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posted by chromas on Thursday April 12 2018, @03:00PM   Printer-friendly
from the just-peel-it dept.

Submitted via IRC for SoyCow9228

Those stickers on gadgets that say you'll void your warranty if they're removed? You've probably come to expect them whenever you purchase a new device. The FTC has just made clear, however, that those warranty notices are illegal when it fired off warning letters to six companies that market and sell automobiles, mobile devices and video game consoles in the US. It didn't mention which automakers and tech corporations they are, but since the list includes companies that make video game consoles, Sony and Microsoft could be two of them.

[...] Thomas B. Pahl, Acting Director of the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection, said in a statement:

"Provisions that tie warranty coverage to the use of particular products or services harm both consumers who pay more for them as well as the small businesses who offer competing products and services."

Source: https://www.engadget.com/2018/04/11/ftc-warranty-warning/


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  • (Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Friday April 13 2018, @01:35AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday April 13 2018, @01:35AM (#666283)

    First, the tolerances in the flimsy connector are much lower than the usual contacts, so it costs more. It surely has a size advantage, but could consumer choose they would sacrifice 2 mm of battery to have an interchangeable one.

    Phone manufacturers most likely use whatever connector their battery suppliers use. The battery suppliers use whatever connector their assembler has available that meets their requirements.

    Customizing the parts always costs more.

    Or, what about the laptop, the led that used to tell you if the webcam was on?

    Straw man; that's not a connector.

    Have you tried audio devices of the 70s/80s? those DINs and RCAs and jacks still work perfectly. Try with a 4 year cellphone and it crackles. Try a recent male jack and it falls apart in two years of two inserts per day.

    The devices you are thinking of cost a lot more to produce than a cellphone did 4 years ago. Also note survivor bias: most people don't keep broken equipment.

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