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[iFixit] Worst in Show 2025: Not All Innovation Is Good Innovation | The Most Overengineered, Unrepairable, and Unsustainable Tech Disasters at CES (www.ifixit.com)
submitted 2 years ago by to c/technology@lemmy.world
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[–] 122 points 2 years ago (16 children)

The washing machine with integrated AI broke my brain. This must be the most useless thing I've ever encountered in my entire life.

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  • [–] 48 points 2 years ago (5 children)

    Not just ai it could also make phone calls

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  • [–] [S] 42 points 2 years ago (2 children)

    We believe that the washing machine is the hearth of the modern laundry room

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  • [–] 10 points 2 years ago (8 children)

    My ten year old basic units are still looking new. Nothing to really go wrong with them and I bet I can get parts for cheap. I know when they're done because I just wait a little while after I start them, then I know they're finished.

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  • [–] 5 points 2 years ago (3 children)

    Cheap easy repairs on washing machines are long a thing of the past. Between proprietary digital potted control boards to 3 phase motors, the parts ain't cheap. (I've bought a few to repair them before I learned better) To the sheer unavailability of the repair parts. Make fixing you washer and dryer a time consuming, expensive, and often impossible task.

    By the time you figure out the time spent searching for the part you need, the availability of said part, the cost of the part, the expected life of the rest of the machine, cost of all the time spent, you can pretty much be sure it's cheaper and faster to just buy a new one. I can't think of one major appliance I owned in the last 30 years that was worth the time and effort to repair. And I've tried repairing washers, dryers, dishwashers, microwaves, and refrigerators.

    The only washers I've ever owned and were worth fixing was those old wringer/washers your Great Grandmother had when she was young. Straight up mechanical machines run by one simple switch, a vee belt, shafts and gears. That's the reason those machines could keep going for 30 or 40 years.

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  • [–] 1 point 2 years ago (2 children)

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  • [–] 2 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    That's nice. But those are not the parts that generally die. Now get the control board that runs the whole show-- that's the main failure point. See what that would cost to replace. I just searched for the control board for my 12 year old Maytag front loader. One source only: $367 dollars, (they know what they got). Is a 12 year old washer with limited parts availability really worth that much money to fix to scrape a couple of more years out of it if the motor goes tits up in 2 more years? I can drive to town and buy a basic top loader and haul it home and have it installed by this afternoon for just $200 more. And it will probably be fine for the next 10 to 12 years. (I'll probably be dead by then away).

    I just replaced a 10 year old dishwasher this last summer because the pump was dying. No replacement to be had on the whole planet. I need to replace an 8 year old microwave now because the handle is broken and the door cant be be disassembled to replace it without destroying the door. If I could get it apart, I'd be 3D printing a new handle as I type. And I'm not even going to bother searching for a whole new door.

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  • [–] 4 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (1 child)

    Meanwhile, the new one in my flat has a soft-button to start/stop, which sometimes bugs out and/or locks my laundry away in some edge cases the devs didn't think of.

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  • [–] 5 points 2 years ago*

    My parents have an induction stove like that. If it gets any moisture on the panels at all it thinks the buttons are being pressed and just starts doing random stuff. Because who thought that water would ever get on a stove top?

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  • [–] 4 points 2 years ago

    I still use the exact same washing machine that was in the house when I bought the house. I have no idea how old it is, but I bought the house in 2017 and I can't imagine the owner would have left it behind if it was new.

    The only problem with it is that the door sensor is broken, so It will actually turn on even if the door is open which it shouldn't do according to the operating manual. Won't make that mistake again though so it's not a big problem.

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