32" LCD HDTV spotted outside of a Goodwill Dropbox...

[Geoff Bourquin]

Things were that way back in the CRT days too. I can recall paying $500 for a new 26"CRT to replace in warranty, and the TV was only worth $350 new. Doesn't make sense. I asked the field engineer why they didn't just send out a new TV and have the customer mail back the serial number tag. He could only say that the company can't do things that way.

[Captainclock]

Originally Posted by Geoff Bourquin

Things were that way back in the CRT days too. I can recall paying $500 for a new 26"CRT to replace in warranty, and the TV was only worth $350 new. Doesn't make sense. I asked the field engineer why they didn't just send out a new TV and have the customer mail back the serial number tag. He could only say that the company can't do things that way.

Interesting...

So it seems that the idea for "planned obsolescence" goes back even to the days of the CRT sets and was taken to the next step when HDTV and LCD TVs were introduced in the mid 2000s and then was finalized when the DTV transition happened in the late 2000s...

[andy]

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[rca2000]

ANY CRT that dies after a year or less--HAS to be "infant mortality".

I saw a number of those in the late 80's, -early 1990's, BRAND new tv sets with bad CRT"s. I did not even TRY to rejuv them...a new bad tube= JUNK.

Speculation on very early failure--contamination of the gun before evacuation. this wiull DRASTICALLY shorten life of the cathode.

[andy]

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