The following is an email that I sent to one of my customers recently.
Although it deals with computer monitors, the same dim future is seen for
all of consumer electronics...

Subject: Another lost cause
Date: Sat, 01 Jul 2000 16:14:01 -0700
From: "Raymond R. Carlsen" <rcarlsen@i-link-2.net>
Organization: CARLSEN ELECTRONICS
To: (name deleted)

I opened up your IBM monitor and quickly came to a decision that's been on
my mind for quite a while now. I've decided to cut back on repairing
computer monitors. The older (smaller screen) ones are still repairable,
but nobody wants to pay anything to get them fixed, and I can't argue with
that. They would sooner put money into a new larger screen model. I'm still
willing to look at any monitor to see if it can be repaired cost
effectively, but must accept the fact that many will not be worth the
effort.
The newer monitors are less expensive, but at the same time are not as
repairable for many reasons. Manufacturers are making everything cheaper
and ever more complex, and at the same time just don't want to support them
any longer, whether in or out of warranty. It costs them money to stock
parts so they just don't, or they charge so much that nobody is foolish
enough to buy any parts from them. Schematics are
hard (often impossible) to get and/or expensive. Even if available, a
schematic doesn't fix anything... it's just a starting point. It's a total
waste if you can't get parts or that cost exceeds what the beast is worth.
Even with the correct print, troubleshooting is no picnic. Boards and
components are packed tight with sub-boards everywhere, and they made it a
mechanical nightmare just to get it apart (and you can't test it while it's
apart). Parts are proprietary (manufacturer only... no generics) and in
many cases not available.
With the new monitors, manufacturers are going to software setups (internal
BIOS, like a computer) and you need proprietary hardware and software just
to make simple adjustments, let alone troubleshoot. New TV sets are going
the same way. You need a computer and special software to make adjustments
and do diagnostics. I can't fix them anymore, unless I spend the money to
tool up for each Make/model... and they're all different. The only ones
that can afford to keep up are the factory service centers for each brand.
The overhead expenses for that kind of repair facility make out-of-warranty
repairs very expensive, so much so that consumers will replace rather than
repair. Independant consumer electronics repair is nearly dead.
Unrepairability is the price we all pay for cheaper goods. To make sure you
didn't miss that, reread those last two sentences.
I'm keeping my day job. This old dinosaur is tired of wasting his "spare"
time fighting the avalanche of bullstuff that goes with trying to make a
few bucks fixing the "unfixable". It's not worth it. I hope you understand.
The IBM monitor is back together and ready to be picked up. I
don't know anyone else still doing repairs so I can't advise where to take
this one for service. The manufacturers don't want to fix it in or out of
warranty. I'll continue to accept and evaluate equipment and do repairs,
but this one is just not viable.

Ray Carlsen CET
Carlsen Electronics... a leader in trailing-edge technology.