France will begin labeling electronics with repairability ratings in January

submitted by Pis-dur from gsmarena.com

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[–]magnora7 15 insightful - 5 fun15 insightful - 4 fun16 insightful - 5 fun -  (14 children)

Right to repair!

France also has a law where consumer products must display the expected number of years that product will last, to combat planned obsolescence.

Both these things are fantastic ideas that I wish more countries would adopt. This helps protect the consumer and ensure an honest marketplace where people aren't being tricked by misleading products, as well as reducing waste.

[–]JasonCarswell 4 insightful - 3 fun4 insightful - 2 fun5 insightful - 3 fun -  (3 children)

Agreed!

I also know that somewhere there are clear concise red/yellow/green traffic light health labels on food too. I'd love to see those applied in Canada and the USA, but they depend on most of us not bothering to read the complex tiny labels and remaining unhealthy and perpetually dependent on the "health"care systems.

[–][deleted]  (2 children)

[deleted]

    [–]LesbianOutlaw 2 insightful - 2 fun2 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 2 fun -  (1 child)

    That’s what the nutrition label is for.

    [–]JasonCarswell 1 insightful - 2 fun1 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 2 fun -  (0 children)

    My point is that the nutrition label should be clear and simple first for the masses and visually impaired, and of course, also include the details for those who want to know. Canada and the US don't bother making it simple. It's clear corporations don't want us healthy.

    Only in the last 2 years have I started having a problem reading small text. I recently just turned 50. I can't believe I'm even 40. I don't think about it much, so when the number comes up it seems very unfamiliar. In my mind I'm still a sexy 35 year old, but now wiser.

    [–]UnexpectedTransmissi 3 insightful - 2 fun3 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 2 fun -  (9 children)

    I agree it sounds like a good idea... but I really don't see this problem in my life. My car is a 2005, my laptop is almost 6 years old... my phone 3+ years old (good considering I haven't changed the battery).

    I don't think companies whose products die early last very long.

    [–]bobbobbybob 9 insightful - 3 fun9 insightful - 2 fun10 insightful - 3 fun -  (8 children)

    your laptop is almost 6 years old.... and you think that is old.

    Because you have no idea what real longevity looks like.

    your car is 15 years old. Yay. Mine is 19 years old, and I should get 10 more years out of it.... That's not good. They could be built to LAST, not decades, but the better part of centuries.

    Light bulbs? They could last human lifetimes. Batteries? they could last generations.

    I have tools made in the 19th century, and they are some of the best (non electric) tools I own. Why is that?

    The engineering discipline of 'optimization', where cents are shaved off each component of a device, is a major driver in the lifetime of modern equipment, with a careful balance between warranty length and time to failure.

    I'd prefer a return to over engineering.

    [–]johnnybravo 3 insightful - 2 fun3 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 2 fun -  (0 children)

    Cars last really well in western countries where you have good roads. My car is a 2016 and has done 72k km on brutal, harsh Indian roads. The suspension squeaks every time I hit a speed bump, and the tie rod end bushings are really worn. The entire car rattles, although there is nothing major. The front bumper sometimes kisses the road on weird roads. Engine, gearbox, electricals though, are in great shape. Battery is good as ever. Brakes are awesome. The showroom guy told me I need to replace my pads in like 2500 km, it has been 4000 km since then and the brakes don't squeak. If cared for it could easily last like 25 years but I don't think it will make it past 15 without being a ship of Theseus.

    [–]UnexpectedTransmissi 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

    I have tools made in the 19th century, and they are some of the best (non electric) tools I own. Why is that?

    Because the simple inventions are the low hanging technology and they generally have few moving parts.

    Most people don't want a car that lasts forever, they want ones with the latest and greatest features.

    My biggest gripe with these kinds of complaints is, well, if longevity is so important to people, go start a company and sell cars and lightbulbs that last 1000000 uses... And you'll be a zillionaire. Just give me 10% ok?

    [–]bobbobbybob 2 insightful - 2 fun2 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 2 fun -  (1 child)

    Indeed, the capitalist model does not create longevity.

    [–]UnexpectedTransmissi 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

    At least it creates.

    [–]Trajan 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (3 children)

    Batteries rely on chemical reactions that naturally degrade with use. Sure, with simpler batteries you could replace plates and acid, but the kinds of batteries that power electronics simply can’t work that way. That said, the ability to replace cells should be possible, yet has to consider the dangers of making cells easily accessible. Inexperienced people should not have easy access to Lithium-based cells.

    [–]bobbobbybob 3 insightful - 2 fun3 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 2 fun -  (2 children)

    the stress there is between weight, volume and performance. We can build batteries with less tight tolerances that experience longer lifetimes.

    [–]Trajan 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

    Sure, yet that can’t overcome the inherent limitations of the technology. These batteries can’t survive generations, at least not with useable energy density. The best we can do is to require manufacturers of devices to not make it unnecessarily difficult to replace cells while balancing this with the need for safety and function.

    I’ve a laptop from 98 that has cells in a sealed plastic battery pack. That battery could have been screwed shut, as opposed to glued. If screwed then I could have more easily replaced the cells. It can’t simply be designed to pop open as that would be dangerous to uniformed users.

    [–]bobbobbybob 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

    truth

    [–][deleted] 7 insightful - 4 fun7 insightful - 3 fun8 insightful - 4 fun -  (15 children)

    Good on France. I'm not a fan of packaging with a billion labels and disclaimers, but this is a good idea that could fight planned obsolescence and allow consumers to know what they're buying. In the US, a lot of people ain't even allowed to fix their own property.

    I think we could replace a lot of the "don't be stupid" disclaimers with actually beneficial labels like this. Most disclaimers are designed just to keep small businesses down (since they don't have a billion lawyers to dig through the code and find every disclaimer they need).

    [–]Eurowoman24 6 insightful - 3 fun6 insightful - 2 fun7 insightful - 3 fun -  (5 children)

    there's also nutrition labels on everything grade A to E and colour coded too.

    [–]Archie 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

    Imo that one is in the realm of stupid. Kcal count was already printed and that's all that really matter

    [–]Eurowoman24 4 insightful - 2 fun4 insightful - 1 fun5 insightful - 2 fun -  (0 children)

    yeah no. 100 cals of chips is worse then 100cals of salad, just like a tuna sandwich is healthier then a chicken mustard sandwich, which not everyone would know. Also we're one of the countries in the eu with the least amount of obese and overweight people - says something imo

    [–][deleted] 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

    Calories aren't the only factor to nutritional value, and if you believe it is, I question your educational experience; I learned that in middle-school, and my state isn't world renowned for their quality of education.

    [–][deleted] 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

    That's a good idea. France does a lot of things right, for all its faults. You can just look through the ingredients yourself, but it's a lot easier for people to just look at a sticker — most people just glance at the calories, which doesn't give them an accurate picture — and companies actively work to make it harder to read, like calling sugar a billion different names.

    [–]Eurowoman24 2 insightful - 2 fun2 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 2 fun -  (0 children)

    that too, but i find that it's also important for people who'd be raised with a style of cooking vs another one, to be able to tell the difference between two seemingly healthy meals. Here most people aren't raised to look at calories, it's more good food vs not - heavy greasy vs light. So during celebrations most people are going to buy fatty foods sure or make them, but they're going to pay more attention to the quality of the food not the calories.

    [–]spinner 2 insightful - 3 fun2 insightful - 2 fun3 insightful - 3 fun -  (6 children)

    i just wish they would put a label on the toilet paper that says dont eat it, cuz i am always forgetting about that.

    [–][deleted] 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (5 children)

    Maybe if I put a sticker on the toilet paper that says "don't eat" then my dogs will stop eating it?

    On a serious note: how about we get rid of all these useless labels and disclaimers and replace them with little stickers like this? I don't need to know that I shouldn't put my hair dryer in the bathtub — that's common sense — but I should know how long that hair dryer is going to last, and whether or not I'm going to be able to fix it.

    [–]NeedMoreCoffee 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (4 children)

    I was under the impression that all those warnings are there because someone did that and sued a company? Like if you read do not chew on this glass part its because someone actually chewed on the glass part and they got seriously hurt.

    [–][deleted] 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (3 children)

    I'm not a Libertarian, but it ain't the company's fault if you're stupid. If you chew on a piece of glass and get hurt, that's all on you — that is, unless the company advertised that you could chew on it, which I doubt would happen.

    I'm not sure where a lot of these disclaimers come from, but I know some of them come from lawsuits. McDonalds, for example, was forced to pay $640k to an old woman for spilling coffee on herself, largely because it was too hot, and that's why just about every coffee cup tells you it's hot.

    That's not how to fix these problems. If you don't know that coffee's hot, the problem is with your judgement, not the company's. It is the company's fault, however, if they serve your coffee at too high a temperature — but the solution isn't to put an vague and obvious label on it, it's to tell them they can't make their coffee that hot.

    This case obviously hurt McDonald's financially, but the pay-out was a lot less than the $2.9m originally proposed — and they benefited in the end from making it harder for small businesses to sell coffee: if they forget that warning, they'll have to pay up.

    [–][deleted] 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

    I'm not sure where a lot of these disclaimers come from, but I know some of them come from lawsuits. McDonalds, for example, was forced to pay $640k to an old woman for spilling coffee on herself, largely because it was too hot, and that's why just about every coffee cup tells you it's hot.

    That's not how to fix these problems. If you don't know that coffee's hot, the problem is with your judgement, not the company's. It is the company's fault, however, if they serve your coffee at too high a temperature — but the solution isn't to put an vague and obvious label on it, it's to tell them they can't make their coffee that hot.

    That was precisely the issue. McDonalds would keep their coffee way hotter than the legal limit so they wouldn't have to change it out as often. The old lady had third degree burns across her legs (her vagina was melted shut) and was only awarded the sum of her medical expenses. Stop cucking for billion dollar multinationals.

    [–][deleted] 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

    Stop cucking for billion dollar multinationals.

    By actually wanting to fix the issue? Tell me how putting a label on the cup solved the issue, and then tell me that forcing them to make the coffee less hot wouldn't solve the issue.

    It seems like you're the shill for big business. You're the one who just wants them to put a label on the cup instead of actually solving the issue. Stop projecting with your right-win, Libertarian garbage.

    [–][deleted] 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

    And if you would've read my post — which you obviously didn't (shill account?) — then you would've realized that I was critical of McDonalds and said that labels DIDN'T GO FAR ENOUGH.

    [–]H3v8 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

    and allow consumers to know what they're buying

    FNAC was one of the first retailers where you could actually test a device before buying. You could even listen to a cd before buying it, which in many countries was not that common.

    [–][deleted] 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

    Props to them.

    [–][deleted]  (3 children)

    [deleted]

      [–][deleted] 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

      why does an oven need a computer, to have a timer? to let it beep when done preheating? not necessary.

      [–]C3P0 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

      I think most ovens these days have computers in them. Digital temperature display and automatic shutoff are probably the most useful features.

      [–]C3P0 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (10 children)

      Great, now just get rid of that law forbidding paternity tests.

      [–]johnnybravo 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

      My wife's boyfriend's son disagrees

      [–]Archie 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (8 children)

      Paternity tests are legal in France, although not super easy to get: https://www.service-public.fr/particuliers/vosdroits/F14042

      [–][deleted] 3 insightful - 2 fun3 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 2 fun -  (4 children)

      make them not just easy to get but mandatory for every baby born

      [–]Archie 2 insightful - 2 fun2 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 2 fun -  (3 children)

      ?? If you're that worried about it maybe you don't date the right women

      [–]Airbus320 2 insightful - 2 fun2 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 2 fun -  (2 children)

      Islam is right about females

      [–][deleted] 2 insightful - 2 fun2 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 2 fun -  (1 child)

      j-j-just date the right women bro

      [–]C3P0 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

      A court can order a paternity test in three specific cases:

      • contest paternity
      • child support dispute
      • to establish the identity of a dead person

      In the same vein of logic, murder is legal if a court orders it. (Before someone comes in with a rebuttal about murder being the "unlawful" killing, two points: 1. execution in one country is not necessary legal in another country, 2. murder has multiple definitions, some which exclude the word "lawful.")

      [–]Archie 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

      In what context other than those three would you want a paternity test?

      [–]C3P0 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

      Since "contesting paternity" means legally contesting paternity in a court of law, another context would be to casually test paternity via a third party.

      Yet another example of a situation where analyzing genetic information could be useful would be students studying forensics or any person at all interested in forensics for whatever reason, even by hobby. "Whoops, I accidentally discovered two strands of hair share genetic information, so I just committed a crime."

      France is one step closer to having thought police.

      [–]jet199 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

      I read that as "labeling elections".