Hmm, there are some products that should have a defined “end of life”. For instance, computer networking hardware which will eventually be outdated and no longer get security updates. The trick is, the EOL date should be clearly marked on the product at the point of sale so that the buyer can make an informed decision.
This is built-in obsolescence, but it’s better than the current situation where Cisco will sell you a firewall at full price and then decide 6 months later that they aren’t supporting that model anymore and you have to buy a new one.
computer networking hardware which will eventually be outdated and no longer get security updates
I don’t think that means that the correct approach is for the manufacturer to build in obsolescence. Sometimes the security threats don’t matter to some users, so they should be allowed to accept the risk and keep using the item. Or, there could be a rule in place that if the company no longer wants to maintain something, it is required to release the source to maintain it.
Hmm, there are some products that should have a defined “end of life”. For instance, computer networking hardware which will eventually be outdated and no longer get security updates. The trick is, the EOL date should be clearly marked on the product at the point of sale so that the buyer can make an informed decision.
This is built-in obsolescence, but it’s better than the current situation where Cisco will sell you a firewall at full price and then decide 6 months later that they aren’t supporting that model anymore and you have to buy a new one.
I don’t think that means that the correct approach is for the manufacturer to build in obsolescence. Sometimes the security threats don’t matter to some users, so they should be allowed to accept the risk and keep using the item. Or, there could be a rule in place that if the company no longer wants to maintain something, it is required to release the source to maintain it.
Yeah, I get that. I just feel like the general EOL of 2 years also works perfectly well with 15 years for most products.