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02-08-2013, 10:41 PM | #1 |
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When will eReaders become at least as robust (long lived) as a calculator?
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 Though I knew that it would become more and more out of date as new features were added onto readers and even expected that it might become obsolete as data storage devices and formats changed over time, I did not expect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? |
02-08-2013, 10:50 PM | #2 |
Bookaholic
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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.
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02-08-2013, 10:55 PM | #3 |
Wizard
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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.
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02-08-2013, 11:39 PM | #4 |
Wizard
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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...
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02-09-2013, 07:28 AM | #5 |
The Dank Side of the Moon
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What? They're not?
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02-09-2013, 10:28 AM | #6 |
Philosopher
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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.
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02-09-2013, 10:37 AM | #7 |
The Dank Side of the Moon
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And the buttons on my calculators quit working....
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02-09-2013, 10:41 AM | #8 |
Outside of a dog
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Don't blame *just* the manufacturers
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? |
02-09-2013, 10:44 AM | #9 |
The Dank Side of the Moon
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I love inevitable ironic irony.
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02-09-2013, 11:00 AM | #10 | |
Wizard
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02-09-2013, 11:05 AM | #11 |
The Dank Side of the Moon
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Yep all kinds of eReaders too from cheap chinese knock-offs to iPads....
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02-09-2013, 11:08 AM | #12 |
The Dank Side of the Moon
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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.....
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02-09-2013, 11:23 AM | #13 | |
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02-09-2013, 11:25 AM | #14 |
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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.
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02-09-2013, 02:38 PM | #15 | |
Wizard
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