I've had similar experiences—modern gadgets seem to be designed with fewer and fewer user-serviceable parts. Last month, I was trying to replace a battery in a Bluetooth speaker, and the screws were hidden under glued-on rubber feet. Took me forever to figure out where they were hiding, and even then, the screws themselves were some obscure star-shaped heads. Had to order a special bit set online just for that one job. Felt satisfying once I got it open, but it made me wonder: at what point does tricky design cross the line into intentionally discouraging repairs? Seems like manufacturers are making it harder on purpose... Have you run into any gadgets lately that felt deliberately designed to keep you out?
Ran into something similar recently with a cordless drill. Battery stopped holding charge, figured I'd just swap out the cells inside. Step one: pry off glued-on plastic casing without cracking it (good luck). Step two: discover screws with triangle-shaped heads—seriously, triangles? Had to hunt down a special screwdriver online, wait a week for delivery, and then carefully solder new cells in place. Felt like they were daring me to give up and buy a new drill instead...
Had a similar experience with my electric toothbrush recently. Battery died, and I thought, "Hey, it's just a battery, how hard could it be?" Turns out, pretty hard. They'd sealed the casing shut like it was Fort Knox or something—ended up cracking it slightly trying to pry it open. Then inside, instead of screws, they'd soldered everything directly onto a tiny circuit board. Had to dig out my soldering iron and carefully desolder the old battery without frying anything else. Honestly felt like they were intentionally making it impossible to fix.
Makes me wonder if manufacturers are purposely designing stuff to discourage DIY repairs. I mean, triangle screws? Really? What's next, screws shaped like stars or hexagons... oh wait, already have those too. 😅
Curious if anyone's actually had success with these tricky repairs or if it's usually more trouble than it's worth.
Totally get your frustration—been there myself with a hair trimmer. But honestly, once you pull off a tricky repair like that, doesn't it feel pretty satisfying? Like you've beaten the manufacturers at their own game... even if just barely.
"Like you've beaten the manufacturers at their own game... even if just barely."
Yeah, but do you ever wonder if they're making stuff intentionally tricky these days? I mean, it's satisfying when you finally fix it, sure—but should it really be this complicated to begin with?
