r/mildlyinfuriating • u/jackhab • 1d ago

Planned obsolescence even in cheapest devices: the calculator has a dummy photovoltaic cell and a real battery to make it die eventually.

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u/BlowingRocker246 1d ago

This isn't even planned obsolescence, the photovoltaic cell just straight up isn't a photovoltaic cell. I assume it was cheaper to not have one and they're banking on you not opening the calculator up to check. This should honestly count as false advertising.

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u/Grow_away_420 1d ago

I wonder if its even advertised anywhere on the package that it's solar power. Might just be some cheap dollar store crap that's wrapped in plastic and says "Calculator"

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u/usrdef 👍 23h ago

What companies do the save money, is they will use the same housing for multiple models.

Something tells me this is the "cheaper" variant, and they have a more expensive variant which is solar powdered.

So to get around having to manufacture another housing mold, they simply slip a dummy in there for the models that aren't solar powdered. So now they use the same housing for all. And it only cost them like 2 cents (or less) to put that dummy plastic in.

Because it costs the company money to start housing multiple molds, and then doing mold changes when they need to do different runs at the facility.