Air Con: $1697 for an on/off switch (blog.hopefullyuseful.com)

Article summary

The author's air conditioning system's control tablet stopped working after the warranty period, and the manufacturer, Advantage Air, quoted $1697 to replace the entire control system. The author, determined to fix it themselves, discovered that the issue was with the tablet, not the control system, and managed to repair it by replacing the tablet with an old Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 and patching the Android app to work with the new device. The author criticizes Advantage Air's business practices, suggesting that they are designed to force customers to replace entire systems unnecessarily. The author's DIY solution allowed them to bypass the manufacturer's restrictions and save money.

Main themes

• Planned obsolescence
• Right to repair
• Manufacturer business practices
• Android app development
• Hardware hacking
• Warranty and support issues

What commenters say

• The 'not on AA hardware' error in the app is seen as a deliberate attempt to prevent users from using third-party devices, and some argue it should be a warning rather than a hard error.
• Others defend the error as a necessary measure to prevent technical support issues, but acknowledge that it could be implemented in a more user-friendly way.
• Some commenters believe that the manufacturer's business practices are designed to force customers to replace entire systems unnecessarily, while others think it's just a result of poor design and lack of testing.
• The use of cheap, low-quality components, such as eMMC storage, is seen as a major contributor to the failure of IoT devices, and some argue that it's a deliberate choice to reduce costs and increase profits.
• There are different opinions on whether the pattern of devices failing just after the warranty period is a result of natural selection in the market or a deliberate design choice by manufacturers.
• Some commenters suggest that consumers can avoid buying low-quality products by researching warranty statistics and choosing brands with better track records, while others believe that even reputable brands can produce low-quality devices.
• The issue of planned obsolescence is not limited to the tech industry, but is a widespread problem that affects many consumer products, and some argue that it's a result of a broader cultural and economic issue.