Quote:
Originally Posted by elcreative
Hardly just a Sony approach... I've got a colour laser printer that's a couple of years old and will cost more than a new one to repair, most laptops cost more than they're worth to fix if the motherboard goes out-of-warranty and the same applies to most tech especially motherboards as they represent most of the cost of an item... most new stuff costs less than your last purchase and/or offers more features... it's the nature of tech and generally all you can do is balance the cost of an extended warranty/insurance against value/replacement out of initial warranty period... not enjoyable but reality and applicable to virtually every company...
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I think you also have to take into account the efficiency at which the product was manufactured, and the inefficiency at which it is repaired. If the device was put together with the same amount of effort that goes into repairing it (i.e. some one, highly skilled, person doing all the tasks of assembly), it would cost a good deal more than what it cost to put it together in an assembly line of mixed humans and robots. Under the former circumstances, repair would be a "cheap" option compared to the high purchase price. However, the repair would be no cheaper than it is today (because it takes the same amount of skill and effort), it would only feel so.
I recently had a mechanical watch overhauled by a watchmaker at a cost of about $150Cdn. I could easily buy a more accurate new quartz watch at a fraction of the cost. The watchmaker didn't rip me off; his skilled labour was worth that much. He couldn't build me a watch himself at such a cheap price. It's the same factors that make repairing an ereader as expensive as building a new one.