A Sense of Propriety

 

At my work, we had our annual storage clear out. Xmas came early this year! I came away with two HDMI cables, an Ethernet Cable, and an Aliens mug. One lucky son of a gun walked a way with a fishing rod. Unfortunately, most of the material had to be scrapped. Not for lack of interest though, much of would've been very useful except that they were proprietary hardware. Most of the spare equipment, docking stations, connectors etc, can't be used because they all come with proprietary connectors. Companies do this so you have to buy add-ons or replacements from their suppliers. It's like selling a car that can only run on a fuel that's controlled by the manufacturers. Or like how Tesla will only allow repairs and retrievals from approved mechanics and tow trucks. 

So, the situations a bit annoying, it's bad for our pockets as we have to buy new, bad for the environment as it blocks recycling, and bad for the company who now have to pay to have some haul that stuff away. But the stuff I got was very useful the mug is no a stationary mug, and all three cables are plugged in. However, that evening when I got back home from work, I had another run in with this system. I have bought an Nvidia Shield TV, and it was waiting for me when I got home. I had an issue setting it up, though. They're produced in the United States of America, the seller promised it was UK compatible but if not I have adapters, I travel somewhat frequently. 

Unfortunately, the power pack supplied didn't have any prongs, it's one of those clip on plugs. That's a problem as that type of adapter is no longer common. The connector looked like a USB-C, so I tried my phone charger, it fitted but no luck.  I was stuck with an expensive box. The only way to get a replacement power pack is to order one from Nvidia, I attempted that, the support chatbot did not understand my requests and told me any power bank would work if the voltage is the same, which isn't true, you need the Nvidia produced version otherwise it won't work. 

Stuck and annoyed, I was going to either attempt to call a human being, something companies have made almost impossible, or try to get it returned. Since I had ripped the original box I would have to get another for a return, I was not a happy customer. Fortunately, I recycle, and while tearing the box into chunks I found the clip on prongs inside the lining of the box. I do not know why it was in there, the manual didn't say it would be in there, it didn't say anything beyond stick the power bank in a plug and connect it in that port. 

So, a happy ending after all, but if they weren't there, or I had just binned the box I would've been screwed, I haven't seen that type of adapter in years and I couldn't find one online. At best, I would've been waiting for an international shipment for a replacement. Nvidia say they will replace pieces for free, but that isn't the issue. The issue is the use of a proprietary power supply when there are dozens of generic versions on the market, even the chatbot admitted any plug would work if the voltage was right, the obstacle was a slightly different connection. Any other option would've been preferable, I have replacements for most other common connections.

My struggles are fairly minor, the worst case is I would have to get a refund, but as Tesla has demonstrated, this move to corporate control of use, repair and reuse is becoming more common and intruding on more aspects of life.

I'm not picking on Tesla, I know someone who had a breakdown last winter, and they were stuck waiting for many hours because it had to be a Tesla approved recovery vehicle. It also cost a lot more since they have a monopoly on service.