Locked Up Technology

locked up technology

This comic was inspired by Sony, but they’re not exceptional. It’s also my first animated GIF Mimi & Eunice. Gear animation modified from Wikimedia Commons.

Haiku:
This is obvious.
Locking up our creations
Won’t make them better.

13 comments to Locked Up Technology

  • Mimi looks alarmed in the last frame but she should actually look pleased. From the manufacturer’s POV, unfixable, locked-up technology is GOOD. It means the consumer has to come to them to fix it or buy a new one.

    I think this is Apple’s entire business plan.

    • Thing is, manufacturers offer replacements or refunds when things break. As an example, a month after I bought a Macbook Pro, the mainboard started to die. I called up Apple, they helped me troubleshoot the problem, decided that the mainboard needed to be replaced, and directed me to the nearest Apple repair service. Next day the mainboard was replaced and all it cost me was my time. I accept this cost as no technology is perfect, as perfection is an arbitrary and impossible goal.

  • quimkaos

    that’s warranty! In my country, and in the rest of European countries manufactures are obligated to have a 2 year minimum warranty period, due to policies to protect consumers. I think in USA an Canada the same (or similar) follows. I know in Brazil, for instance, there is no warranty policy, or it’s minimal.

    But Microsoft is worse then apple in this kind of business plan…

    • A warranty is simply an insurance policy against the chance that something will go wrong with the product. I have no doubt that without government laws forcing businesses to provide warranties, that products would be sold without warranties by default. I also have no doubt that this would make products cheaper as businesses are not longer forced to include the cost of warranties into their products. Additionally, as per customer demand, warranties could be offered at a price for a length of time determined by contract between buyer and seller. At present, it is a simple matter of purchasing extended warranties on products, so it is not a big stretch to imagine this been offered on products without a default warranty.

  • […] Mimi & Eunice] Filed under: random — by johngineer, posted May 31, 2011 at 12:46 pm Comments […]

  • In Brazil we have a 3 month warranty by law. Any other warranty time extension depends only of the manufacturer. The consumers are responsible for any cost for sending or receiving back the goods.

    The manufacturer can define what is or not a fabrication problem, so …

    Brazil is the paradise for the worst manufacturers in the world.

    Think of it… even cars have only 90 days of warranty by law…

    This is incredible for you first world person no?

    • If people continue to buy from “the worst manufacturers in the world” they are signalling their desire for the products they sell, otherwise they would go elsewhere and get a better deal (unless, of course, they are forced to buy from these manufacturers by government edict or regulations preventing competition).

  • ALAILOU

    aux état-unis une ampoule continue de fonctionner depuis 107 ans,c pour produire tjrs plus et garantir leur vieillesse et polluer plus la planète réveillez-vous vous vous faites entuber en beauté

  • K

    A prime example supporting your comic: Closed source software.

    Because people can’t access the code, who knows how many bugs are lurking in there beyond the ones that users report? And even if a bug is reported, the company only *may* fix it if they feel like it…

  • […] ‘Locked up technology’, a new cartoon from Mimi and Eunice. This is one of my favourites. […]

  • […] nieuwe episode in de reeks Mimi & Eunice van Nina Paley. Aanleiding ervoor is de kwestie dat personeel van bioscopen vaak de 3D-lens van een […]

  • […] them better.~*~This is a syndicated post, which originally appeared at Mimi and Eunice » IP. View original post. Nina Paley is a creative artist and anti-copyright innovator. She is the creator of the animated […]

Leave a Reply

You can use these HTML tags

<a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>