wrote in message
...
On Sun, 01 Aug 2010 08:20:41 -0400, Harry ?
wrote:

One of my computer printers is dying. A competent repair shop diagnosed
it and informed me a certain part needed replacing. The printer is a
couple of years old and parts are available, but the manufacturer will
not sell the part in question, even to its authorized service depots.

There basically is no such thing as repairing computers. You throw
them away and buy a new one. It is cheaper to have an Asian make a new
one than it is to maintain parts logistic support and training service
people. The writing was actually on the wall in the early 80s in the
enterprise business when IBM shifted from "parts" to "FRUs" (Field
Replaceable Units, the smallest assembly you could order). In many
cases, that was the whole machine. They used the above mentioned
logic. We were buying computer monitors from Korea for $39. Why would
you ever open one up?
"Parts" was IBM's second highest expense, behind salary. By
eliminating the whole repair business, they virtually eliminated one
expense and cut the other one to the bone.

With mass market products, the "lowest cost vendor" model makes parts
logistics a nightmare anyway. The same make and model machine may
actually be made by several different vendors over it's life span and
the parts may not be interchangeable. Even within a single vendor, you
have production changes that affect the parts. Add to that the massive
number of different models of machines that they sell and you can see
why nobody wants to stock parts.

Personally I think this is an area where we could bring jobs back to
this country. The consumer has to demand that the products they buy
are repairable but that would make them more expensive and that seems
to be against the way we think. We are a "buy it, use it up and throw
it away" society.
It sounds like your printer is "used up" and now has become hazardous
waste.

Modern computers (e.g., desktop/workstation systems) are so small that
"repairing" them seems impractical most of the time. If a circuit goes,
there is no reasonable repair possible. I've had laptop screens replaced,
but beyond that and drives, it seems like a waste of time. The newest
systems are usually pretty inexpensive and faster/better (notable exception
Vista-based).