The Nice People Thread, No.16: A Universe of Niceness.

michaels

GDB2222 wrote: »

I've just fitted a new timer to the toaster. During that process, I needed to contact the manufacturer, who told me it was made in 2000. Naturally, they still sell spares for it. Before I bought this, we were going through much cheaper toasters at the rate of one a year.

I'm not quite sure why I posted that?

I am very impressed, we have all been hoodwinked by commercial organisations into thinking that we should expect a limited life from every product and simply replace when it goes wrong. The environmental consequences are dire.

I would like to particularly point the finger at apple here who have been able to convince people that a small electronic device should cost at least £1k and be replaced every 2 years (or ideally every 12 months), they were the first to go to the extreme of making sure the battery could not be replaced nor more memory added to try to make sure their products would not last.

silvercar

michaels wrote: »

I am very impressed, we have all been hoodwinked by commercial organisations into thinking that we should expect a limited life from every product and simply replace when it goes wrong. The environmental consequences are dire.

I would like to particularly point the finger at apple here who have been able to convince people that a small electronic device should cost at least £1k and be replaced every 2 years (or ideally every 12 months), they were the first to go to the extreme of making sure the battery could not be replaced nor more memory added to try to make sure their products would not last.

Apple iPhone batteries can be replaced. In fact Apple themselves were offering a new battery for £25 last month.

michaels

silvercar wrote: »

Apple iPhone batteries can be replaced. In fact Apple themselves were offering a new battery for £25 last month.

But in an old nokia phone you took the back off by hand and put in a new battery that could be had for a fiver from ebay or the market, not £25 (minimum) and send it off or take to a specific store and wait.

GDB2222

michaels wrote: »

But in an old nokia phone you took the back off by hand and put in a new battery that could be had for a fiver from ebay or the market, not £25 (minimum) and send it off or take to a specific store and wait.

£25 is to replace batteries that I think Apple have acknowledged have a problem! It's £99 to replace the battery on my four year old ipad. And it's a real buggah of a job to do! The cases are glued shut, and to get inside you have to melt the glue without damaging the screen or the electronics inside. I'm not sure whether Apple have a special tool for the job, but trying to do it with a hot air gun is tricky.

Pyxis

Am still in bed coughing.
12 days now.

GDB2222 wrote: »

I've just fitted a new timer to the toaster. During that process, I needed to contact the manufacturer, who told me it was made in 2000. Naturally, they still sell spares for it. Before I bought this, we were going through much cheaper toasters at the rate of one a year.

I'm not quite sure why I posted that?

Something on the TV this morning about possible new legislation to force manufacturers into making products that can be mended, i.e. not welding cases tight shut, etc.
Not before time.
.

After that, they should remedy the bugbear that is my old pet hate, namely unavailable inks for printer/copiers, thus making a perfectly usable printer/copier redundant. I'm starting to find it hard to get inks for mine easily.
Again.
For the fourth time.

It works perfectly well. It suits my needs to a T. Why should I feel I'll have to dump it because the inks are so individual? Not just to the make, but to the model as well!

Sorry, Starting to repeat myself from a while back. Just ignore.

michaels wrote: »

I am very impressed, we have all been hoodwinked by commercial organisations into thinking that we should expect a limited life from every product and simply replace when it goes wrong. The environmental consequences are dire.
.

Still keeping parts after 18 years is very impressive indeed!

What make is it? My toaster is starting to fail to meet my requirements, and I'm open to suggestions for a new one.

By the way, has anyone noticed how hard it is to really clean out a toaster?
You can empty the crumb tray, you can shake it about to dislodge more crumbs. You can shake it even more to dislodge even more crumbs. You can pretend it is a pair of maracas and really do the samba thing on it, and dislodge a few more.

At the end of the day, though, there are still some left that won't budge.

michaels

Pyxis wrote: »

Am still in bed coughing.
12 days now.




Something on the TV this morning about possible new legislation to force manufacturers into making products that can be mended, i.e. not welding cases tight shut, etc.
Not before time.
.

After that, they should remedy the bugbear that is my old pet hate, namely unavailable inks for printer/copiers, thus making a perfectly usable printer/copier redundant. I'm starting to find it hard to get inks for mine easily.
Again.
For the fourth time.

It works perfectly well. It suits my needs to a T. Why should I feel I'll have to dump it because the inks are so individual? Not just to the make, but to the model as well!

Sorry, Starting to repeat myself from a while back. Just ignore.




Still keeping parts after 18 years is very impressive indeed!

What make is it? My toaster is starting to fail to meet my requirements, and I'm open to suggestions for a new one.

By the way, has anyone noticed how hard it is to really clean out a toaster?
You can empty the crumb tray, you can shake it about to dislodge more crumbs. You can shake it even more to dislodge even more crumbs. You can pretend it is a pair of maracas and really do the samba thing on it, and dislodge a few more.

At the end of the day, though, there are still some left that won't budge.

No doubt the more you shake it the more likely it is to break - good design feature for the manufacturer
And if you don't shake it the build up of heat may well make it break - another good design feature for the manufacturer

I suspect that just leaving the crumbs that can't be removed will probably not result in dying from food poisoning but who knows?

Pyxis

michaels wrote: »

No doubt the more you shake it the more likely it is to break - good design feature for the manufacturer
And if you don't shake it the build up of heat may well make it break - another good design feature for the manufacturer

I suspect that just leaving the crumbs that can't be removed will probably not result in dying from food poisoning but who knows?

No, my fear is more that they might catch fire.

GDB2222

Pyxis wrote: »

No, my fear is more that they might catch fire.

Any fire will be contained within the toaster, but the smoke will set off the smoke alarm.

I went through all sorts of makes before buying a Dualit toaster. The design is more or less unchanged in the last 50 years.

GDB2222

Pyxis wrote: »

Still in bed coughing.

How are you feeling today, Pyxis?

Pyxis

GDB2222 wrote: »

How are you feeling today, Pyxis?

Well, I thought it was starting to get better, but then spasms of coughing told me otherwise, so still in bed, apart from when I get up to make some food or a drink.
Thanks for asking. :A