Oh hell, is this what the world is coming to?

[vienna]

Originally Posted by moose1am

It's a racket these days with all the different type of security screw heads that are made and used in various electronic products. You can't survive or open up anything these days without 10 different sets of security screw drivers or hex heads. I had to go online to buy a 2.5 mm hex head driver bit for the screws on my 10 dollar cheap reading glasses. They are held together with hex headed tiny screw head type screws. It's cheaper to buy a new pair of eyeglasses than to pay for the screw drive set and shipping. But I don't like to throw stuff away. I'm old school and like to repair as many things as I can. So I went online to get the new driver that fit the screw heads.

What if the government had not standardized the rail roads back in the 1800's? The track gages would all be different as no one would have coordinated the track gage size so that trains could run on the same sized track all across the country.

I have more driver bit tools now than I had back in the 1990's. Back in the 1950's is was much simpler. My grandfather had a wooden box for his tools and he could build a barn or fix his washing machine with all those tools in that wooden box. He worked for the Washing Machine Company and also owned his own TV and Radio Repair Shop during the depression in the 1930's. Raise four kids and plenty of grand kids using his hands and his tools.

About a dozen years ago, I got a really nice gift from a co-worker who I had saved from a potentially very embarrassing problem by using some tricks I had picked up in my many incarnations in IT and accounting. Some time after the rescue, he went on a skiing vacation trip to Switzerland. Before leaving, some of the other employees were more or less joking with him about bringing them back something from the trip as souvenirs. I didn't ask for anything, so he asked me what I would like to have brought back; at first I said it was alright, I really didn't want anything, but he pressed on the matter, so I jokingly said "OK, since you're going to Switzerland, how about a Swiss Army Knife?" He said "OK" and I thought he meant it in the same joking manner as my "request" and I didn't give it a second thought.

He came back from his vacation and gave the other co-workers such things as Swiss chocolates and other items. He came into my office and gave me a gift I really hadn't been expecting: a Swiss Army Knife: but just any Swiss Army Knife, but a then recently released new model that not only had a lot of the old standard Swiss Army accessories, it had a full set of tools to be used in servicing PCs and other devices; here is a link to a description of the knife:

https://www.swissarmy.com/us/en/Prod...l-M/p/1.7725.T

I still have the knife and I have been very grateful for the gift ever since. I hadn't really known the cost of the knife until I just looked up the above link; I'm going to have to thank him again, if I ever see him. I have carried the knife instead of a toolkit and have used it to do minor repairs, all the way to using it as the only tool to assemble custom desktop PCs. It is amazingly handy and versatile and I take very good care of it...

Originally Posted by BrucePartington

That bit of news made me sad. It used to be a joy to find just the right tool at Sears.
It seems we have fewer options every year. Also, it seems corporations are deliberately making it difficult for us to fix things. No surprise there.

This made me realize how long it has been for me. I should cross the pond soon, to see how much things have changed.

I remember Sears from my very earliest childhood. There was Sears store at the top of Geary St. in San Francisco, just up the street from our earliest home on Steiner St. and my family used to go there all the time. It opened about a year after my birth, so it was always a part of my growing up. As a kid, I thought it was one of the most glorious places to explore; I also became adept at knicking sugar cubes from the little food stand in the store. We also had copies of the Sears catalogs at home and, when each new edition came out, I would spend hours poring over all the items on the pages. Sailor Steve mentioned Sears was, in a way, the prototype for "online" shopping; they also had a service by which you could order something in the catalog and have it sent to the local store for pickup. This also ironic because, just recently, Walmart is expanding its 'order online, pickup in store' services and offering discounts to shoppers who use the service. Everything old is new again. This "new" move by Walmart is being seen as a challenge to Amazon, since Walmart can use its own transport system and warehousing to get merchandise to consumers faster and with the assurance of a local place to address any claims or concerns about the orders...




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[STEED]

People people its crystal clear modern equipment is rubbish and I too have noticed different types of screws out there now. We are all doomed and they know it unless people wake up which is a fat chance.

[vienna]

Regarding the various new and different screw types, it just occurred to me that perhaps the intent of the manufacturers is not not to make their products more secure, but, rather, to make the products more difficult for the casual consumer to repair; if you can't easily fix it, you gotta buy a new one...



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[Jimbuna]

Originally Posted by vienna

Regarding the various new and different screw types, it just occurred to me that perhaps the intent of the manufacturers is not not to make their products more secure, but, rather, to make the products more difficult for the casual consumer to repair; if you can't easily fix it, you gotta buy a new one...



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My thought for quite some time

[Platapus]

I have often wondered why the need for so many different types of screws.

I can understand companies that make different screw drivers may like different screws, but why would manufacturing companies use them?

"Hey Mr. Manufacturing factory guy, I have developed this new type of screw. It is asymmetrical and based on an inversion of the Fibonacci sequence. Would you be interested?"

"Uh, no."

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[Buddahaid]

They don't want us clumsy ignorant consumers fiddling with the guts is why. Product liability also plays a part.

[vienna]

IIRC, the Phillips head screw was developed as a means of speeding up assembly processes, particularly automated processes. The conventional slot head screw had the drawback of the toll used to fasten them slipping and sliding around and losing contact with the screw, slowing down assembly lines. By creating a cross patterned, concave slot, the head became automatically self-centering and greatly reduced tool misses and down time...

Everyone does know about the biggest problem with Phillips head screws (other than not finding the Phillips screwdriver when you need it): the screw was designed to facilitate fastening, not removal...



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