There are many other components in a modern fridge besides the cooling system, from thermostats to multiple circuit boards, and the rubber around the freezer door is heated.

Fridge issues are often caused by software bugs and are fixed by reprogramming the circuit board with newer firmware, or just by reinstalling the current version. This also applies to other house appliances with programmable parts, including washing machines.

The little light that helps you decide what delicious snacks you can munch on at midnight. :)

And on a less frivolous note: the rubber around the doors can perish/tear.

The door gasket is likely a 5 minute repair. Pulls out, snaps in.

I recently did it. The biggest issue was that the first one the company sent was dirty and poorly made.

That's good to know, actually. I have grown up with an "it's broken - chuck it and buy a new one" mentality, and the fact that it often costs a comparable amount: £30 for a repair guy to come out and "see if he can fix the problem", and then undefined labour costs and parts vs known cost of a new one doesn't help.

I suppose if you're chucking the old one out anyway, it's worth trying to fix it yourself for a bit, but I've always got time constraints (I'm a serial procrastinator), and I never do.

Well, that was kind of my point. I doubt many fridges break because the metal corrodes or the doors fall off. A fridge is made of quite a bit of material that isn't comprised of the cooling system, and it seems like a shame to throw it all out when the cooling system could be replaced.

That's a very particular spot to discuss. I often wonder what the hell is in a new washing machine. I suspect that most of the new machines mostly give you a bit newer dashboard and a few program options.

All in all, if house appliance were designed to be modular, you could keep a piece and use another one with it.

Alas I don't want it to end up like the computer world where standard competes and forces other problems.

Maybe a middle ground with blocks that aren't too coupled/soldered and more modder communities to discuss how to adapt etc

You would need standard form factors. Like my ATX tower computer case, which hosted a grand total of three different motherboards before I ended up with some free cap-rot era Dell workstations. After re-capping their boards, I discovered they were not ATX compliant, and couldn't be moved to any other case. My high-quality ATX case thus sits idle, awaiting the day when I get a new board for my newer mini-ITX case, and make it my backup machine.

Those non-standard Dell cases and power supplies will go into the trash.