A customer's offhand comment about a 2015 laptop battery

They asked if I could just replace the swollen cell, not the whole unit, to save them money. It made me realize how many people assume parts are more modular than they are now. How do you explain integrated component design to folks without sounding dismissive?

4 comments

4 Comments

phoenix_martin401mo ago

Remember when you could actually fix things yourself. Now it feels like companies make stuff hard to open on purpose. I get why the customer asked, because older electronics were built differently. Maybe we've all just gotten too used to throwing things away instead of repairing a single part. It's not the customer being dumb, it's the design being unfriendly.

stella221mo ago

Totally feel this. My dad used to fix our old TV with a soldering iron right on the kitchen table. Now you need five different special screwdrivers just to open the case, and half the time you break clips doing it. They absolutely design things to be thrown away, not fixed. Makes me mad because a simple part fails and you have to replace the whole expensive unit.

felixlane1mo ago

Ugh, @stella22 is right, my last laptop was sealed shut with glue, pure madness.

seanmason1mo ago

Ever think about how this shift also killed the local repair shop? My guy used to fix my game consoles with parts from old ones. Now, like @stella22 said, you can't even get in without breaking it. They don't sell the small parts, you have to buy the whole board or screen. It's not just hard for us, it wiped out a whole bunch of small businesses that used to keep stuff alive.