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I would agree if't s a non-EoL products. This, not so much.

A company should not be permitted to just declare something “EoL” if it is still in widespread usage. They made it, they support it as long as any customer still has it.

discuss

hunter2_|4 years ago

At the very least, the EOL date should be prominently displayed on the package (and product page, in the case of online shopping). Just like how I was able to see CentOS 8's EOL date when deciding what OS to install on my servers, except guaranteed.

akg_67|4 years ago

Hardware products used to be supported for 15 years, then 10 years, then 7 years, then 5 years… … Now nobody knows. I guess h/w mfr. saw what s/w vendors do wrt their products, and figured they can you do the same. SaaS is worse, you are only supported until you pay.

Accumulation of benefits, shifting of responsibilities, the American way.

jimmyswimmy|4 years ago

I can't agree strongly enough with you, though I'm not sure about the term you recommend. On the one hand, imagine if your car were end of lifed after a couple years. On the other hand, imagine if it took 20 years. The first would ensure you are screwed, the latter would encourage serial corporate bankruptcy.

There's a good middle ground. Perhaps, like the 10 years for cars, it needs to be legislated. Perhaps this is what we consumers have decided to accept, that once the warranty runs out, that's it.

sokoloff|4 years ago

Average age of a car in the US hit 12.1 years last year: https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/averag...

In the case of car service parts, there’s a burgeoning after-market network of suppliers. I can probably find 5+ parts from different suppliers for brake wear parts for even 25 year old cars sold in significant volume. As someone wrenching on very much not-new cars for the family (and occasional friend), I don’t think we need a legislative solution for car parts.

jl6|4 years ago

Remember a car costs about 100x as much as a hard drive so probably should be expected to last much longer.

MattGaiser|4 years ago

> They made it, they support it as long as any customer still has it.

I am sure there are Windows NT machines still in service. I think my Dad has one in his basement. Should Windows forever support NT?

goatinaboat|4 years ago

I am sure there are Windows NT machines still in service. I think my Dad has one in his basement. Should Windows forever support NT?

If they were offering an online service, then yes. These devices were compromised by WD’s online file sharing tool.

objectivetruth|4 years ago

Products are sold with a warranty. If you want guaranteed support for X years beyond the warranty, pay for an extended warranty.

If the product in question doesn't have an available extended warranty, then pick another product.

Telling every hardware maker "you have to support every device you make forever" is ludicrous.

I have some 15-year-old netbooks in storage that still power on, should eeePC have to "support" them now? Should they have to maintain a repair depot with replacement parts forever? Should they have to just release their own version of Linux forever to support each model of hardware?

dtx1|4 years ago

> I have some 15-year-old netbooks in storage that still power on, should eeePC have to "support" them now? Should they have to maintain a repair depot with replacement parts forever? Should they have to just release their own version of Linux forever to support each model of hardware?

Yes, yes and yes.