**Everything you wanted to know about your new gadget but were afraid to ask **

[tactlessgrace]

This was really informative and interesting. I'll keep my eye out for legislation- of course they're doing it in europe...that's why I moved here for school!! :)

[RustleAbout]

Well said. I support this idea, big time!

[AerocK]

I could not agree more. WHere do I sign the petition?

[JimmerSD]

I might just create one but I'm afraid that there's not much public interest in more expensive gadgets these days. I have posted this rant on my Blog. jimmersddotcom. Maybe start passing it around? :)

[krumbine]

Wow. Very provocative. I started this video thinking "Sure, I bought a new TV for a grand two months ago, but if it craps out on me in another year, I don't really mind--there's something bigger and better to be had for $1000." By the end of the video, you made me want pull out the 15" CRT monitor that buried in the garage and dust it off.

[JimmerSD]

That's me the provocateur! I am constantly amazed that someone would consider a $1000 investment throw away. Some day's I just feel old. :0)

[zeppidy]

thank god I love my monitor like a love my mother! it's almost 3 years old, bought it on "sale"

[JimmerSD]

cool!

[moomay11649]

I take the packaging off the gadget and leave it at the store.

Too much packaging going in the trash.

I am not much of a gadget person.

Mooz

[JimmerSD]

I do the same. There is so much waste in plastic containers and packaging.

[FLuSHUnderground]

then suddenly expensive things started to becomes disposable, video game systems, computers, cars, televisions. And you would think that being they make it disposable they would lower the price but do they? of course not, these days buying a car is like buying a house, and buying a house is like buying a mansion. I know the problem is rooted deeper than the compact disc, but damn you sony I blame you for turning the idea of a disposable society into a reality. Curse you!

[JimmerSD]

Yet Sony persists. They now own most of the planet and are making plans to take over Mars as a raw material source. ;)

[FLuSHUnderground]

No we can't afford it! This is something that has been bugging me a lot lately. Everything that is sold in stores these days is disposable. I think a lot of this mentality of making products came with the invention of the compact disc. When they first came out they promised they would last forever but what happened? Turns out they won't last you a year if you actually use them. Suddenly all forms of artistic information became disposable. music, movies,video games

[JimmerSD]

The concept of 'throwaway' has been around much longer than compact disks. It has just accelerated. Marketing companies have always known that when they make something that lasts, they cut their own throats in the process. Chevrolet's foray into 'planned obsolescence' was the Vega. The car was intended to only last 50k miles. Zenith broke ground in 'modular' technology in the '70s and the public latched onto it thinking that it would somehow cheapen repair costs.

[JimmerSD]

The public didn't realize that modules were more expensive to replace than to fix. And that they weren't as plentiful as the base components. The service industry rejected the concept and began to fix the modules 'in the field'. This eventually caused the crash of the whole concept and eventual failure of Zenith as an American electronic company. Modular technology has flourished in computer design. There is little or no repair done on the individual modules and a huge amount of waste.

[JimmerSD]

actually Zenith did this in the late '60s. :)

[Sugartalker]

The fact that all our electronic waste goes to the landfill is bad enough but if you take it to a recycling depot which supposedly get recycled, it actually gets shipped to China where the poor strip the items for the valuable parts and then get sick and even die from the chemicals and acids they use.

Man has gone to the moon. There has to be a better way.

[JimmerSD]

I've seen the pictures, kids melting solder off of board in woks over open fires. This is criminal. But no better than our way of hiding it underground. People would be shocked and would clamber to have this stuff fixed if they had to pay the cost of disposal included in the purchase price.

[2MuChDeAn]

no, jim...

we can't afford it.

[JimmerSD]

Agreed.

[TheHairyGeek]

extremely well made vlog, i've posted it to my Facebook with the +share thingy.

I was unaware of the plasma tv gases, it's not something that manufacturers seem to want to shout about :P

[JimmerSD]

Yeah, the biggest worry about LCDs is that are already in made is Mercury. They have fluorecent lamps in those. Plasmas don't contain any toxic gas of note. The problem is the stuff that's used in the manufacturing process. Thanks!

[TheHairyGeek]

i tell ya what, you definitly know your shit. I'd certainly watch more of you talking about this kinda stuff if you did it every once in a while. I bet this is just the tip of the iceberg compaired to what you'd have uploaded if it wern't for bandwidth/size/length issues

[barryperrins]

Interesting vid and well made.

Didn't know about the lcd gases. In the U.K. we have to pay to have fridges scraped so the gas can be taken out. There is also a big business sending things like mobile phones to India to be stripped for their gold contacts

[JimmerSD]

Amazing that there is enough gold in a cell phone to actually make it worth someones while. I would be surprised if there was as much as a couple micrograms in there.

[benzone50]

What a scam!

That is so irresponsible of the government! Thanks for posting Jim.

[JimmerSD]

Thank the lobbiests!

[OhCurt]

No, I don't think we can afford it either.

I'm with you on the message, so nothing much constructive for me to add to a discussion here. But I have to say that the editing made me think of Max Headroom... which I guess would be in keeping with the theme of the discussion, yes?

[JimmerSD]

Yes, I had fun making myself do the Max Headroom stutter.

[Gimmeabreakman]

Enjoyed this video.

[JimmerSD]

Thanx!

[SmallWorldFilms]

Best vlog I've heard in months. Thank you for giving us so much information.

[JimmerSD]

Only way I could pack it all in was to cut out the breathing. Thanks. :)

[qiranger]

Excellent Vlog Jim!

[JimmerSD]

Thanks Steve! Yeah, I know you get the problems I'm having here. :)

[1DRock37167]

Makes perfect sense to me!

[JimmerSD]

:o) Why not to the powers that be?

[1DRock37167]

Making sense and the powers that be usually dont go together very often, but it sure would be nice;-)

[audionautix]

this is hands down the best vlog you've ever done.

the editing was a bit rough in spots.

sentence interruptus is so frustrating.

I have blue brain.

[JimmerSD]

Is there a penalty for intentional roughness?

Sorry 'bout tha..

Thanks man!

[marquisdejolie]

I'm doing my part. I'm not buying NOTHING. Except parts for my 21 year-old pickup.

[JimmerSD]

They still make parts for those antiques?

[marquisdejolie]

The Chinese do.

[JimmerSD]

Yeah, they make everything these days.

[bubbabrand]

what about projectors?

[JimmerSD]

What about them? They contain Mercury Lamps and the same basic electronics that everything else does. The companies that create them are as bad as the rest. No service/repair support.

[achigurh]

this would make an excellent video to feature...too bad youtube doesn't do that anymore

everything was so well said and so true..

i love my plamsa tv!

friendo tip: buy stuff with a credit card that will double the warranty ... they paid 700 dollars to fix my laptop. (and a new laptop with the same specs would have cost around 600)

[JimmerSD]

Thanks friendo!

[jasonmit]

I agree, it'd be nice if the electronic industry was like the auto industry.

I think I've been lucky with my electronics. I got my old CRT set I have in our living room around 10 years ago and it still works like new. What is the expected life of the typical flat panel TV?

I would love it if all the electronics I buy are like my computer, where if something goes wrong, it'll be modulated, so I can simply go down to the ol' Electro Zone and buy that new part that went bad and I'm all set.

[JimmerSD]

The auto industry has run into the same problems. This whole rant started as a response to an article about a new Massachusetts law to try to force automakers to not treat their products as proprietary.

CRT tv's 12~15 years. Plasma 7~10 years. LCD's 5~7 years. All contingent on parts availability.

Another rant necessary about the 'modular' mindset.

[hallbe]

Very good info Jim! The same goes over into me industry...furniture. It's all become cheaper to produce over seas than to repair! Everything is becoming throw away!! It's very scary. And I'm deeply concerned how people refuse to look at the consequences, and just continue to look for the cheapest price!

[JimmerSD]

All of the service industries in the US have been destroyed by cheap throw away junk. There is way too much attention payed to the purchase cost without considering the disposal cost.

[Blargaldalien]

Planned obselescence. it keeps people buying the next item by the manufactuerers. Too bad.

[JimmerSD]

Yep but it's not "planned obsolescence" any more. That concept actually gave you a little service support. Now everything that you buy is obsolete before you buy it. It's what happens when the marketing departments get to write the laws.

[NigelCrommwell]

I always purchase an extended warranty.......and it pays off !!

[JimmerSD]

I didn't go into that whole can of worms. Wait until you get a couple years down the road and the servicer can't get parts to repair it. Or worse the insurer that underwrites them just disappears.