I've seen quite a few posts here about how people still have very old game consoles or 10 year old headphones that are still working well. While this is possible, it is not true for electronics in general. The idea that some electronics of certain brands are superior in logevity is an uninformed perspective on electronics and how they work. It doesn't matter if your NES from the 90s is still working after sitting in a box for a few years. It doesn't matter if your old set of headphones have been functioning for 15 years. The fact that this is happening has nothing to do with the quality of your electronics. In fact, devices are designed to fail for a number of reasons, and they're definitely not BIFL. I wont get too deep into the science of how electronics work, but here's a TL;DR:
Electronics work through a series of small components made of different types of metal fixed to an electrically insulated circuit board. Over time, these components, no matter the quality encounter electrical resistance. The electricity needed to power equipment is a lot of energy, and since all electronic components don't function at 100% efficiency, a lot of this energy is resisted by the components and released as heat. When things get too hot, they melt, burn and die. This is why your computer has a fan in it, to keep cold air circulating through the hot components so they don't burn out.
Eventually, all components of any type will die. The same way light bulbs burn out, components stop functioning. This isn't because of low build quality. It's for safety. If electrical components didn't burn out, they would explode and catch fire, so they're made fragile and thin for safety reasons. Your old appliances are exactly the same. They won't last forever. Yes, you might have an old piece of tech thats been great for decades. But the moment anything electronic rolls off the factory floor, its days are numbered. It's not planned obsolescense. Your old heaphones aren't "great quality" because they've been woking or years.
If anything, electronics have improved in build quality in the last 10 years, and the advent of your very old game console from the 90s still kicking is likely due to anecdotal and circumstantial evidence, and little else.
Source: have built several computers, have worked professionally and personally with many kinds of electronic components and have a basic understanding of electricity.
Submitted August 09, 2017 at 02:10AM by Muskydancer http://ift.tt/2uooOd1
