Comment by rssoconnor | Hacker News Reader

Comment by rssoconnor | Hacker News Reader

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I recently took a 4 year old space heater (in the form factor of a small wood burning stove with a fireplace effect) to be repaired. I guessed that the thermal fuse had blown and the blower was dirty.

It cost $45 (CAD) to have it opened and another $95 to complete the repairs, which is very close to the cost I paid for the device in the first place. Not that I'm complaining. The guy said he completely disassembled and cleaned the blower motor in addition to replacing the fuse. I wouldn't be surprised if it lasts even longer now. Plus I do like the way it looks and fits in my office.

My point is that I understand why there are few repair shops. When North American labour costs for repairs end up being the same price as buying a replacement off the shelf, no wonder people throw away working and nearly working devices.

Perhaps I could have repaired it myself. I don't know. I'm pretty nervous about the idea of fiddling with 120 volt devices with zero training.

I think part of that reluctance to just tear into it yourself, or if not you then any number of ordinary people you know equivalent to yourself (ie, not an electronics repair tech by trade, anf if not you then your brother, wife, kid, co-worker, etc), is actively created by companies that sell stuff.

And if you're a bit too brave and self determinant, and overcome the soft pressure like the warranty sticker or the manual or peer pressure, then there is always the insurance based fear of liability for burning down a house and killing someone (by doing a dead simple repair on a blender or something) to keep you in line.

"Was saving that $30 worth killing someone?" Well in reality there is no such question and so attempting the repair is not answring "yes" to it. But for most people it's a real factor keeping them afraid to touch anything.

I'm saying, your reluctance isn't likely really just your own natural reluctance, it's pretty much instilled and reinforced in a bunch of indirect deniable ways.

Only a few years ago it was perfectly normal for almost anyone to do all kinds of things that are practically unthinkable to people from one or two generations later. The human animal didn't actually change that much to create such different behavior, so the difference must be explained some other way.

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