[shabble]

bonus fun if you're in a regulated industry and any BoM change is going to be, at the minimum, an external test-lab redoing all your certifications, and in the worst case, a brand new product you need to submit to your regulating authority.

No wonder there are some $5 MCUs going for $500+ each (and apparently selling well at those prices, even)

[cyphertruck]

That’s not a bonus, that’s the entire point. Regulations hamstring companies and then deny them the ability to even comply with the regulations because other regulations have hamstrung the supply chain after regulations forced everyone onto vulnerable supply chains in the first place.

So instead of people getting rich by innovating and making other people’s lives better, the people getting rich are the ones taking bribes (“campaign contributions” they get to keep forever) for reducing the impact of those regulations.

[amanaplanacanal]

The thing is, those regulations were put in place to solve a problem. They might not have been the best solution, but there is no way to know without going back and researching exactly what the problem was they were trying to solve.

That’s on top of the fact that we are always dealing with incomplete information.

[zrobotics]

Umm, I'm pretty OK with medical suppliers not being able to sub in no-name or grey-market substitutions that may have unknown silicon bugs. Regulation isn't always bad, and being in a regulated industry had some of these problems even before the component shortage.

Sure, subbing a MCU for an unknown supplier in a kids toy isn't likely to cause any serious problems, but in anything that can hurt or kill people it's objectively a good thing that there are regulations in place to prevent safety issues.

Ive heard the same complaints about food regulations, but it's objectively a good thing that a consumer can purchase anything (that isn't expired) from a grocery store with near certainty that it won't make them I'll. That same surety can't be had in countries with more lax food standards.

[philjohn]

Look at one of the other child responses to the parent - someone who used to work on medical devices.

That this is heavily regulated is a good thing, because in the not so distant past we had people die due to the Therac-25.

I get wanting fewer regulations, really, I do. But just because YOU don't see the point to regulation a, b, c or d doesn't mean they're not necessary, just that you might not realise WHY they are necessary.