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Re:Pump manufacturer programs their devices to fail prematur... by iamjdg on Tuesday June 02, 2015 @11:20AM (#9646403)
thanks. yes you are right. it is market segmentation. you move more units for a lower weighted average margin. just seems silly your actually modify the product to make it fail early just because someone paid less for it. i get it for software, you leave features off or put them on and charge less or more. but for an actual physical product, you are playing with operating hours as a feature, just seems new to me. if i was to do it, i would put some money into picking cheaper parts for the lower lifetime pump. then i could perhaps build it for $7 and get more margin for these sales. but i guess it depends on how much money you put into integrating cheaper parts. but even making it fail early by programming cost some money.
Re:Pump manufacturer programs their devices to fail prematur... by tonyarkles on Tuesday June 02, 2015 @02:16PM (#9647833)
I agree, it's totally weird. I've been thinking about it ever since I saw the article, and thinking about other pieces of equipment that I have that operate on a similar model.

I've got an oscilloscope that I bought as a 50MHz model, knowing that an upgrade to 100MHz could be purchased after the fact. When I bought it, I didn't need the extra bandwidth and it was a decent price. Recently, I started to need the extra bandwidth so I inquired about the upgrade cost. $300. To do the upgrade, they give you a file that you stick on a USB key.

Part of me is grumpy about the fact that the equipment I bought was actually capable of 100MHz out of the box and was just software locked. And part of me is happy that I got to hold on to my extra $300 until I had a compelling reason (read: a client was paying) to do the upgrade.

$X was a decent price for a 50MHz scope, and $X + $300 is a decent price for a 100MHz scope.