Cost and quality

These days, there seem to be a huge deflationary trend when it comes to electronics. Computers that used to cost $1,500 can be obtained for half that price. I'm mostly talking about portable, laptop machines. They're generally more powerful, offer more memory and many more features that quantity of buyers may in fact never use. The unspoken problem however is that they don't last. In order to offer such rock-bottom prices, something has to give, and it often is the quality of their hardware.

Two vices come to mind: Flimsy keyboards that breakdown quickly and wiring between the body of the machine and the fold-down screen. I recently purchased a new HP computer and after just two weeks of use, one button next to the touchpad is already broken. I remember my first laptop; it was a NEC machine purchased in 1988. Quite revolutionary for its time; yet its hardware and in particular its keyboard were so well built, they'd put every new computers to shame. Oh, I forgot; that piece of machinery was made in Japan!