The Age of the Disposable Computer

You've just purchased a brand new MacBook, Windows 8 Tablet or any of the other new tablets or smartphones on the market.

You've paid $1,000 plus for it and you are very, very happy. After a period of time, usually a year, your warranty runs out. You are very, very happy.

Then the unthinkable happens and it just stops working. No problem you think... I'll just call my computer guy and he will fix it and make it better... And that is when it dawns on you.....

You're pretty much screwed and you have to buy a new one. You've just spent $400, $700, $800 or spent over a $1,000 a little over a year ago and you cannot get it fixed?

Your computer guy is nowhere to be found because he's out of business. He used to build computers for people, replace hard drives when they broke etc..... That's OK because you know where he lives and you call him up for help but... he cannot do a thing for you. Why?

When you bought that shiny new MacBook, PC, Laptop computer or tablet, what you didn't realize is that the manufacturer had built it NOT to be serviced.

• That shiny new MacBook was built with the hard drive, and memory sticks soldered to the motherboard. None of it can efficiently be replaced by a neighborhood technician. Many Microsoft based ultrabooks are built the same way. Soon all laptops will be built that way.
• The shiny new laptop that you paid for is built in such a way that a technician has to take the entire thing apart just to get to the hard drive. The labor costs to do this are prohibitive so you just replace it.
• All of a sudden you realize that shiny new desktop with Windows 8 you bought last year didn't come with recovery media to reinstall Windows, didn't offer to help you create recovery media yourself and doesn't even have a label with the Windows activation key. 

What the hay! That sickening feeling comes over you..... You're sunk.

So there it is. It may not be environmentally friendly but those are the economic metrics of todays high tech sector.

If you read my previous post on the Big Switch, you probably know just one of the driving forces behind all of this.

Not all is lost. The economic metrics will give birth to new businesses that will help you in many cases. Desktops for example, are still reasonably easy to service for example and there will still be methods to deal with those in a cost effective manner. Custom built desktops for business will be a viable option although you will pay more for them.

Those shiny new ultra thin, ultra light devices are something else however.... still, someone may come up with something. After all, they are selling millions of those aren't they? Then again, I said that about the millions of smart phones being produced.

The Big Switch is happening, get it. If you didn't read my post, maybe this will help. When you watch this, think about whatever shiny device you just bought.