added onto readers and even expected that it might become obsolete as data storage devices and formats changed over time, I did not expect it to simply fail.

As a frugal shopper, until eReaders are at least as long lived as a calculator, a portable phone, a remote control, a transistor radio, televisions or even a standard laptop computer I can't see how I would ever purchase another one.

So, when (if ever) do you see them becoming as long lived as other commonly used electronic devices?

[AnemicOak]

Some electronics, no matter the type, last for many years while others of the same make and model might only last months. I've still got my first eInk reader, purchased in 2007, and it still works fine (although the battery isn't as good as it used to be) as does the one I bought in 2008. Others bought the same reader and theirs are long gone, dying after a few years or less. The same thing happens with calculators and other devices. My new surround sound receiver cost a lot more than a reader and the main board lasted a month and a half.

[pidgeon92]

I purchased my first ereader in '08, and my second in '09. I sold the first, so I don't know its current status, but the second is still working just fine. I'll post again in '42 and let you know how it is going.

[elcreative]

Definitely depends on model and usage - my PRS505 is still in daily use after many years now and so is my wife's but a friends PRS650 failed multiple time (replacements dying off as well) so had to demand refund yet I have an older PRS650 that is also fine... there's a real element of potluck in these things, even calculators... I also have a stat calculator of decades age which still works fine (HP) but several other calculators died during the same period...

[kennyc]

What? They're not?

[QuantumIguana]

E-readers are a lot more complicated than a calculator. If you take apart a dollar store calculator, it's just a chip, a display, a battery and some buttons. I've had my Kindle Keyboard for a couple years now of pretty heavy use, and it is going just fine. The only problem I had was this summer, it was beginning to lock up, but a reset to factory settings fixed it. My remote control for my TV failed after about three years.

[kennyc]

And the buttons on my calculators quit working....

[curtw]

Many folks are not aware that one of the unintended consequences of the EU's Restriction on Hazardous Substances (RoHS) has been a negative impact on the reliability of electronics.

While you can laud the EU for attempting to remove toxic substances from manufacturing processes, the simple fact is that a small bit of Plumbum/lead in solder (3-4%) helps to prevent cold flow, age cracks and "tin whiskers." The absence of lead is causing consumer electronics to fail prematurely.

Today, world-wide, you would have to use military-grade components to avoid RoHS-compliant electronic parts. These can be obtained at a typical 100 to 1000 times the cost of consumer-grade electronics.

So,while trying to keep Cadmium, lead, mercury and other toxins out of the environment, everything else is going to end up in landfills a LOT sooner than it used to. Irony can be pretty ironic sometimes, can't it?

[kennyc]

I love inevitable ironic irony.

[elcreative]

Originally Posted by QuantumIguana

E-readers are a lot more complicated than a calculator. If you take apart a dollar store calculator, it's just a chip, a display, a battery and some buttons. I've had my Kindle Keyboard for a couple years now of pretty heavy use, and it is going just fine. The only problem I had was this summer, it was beginning to lock up, but a reset to factory settings fixed it. My remote control for my TV failed after about three years.

Actually neither the OP nor I were talking about "dollar store" calculators... the OP says "stat" calculator which probably means HP and mine certainly says HP which stands for Hewlett Packard and means high end, scientific instrument level calculator... top of the line and state of the art when released... and still working... and almost definitely why they're still working

[kennyc]

Yep all kinds of eReaders too from cheap chinese knock-offs to iPads....

[kennyc]

also seems to me the OP .... given that it was his first and only post ... is being at the least disingenuous and at the worst.....

[QuantumIguana]

Originally Posted by elcreative

Actually neither the OP nor I were talking about "dollar store" calculators... the OP says "stat" calculator which probably means HP and mine certainly says HP which stands for Hewlett Packard and means high end, scientific instrument level calculator... top of the line and state of the art when released... and still working... and almost definitely why they're still working

Well, you might not want to crack open a calculator that costs more than a dollar. But a more expensive calculator really isn't that much more complicated. There's just not that much that can fail. Calculators weren't always so reliable, as they got simpler, the became more reliable.

[QuantumIguana]

Originally Posted by kennyc

also seems to me the OP .... given that it was his first and only post ... is being at the least disingenuous and at the worst.....

If your device breaks, then the device seems terribly unreliable. And of course my device not breaking doesn't mean that the device is highly reliable. What matter is what the likelihood of a device failing, any single sample proves nothing.

[elcreative]

Originally Posted by QuantumIguana

Well, you might not want to crack open a calculator that costs more than a dollar. But a more expensive calculator really isn't that much more complicated. There's just not that much that can fail. Calculators weren't always so reliable, as they got simpler, the became more reliable.

That is the point... these older calculators are actually way more complex, no single chip with everything on but despite this they just keep working...