> bored humans instructing bored robots to choose the inefficient path, to repair and not replace.
Repair is more efficient than replace! You're replacing something in either case. But in a repair, you replace less: only the part(s) that failed.
Reasons we don't (in many cases) are 3-fold:
1) Products are designed for 'easy'/efficient/cheap manufacturing, not to be easily repairable. "Repair-friendly" is often near the bottom on consumers' wishlist.
2) Manufacturers have become laser-focussed on that (successfully!), such that some devices literally cost pennies. Combined with
3) We value human time above machine/production time. So in most cases, the cost of [human time spent on repair] exceeds cost of [just buy replacement device].
Maybe "repair robots" will change that equation some day? Only if those are cheap & skillful enough.
I tried to address this somewhat in my comment, but alas the world has been moving in the other direction and it's not just simple choice or value; it's that the new way is often far superior.
>There is no practical economic way to repair that Mac charger, or your fried fancy oscilloscope, or any advanced motor, or unibody, or virtually anything made of titanium, carbon fiber, et cetera.
The issue lies in their superiority. The modern powerboard which filters and slices is far superior to its simple cousin. Titanium, carbon fiber, advanced composites permit the impossible. Elegant unibodies provide strength, cooling, simplicity. Sealed black boxes bring reliability, weight, strength. None of those things can be repaired economically. We are a rich world now, getting richer by the minute. The objects that surround us are sleek, powerful, reliable, perfect. I suspect nothing can stop this tide now. The march of time will forge ever more perfect objects and leave us useless in its wake.
Repair is more efficient than replace! You're replacing something in either case. But in a repair, you replace less: only the part(s) that failed.
Reasons we don't (in many cases) are 3-fold:
1) Products are designed for 'easy'/efficient/cheap manufacturing, not to be easily repairable. "Repair-friendly" is often near the bottom on consumers' wishlist.
2) Manufacturers have become laser-focussed on that (successfully!), such that some devices literally cost pennies. Combined with
3) We value human time above machine/production time. So in most cases, the cost of [human time spent on repair] exceeds cost of [just buy replacement device].
Maybe "repair robots" will change that equation some day? Only if those are cheap & skillful enough.