Michal Ždanský He released the server a few days ago Czech position interesting article Sabotage: Time bombs in the products we buy dealing with the targeted reduction of the life of products so that they break down shortly after the warranty expires and the consumer is thus forced to buy new ones. Artificially shortening the life cycle of a product is of course extremely beneficial for manufacturers, who thus increase their turnover over the years. The article is based on a German study commissioned by the party Union 90/Greens.
Czech position Apple also mentioned in this context:
In this sense, the company Apple took care of the biggest media scandal so far at the beginning of the 21st century. The Californian giant has built its iPod MP3 players so that it is impossible to replace the battery, which artificially limited its lifespan to 18 months in Palo Alto. In 2003, a class-action lawsuit followed in the US, culminating in an out-of-court settlement: Apple had to promise to replace the batteries free of charge and at the same time extend the warranty from eighteen months to two years.
How was it all? The whole affair was unleashed by filmmakers Neistat Brothers. Two brothers (Casey Neistat and Van Neistat) from New York are best known for their short documentaries (often only a few minutes long) and even had their own show on HBO in 2010. One of their best-known short films is translated as "The Dirty Secret of the iPod" from 2003, about Apple's battery replacement policy for its players.
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The short film captures Casey Neistat's phone call with Apple support. Casey explains to support (a man named Ryan) that his iPod's battery is completely dead after 18 months. Apple didn't have a battery replacement program back then. Ryan explained to Casey that the cost of labor and shipping would be so high that he would be better off getting a new iPod. The clip then continues with footage of the brothers spray-painting iPod posters with the warning "Battery only lasts 18 months" across Manhattan.
The Neistat brothers posted the clip on the Internet on November 20, 2003, and within a month and a half it had over a million views. It gained wide media interest around the world, where over 130 TV stations, newspapers and other servers reported on the controversial situation, among them for example The Washington Post, Fox News, CBS News, BBC Newswith or magazine Rolling Stone. Two weeks after the clip was released, Apple announced an extended iPod battery warranty. However, then-Apple spokeswoman Natalie Sequeir denied any connection between the film and the warranty extension, saying the policy change was in the works months before the clip was released. A Fox News editor called the whole affair a David and Goliath story.
Nowadays, we can find a lot of unfair efforts by manufacturers to maximize profits at the expense of customers. A great example is for example printer manufacturers, whose products force toner replacement in the case of laser printers, although there is still enough of it, or in the case of inkjet printers, they mix color inks into black and white printing and require all cartridges to be at least partially full, although the user only prints black and white text. Even Apple is no saint in this regard. Proprietary interconnect cables, RAM and NAND Flash memories welded to the motherboard, displays glued to the frame, all these are anti-consumer moves that make it impossible to easily replace some components in case of failure. Instead, the customer is forced to replace the entire motherboard, which is many times more expensive.
However, this story is about artificially shortened product life. I know from my own experience that most Apple products last much longer than products from competing companies. I see people with MacBooks that are over five years old, and for example my 2,5 year old iPhone 4 is still in great shape, even battery-wise (aside from replacing the Home button, but still under warranty). Apple products cost a premium, but in the vast majority of cases, we get a premium product that lasts a really long time, while others are already out of service. It's the same with clothes from Armani, they cost a lot of money, but they will be there even after many years
For those Armani shirts, I advise you (in the same way as Apple) to leave the purchase for the trip to the USA and your chin will drop... T-shirt bought on the fifth avenue for 450 CZK (about 4 thousand in our country) etc...
Just by the way, I have an iPhone 1, everything incl. the battery is original and functional (although there are few of us, I'm not the only one). True, it is already a bit slower by today's standards, but the battery lasts more than 50 days with normal use (10 phone calls, 20 SMS, so 2 minutes of internet and emails).
Samsung Galaxy S already 3 years in use. The battery lasts around 6 days. Almost like new. But it is a fact that every day I have about 10 calls, 10 sms here and there, taking pictures here and there and video. Otherwise, I only use it as a flash drive. I have an iPad for other things :)
also the iPhone 2G, apart from the need for a jailbreak (I gave up looking for an A&T sim) to this day, despite the fall on the display (crack from the home button to the edge), the original battery lasts almost 2 days. Every day approx. 5 minutes of talk, 20 minutes of e-mail, 2 hours of social networks + 2 hours of ipod every day (what else to do in public transport?). Because notifications and data were turned off 3 years ago, even 4 days went by when I didn't fry games :-). I can't complain about a 6-year-old phone :-) it's just the notifications that piss me off, but why deal with it when I spend 14 hours a day at the PC.
the biggest crooks are our so-called warranty services, it is almost impossible to get help from Apple, there is no one in CR, the services are not checked...no one is able to comment on the problem...on the Apple line the biggest concern is about the serial number...operators are amateurs who can max. something clear from the PC... and something should be written in English, any effort to solve the problem is useless
I have a pretty good experience with the Czech service. Unfortunately, this does not apply to all employees, but to one very willing service worker. Older Air without warranty after spilling: necessary replacement of keyboard and test board. Pricewise, the repair made no sense. I agreed with the repairman and he called after a week to say that he got another piece and repaired the board. He could have pissed me off and I could have sold Aira for parts. But that support is a fact. Sometimes I try them and it's a little better, but still not much.
In connection with Apple, I never thought of contacting Czech support or service. I deal with support only with US support, and I dealt with the repair (one so far, but within the service program, i.e. free of charge) directly at the Apple Store in Dresden.
:) Well, what you mention here may have been true 20 years ago...then even cheaper brands such as Nike lasted for several years...I myself had several sneakers that lasted even 5 years, but in today's age of consumerism, that is no longer the case, today you literally wear sneakers I will fall apart in a year and a half, and even luxury clothing brands are not an exception.. the vast majority of manufacturers make things so that they last a certain time and the customer was forced to buy something new, and the Apple company and the Armani brand are not an exception.. I have been in the USA several times for work and I brought a lot of things from different and so-called "luxurious" brands, but none of them will last me several years without wearing them (perhaps if I wore an Armani shirt, for example, once a month and washed it once a year :))... this is no longer the case electronics and let's not even talk about clothes, when the only interest of manufacturers is to make things as cheaply as possible and sell them as expensively as possible (see made in china and spol.) hand on heart to those who last 2,5 or 3 years without the need for servicing or replacing the battery, it's like saffron and even apple are no different from others, they do not offer any luxury product that would last 5 or more years than it used to be, and the reason is simple, it is not in their interest for customers to use one of their products for many years .. see the mentioned ipod thread .. that's enough just open your eyes and connect one with the other and not just uncritically glorify your favorite brand
That's another lying article about shit! I have 2 pieces of the first iPod Wheel FireWire, white LCD 3G iPod, first iPhone, iBook G3 toilet seat etc. everything works and the battery is original.
Liar in what? All this really happened.
I have a lot of products from Apple, but I can't get rid of the feeling that they send us some second-rate quality, or iStyle has some refurbishing supplier.... My experiences: Macbook Pro 4x complaints (bad motherboard, no usb right out of the box, 2x bad fans, RAM failed), iPad2 bad display with spots immediately after purchase, iPhone 4 not working when charging, exchange for a new bad display, exchange for a third non-functioning display ... Macbook AIR white translucent dots (spots) on the LCD panel after a year - exchange for a new one, now I bought an iMac and immediately after unpacking the disk is bad, 20 bad sectors on the disk - I gave a complaint with information from the diagnosis to the service, followed by a replacement of the motherboard but disc not replaced. I've had it at home for two weeks and I'm already losing data, smart reports failing and there are over 500 bad sectors on the disk... On the other hand, Apple TV from the US runs like clockwork, iPad mini the same... I really feel like an idiot when I go back to iStyle with new products that I bought before and they look at me as if I made it myself. Well, I'm packing the iMac at the weekend and I'm going to take it to the store again.... :-/
I feel for you however what to change the seller? I don't have a good experience with iStyle, so I stopped buying from them.
I guess I'll have to because this won't just be a coincidence. Can you recommend a better one? In case, I was thinking of buying directly at apple.cz, but will the quality be better there? That's the question..
Well, that's probably not even possible. It's really about hands :)
But in my case it happens in most cases immediately after unpacking. It probably won't be with my hands ;) I'll go work for apple as a product tester when I'm so unlucky. Only then will they probably release almost no product :D
It is sad when any company coughs on all its customers. The question is whether people are able to learn from it…
Hmmm…let me respond as well :-)
I have had an MB Pro for 4 years, everything is in excellent condition, no complaints. So when my colleagues already have 3 Dells, I'm fine :-).
Otherwise, I don't think that shelf life versus product quality is somehow closely related. For example, I've had a shirt from Ralph Lauren for 5 years and I still keep it. And about the shoes. Time demands more and more innovations. In order to survive, shoe manufacturers are constantly coming up with "better" materials - so that the shoe does not push, breathes, copies the foot, transfers the force of the rebound, etc. – and thanks to this, the life of the shoe is shortened considerably. I talked to the Nike guy about it. So, sports shoes for 900 crowns will last the longest, because no special materials are used there:-))
the so-called planned wear and tear aka kurwitko... I recommend the documents http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1825163/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1 a http://www.csfd.cz/film/332223-bulb-fiction/
I have an 8-year-old iPod Nano, it still works flawlessly, the battery lasts about a week, and when listening to music continuously, about two days. Now I don't use it anymore because I have an iPhone, but even so, when I take it out once in a while, it's always enough to charge it and it works.
I still have the first generation iPod Touch, although I only use it in the gym and here and there in the car, but I have to say that it holds up very well. And he is more than five years old!
I also still use my first iPhone, even if I only use it occasionally and more or less like an iPod, the front glass on the display just broke when he was flying the car during a crash. also, the 3GS is still serving me for the fourth year. The 4S is still young, in any case, everything without intervention in the service. even macbook white, the last white model still without problems and without a service visit.