Would Design for Disassembly Be a Welcomed Change?

"Should we have the option of being a DIY fixer or just go with the flow? "

I think this is the wrong question to ask. I would suggest asking "would you like to have the option of being a DIY fixer or just go with the flow?" I would like to have such an option.

The question posed in the OP implies that the government (or some other regulatory organization) would force industries to give us those options. This would make most products more expensive. If a company wants to make a product which is fixable by the consumer, they can do so. If people desire such a product, they will buy it.

When deciding on purchasing a car, a very important feature to me is self maintenance. As much as I dislike not being able to fix certain consumer products (or great difficulty in fixing them due to lack of information or the product being designed in such a way that makes buying a new one more cost effective than fixing a broken one), I do not want to see the government step in.

From my point of view, I believe EVERYTHING should be field repairable.

But from the clearer point of view (the point of view that a jury may have when you are suing me for electrocuting your dog after you did this)

...I can certainly understand why most consumer goods have the cases glued shut and not assembled with screws.

The collective consuming public is a pack of oafs.

Credit to Sharkles for finding the image that I pilfered.

I agree. I would still like manufacturers to make products more repair friendly......but by their own choice, not being forced by the government.

I would gladly welcome some sort of tort reform that prevents juries from decisions where fault is found with the manufacturer when the consumer clearly does something absurd (such as your pilfered image, or sets a hot cup of coffee in their lap as they pull away from the drive through).

I think that we agree to agree, you and I.

Tort reform to hold a manufacturer harmless, if clearly not a badly designed product is to blame? Well, that might work.

What would work is for us oafs (or is it oaves? No that doesn't sound right) to just STOP doing dumb stuff, and be responsible for our own actions when we act oafish.

But I don't see that happening. <sigh>

I like the 'being responsible for our own actions'.....but you are right....it's not going to happen.

questions like this kinda bug me... because I've spent enough time ranting bout modularity in design.

There are many products in Europe being designed for easy breakdown for recycling.

"I like to think there is a special place in the basement of the underworld, a place aptly described by the poet Dante, reserved for the designers of _____________ (fill in the blank). I have my list. How about you?

At the top of that list is the 5 speed manual transmission that was in my 87 Dodge/Mitsubishi Ram 50 pickup truck. It's hard to believe how many special pullers and impossible to reach retaining rings there were in that design."

ROFL ga

Cars in general are a big one of mine...

If you look at train systems... modularity is present in so many ways... just the notion of a train is modularity... the wheels and trucks are modular... the number of engines is modular.. the tracks and ties are modular.. etc. I friggin love it... what would trains be without all that modularity.

someone should write a book on modularity.

Chris

someone should write a book on modularity.

You are someone. And you even know how to write.

I believe that everything should be fixable, if not why buy the damn thing, and I never buy an extended warranty, they are the biggest scam today!

I have repaired a lot of things in our home over the space of 45 years, and I have only once had to throw out a useless piece of broken junk (tumble dryer). I also pay a little over the odds for certain items, and I have found that they usually are repairable, whereas cheap items are usually junk. As you stated, we live in a throw-away economy, and it does keep a lot of people in jobs, but I personally hate it !

Engineered failure (at the end of the warranty) and non-owner-repairability are concepts that tend to pivot on repeat sales and manufacturer parts supply.

What is needed is not to ask whether owner repair is a good idea, as that is just plain obvious. What we need is an alternative. A business model that allows manufacturers to make lots of money, and still permits owners to repair, modify, and upgrade their purchases.

The interactive and custom factory can (lean oriented) and should reach out to customers with modular designs, and encourage a whole growing group of developers to create awesomeness based on the fundamental modularity.

What does it mean to Microsoft to know they have 3 or 4 million VB and VBA, Excel and Access developers, creating business applications every day? I think it means more business for Microsoft, and always has. (Microsoft started with Basic...) VB is modularity. VBA is modularity. Object Oriented Programming is modularity. ActiveX is modularity, etc.

I work in Kitchen Cabinets these days... very modular European Frameless designs.

Cars, Houses, Buildings, and so many basic elements of life could be much more modular imho.

Chris