Design Flaws

[alexb123]

Ok My laptop has developed a loose connection cause by the opening and closing of the screen, this happened to my last laptop as well. Therefore, I would say that this is a very common design flaw. By the way the laptop is 3 years old but spends most of its time on a desk with the lid open. In fact the 3 year warranty ran out last week.

Ok now lets think about the design of anything that leaves the planet i.e. the Mars express mission. Now this mission I would presume would work on a design flaw free concept. And despite the conditions and complexity it should work correctly.

My point is, with all the advancements we have today why is my computer suffering from what must be a known and very simple to sort-out design flaw?

 

[leopold]

how can you introduce new technology if nothing ever breaks?
the company also employ repair people which must be paid.
design flaw is an interesting choice of words cause that is exactly what it is.
a flaw that was designed. imo

 

[mouse]

Ok now lets think about the design of anything that leaves the planet i.e. the Mars express mission. Now this mission I would presume would work on a design flaw free concept. And despite the conditions and complexity it should work correctly.

That's why in space crafts they never put in the really high end stuff but rather old and, moreover, reliable technology.

My point is, with all the advancements we have today why is my computer suffering from what must be a known and very simple to sort-out design flaw?

Consumers want cheap but fast computers to run today's games and applications. If you are in the business of designing computer components, why would you spend extra resources engineering them to last a life time, if you know your clients generally would like to buy a new one with flashy specs in three years time.

By the way, you can have pretty reliable systems if you want, but it will cost you extra and you'd be running on hardware you'd find hard not to call obsolete.

 

[spidergoat]

Consumer products are designed differently than stuff made for NASA. There are considerations of manufacturing, cost, appearance, ect. Things made for space have few such limitations. For instance, there is no need for laptops with hinged screens. If there were, you could make it out of solid titanium.

 

[kmguru]

Problems crop up in the intersection of one groups design when handed to another group. The interface engineer need to be really smart and understand both sides. They are expensive and hence companies wait till the problem crops up enough to warrant analysis.

It is the difference between a generalist and a specialist. In case of NASA, they can afford the generalist who watch over the specialists. They are called hand-on program managers.

Several years ago, I was designing a chemical company control center. I bought industrial grade computers. They were very expensive but reliable. Later, the purchasing department, to save money, bought a few more computers from a dealer who supplied computers for word processors. Those computers lasted only 3 months.

You get what you pay for...most of the time....