Stop buying new stuff, says government advisor

lostinrates

N1AK wrote: »

To a point and depending on the item. A tablet computer from the last 5 years would quickly become outdated and the benefits of replacement after 2-3 years are considerable. A microwave on the other hand does not get outdated quickly at all either in terms of functionality or efficiency.

What I, and some others on here, find frustrating is when devices are designed or supported in such a way that they break or require replacement sooner.

Yep. Agreed.


Also, not being so minded I wonder how much everything needs to be resigned at each stage.

For example, as an iPad user I have a couple of chargers. Its useful to have more than one, and say, one in the car. When dh's office sent him an iPad I said 'at least we have chargers about the place already' and lo and behold the new iPad airs have different chargers.

Its a shame that the chargers that have worked for friends iPhones and I pads cannot also work for the iPad air. I dare say a fair bit of rubbish is generated and money made is made on things like upgraded chargers, car chargers and sundries for technology that is upgraded in regular upgrades not because of function but comparability.

Although th e iPad air is nice and light and shiny I won't be rushing out to upgrade btw)

noodle_doodle

I scrunch all my music to 64Kbps WMA's because I play them through a pair of £4.99 bud headphones or a pair of mini-speakers stuck in the corner of the living room. Frankly, I could be listening to a live performance through those pieces of sh*t and it'd still sound the same. Plus it means I can cram 800 songs on my 2GB mp3 player.

zagubov

I don't know who standardised the electrical sockets and interfaces that equipment must have to connect to the mains but it's vital when you consider the anarchy there would be if we went back to the days of local electricity supplies and voltages.
Also stationary comes in standard sizes. Very much think there should be standard connectors so that industry can't lock people into ridiculously-priced peripherals or consumables.

One of the worst culprits for this was Apple- used to have their own bespoke monitor printer connections etc. which limited what you could connect.

Loughton_Monkey

zagubov wrote: »

I don't know who standardised the electrical sockets and interfaces that equipment must have to connect to the mains but it's vital when you consider the anarchy there would be if we went back to the days of local electricity supplies and voltages.
Also stationary comes in standard sizes. Very much think there should be standard connectors so that industry can't lock people into ridiculously-priced peripherals or consumables.

One of the worst culprits for this was Apple- used to have their own bespoke monitor printer connections etc. which limited what you could connect.

Strangely it is USA that stands out like a sore thumb. They are about the only country who have not adopted 240 (ish) volts, A4 paper, or the SI or metric units.

In theory, I would have looked to the EU 'Single Market' [love it or hate it] to have the passion to standardise - at least within member states - so that the whole of Europe is 'joined up'. I guess they would claim that's exactly what they do, except that we remain today with different plugs/sockets in every country, different TV broadcasting systems, driving on different sides of the road, but at least we get the same shaped bananas and the same varieties of tomatoes!

But it's the use of proprietary connectors and interfaces that bug me. If the EU had in any sense valued consumers more than big business, they would, by now, have created a 'level playing field' by requiring standard 12 volt power supplies and plugs, standard charging/data transfer plugs/sockets for mobile phones, and perhaps standard 240 volt plugs/sockets.

I have, in my roof, about 180 different 'power supplies', each of which plugs into the mains and has a 'plug' on the other end for a low voltage appliance like a phone. Each has potentially a different combination of plug, output power, and output voltage. Very rarely, when a power supply has failed, have I found one of these to "fit".

It is rather perverse that in China, extension socket blocks are very well designed to take virtually every plug in the world. Brithish, Continental, Australian, American. But such universal sockets are, for some reason, illegal to sell in England I think. You can't buy them here anyway.

lostinrates

One of our flats in Italy had three of four different types of sockets. Very frustrating you couldn't rearrange stuff because stuff had to stay near the socket it fitted in .


In our house we have normal sockets and lamp sockets. Tbh, not sure why lamps sockets can't be normal sockets on a different loop....?

zagubov

Loughton_Monkey wrote: »

In theory, I would have looked to the EU 'Single Market' [love it or hate it] to have the passion to standardise - at least within member states - so that the whole of Europe is 'joined up'. I guess they would claim that's exactly what they do, except that we remain today with different plugs/sockets in every country, different TV broadcasting systems, driving on different sides of the road, but at least we get the same shaped bananas and the same varieties of tomatoes!

But it's the use of proprietary connectors and interfaces that bug me. If the EU had in any sense valued consumers more than big business, they would, by now, have created a 'level playing field' by requiring standard 12 volt power supplies and plugs, standard charging/data transfer plugs/sockets for mobile phones, and perhaps standard 240 volt plugs/sockets.

I have, in my roof, about 180 different 'power supplies', each of which plugs into the mains and has a 'plug' on the other end for a low voltage appliance like a phone. Each has potentially a different combination of plug, output power, and output voltage. Very rarely, when a power supply has failed, have I found one of these to "fit".

The mind boggles at the waste of creativity and human effort that must have gone into all these examples of reinventing the wheel.. The fact that these are geared to resist competition makes me wonder what possible good this does to the consumer.

shaggydoo

ukcarper wrote: »

I'm afraid that's where your wrong turntables, amplifiers and speakers from 30 years or more ago can easily out perform a lot of todays music systems.

Please. #InYourDreams

shaggydoo

prowla wrote: »

You just need to take stock and decide whether it is repairable or not.

Just because it's repairable doesn't mean that is the cheapest thing or most MSE thing to do. Often the cheapest thing to do is to buy a new more economical model - you'll save much more on electricity in the longer run....it's a false economy to run an old energy guzzling appliance...and the council will recycle all the old metal from your old appliance...

shaggydoo

Loughton_Monkey wrote: »

If, however, you wish to become a slave to environmental thoughts, then that's a totally different argument. If, also, we wish to talk about people buying "stuff" on credit that they can't afford, then that's yet another argument.

Repairing isn't better for the environment - using appliances that are triple AAA rated for energy use is...

shaggydoo

michaels wrote: »

most modern TVs have carp sound.

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:Seriously?

I guess if you buy your TV from Tesco with the rest of your shopping that might well be true...