Obviously I like buying things once and for all, but I feel it’s extra difficult with anything electrical because I just don’t know that much about it personally, and I can’t exactly check the insides.
So lately I’ve been wanting to buy an upright vacuum. I don’t know if there are more durable brands, what kind of accessories I should consider to make my life easier, what budget I should consider, or what characterics are more likely to make it shorter lived than others.
Well the minimal bars for electronics is:
0 - The repair manual exists and is readily available with full schematics of the item in question. 1 - Replacement parts are available for purchase. 2 - Compatible replacement parts are made by 2 or more 3rd party companies 3 - Designs for replacement parts are available 4 - Local maker space is able to make the needed replacement parts.
If you can’t get level 0, you probably shouldn’t buy it if you expect to keep it working for life.
Level 0 is an extremely high bar when buying a new product in 2023.
I mean, I agree with you, but holy hell is it difficult to find products that meet that criteria!
oh I definitely agree that it has been harder and harder to find products that meet the absolute minimal amount of information required to repair and maintain.
note, I didn’t even cover things like requiring specialized tools (which these days with BGAs and the wave solder requirements, limits repair to people with about $15K in capital tool costs)
Level 1 does not saves you much. I went that way when buying blender few years ago. Only to find out that today, when one part broke - it’s no longer available anywhere.