Screwed...

Today my iron crapped out on me in the middle of ironing something. I guess I can't complain much since the piece of junk only cost me a little more than three bucks. Still though it really sucks when you need something to work and it just up and dies in the middle of your project. However, that is not really the issue at hand here.

Being a technology savvy and DIY minded person I thought to myself that I would try to fix it. Hell, it can't be more complicated than the microwave I fixed when I was 12 years old that still works like a champ to this day (18 years or so later.) So I took it to my work bench and looked it over for a minute just to get an idea of what I would have to possibly do. As any good fixer knows usually the folks that design things like this try to conceal the screws or whatever that hold it together under stickers or rubber plugs and such. So I rip the sticker on the base off and this is when I realized that I was more or less SCREWED. I didn't get very far in this endeavor because some jerk-bag engineer decided that they couldn't just use regular screws. Oh no, they had to use some freakin' triangle drive bullshit that I don't happen to have a bit for. I hate user/fixer hostile design.
Now I know why this is the case but no matter how I look at it this situation leaves me teetering between confusion and anger. Obviously, one reason the ass hat engineer went with this type of screw is that for the typical user there are no "user-serviceable" parts and most people (consumers, consumerists, disposable-everything types, idiots, umm what is the right word for that?) would just go out and buy a new one. I am anything but typical, can't stand needless waste and can generally fix anything. It seems to me that there is nothing much to an iron, in theory since I can't get the damn thing open (yet); but seriously what's inside? A heating element, a rheostat, an LED, maybe a relay of some type. Pretty basic shit, in theory. But that still leaves me wondering why in the fuck the engineers would use some ridiculously non-standard "security" screws.
Look at it this way. If most consumers/idiots would just go buy a new one, they obviously wouldn't be tempted to even look for the screws hidden under the sticker let alone take them out. I guess as a long shot some moron might be tempted to just take it apart to see what was inside of it and in the process shock or burn the shit out of himself because he left it plugged in while doing so. But if that is the case then this example moron should have that experience and hopefully learn from it. Besides, it's not like you couldn't burn yourself with a fully intact and operational iron. Common sense should kick in and tell anybody that irons get hot, like no flippin' duh. If you don't know that then you have no business even being near such a device let alone taking it apart.
So then there is the flip side of that scenario. Take the person that does know what's up and has the inclination to disassemble, repair and reassemble such a simple device. Why in the hell should it be made more difficult to do that? Well here is where the anger kicks in.
The only reason I can think of is a profit motive. If one can't disassemble the device to repair it then there is seemingly only one option left and that is to go buy another one. What makes me angry about that is that some engineer and some marketing weenie conspired together in a weak attempt to force me to go buy another cheap piece of equipment that will likely fail in six months and hence force me to go buy yet another piece of junk. This cycle (that is forced on us all) is designed to "help" the manufacturers. They get another sale and hence more profit. So by making cheap crap that is designed to fail and making it more difficult to fix they think they are "winning".
There are several problems with this model. First on my list is the question of why the damn thing broke in the first place from normal use. I didn't drop it, beat it, or otherwise abuse it but it failed nonetheless. The solution would be for them to make things like they use to. For example, my mom lent me a spare one she had and the thing is at least as old as I am and has never not worked. Basically, we can thank Henry Ford for this practice since he was the first person to implement reverse quality control by sending his agents to junkyards to find out which parts of his cars were engineered too well and could be skimped on in order to save money. The beast grew with time and now we have a whole swath of industry that makes shitty things that are designed to fail. The other major problem with this system is that the old unit becomes nothing more than garbage that will in most cases go to a landfill or maybe get recycled. And this is all done in the name of profit, convenience, and continued sales.
What a bunch of horse-shit.

On a different but similar note, this whole ordeal also made me think of all the other types of drive interface formats. And there are a lot, probably some I have never even encountered. A short list off the top of my head... Standard, Phillips (crosshead), Allen (hex), star, Robertson (square), Torx, Torx Security, spanner, split point, three sided cross point (which would probably work for the above problem), those goofy one way fuckers you see on the partitions in restrooms, and of course triangle. I'm sure that is not a comprehensive list and I'm sure there are sadistic engineers out there right now dreaming up even more "screwy" formats.
So the question ultimately is why? And I have my theory. Firstly is what I already covered, making repairs more difficult in a cheap attempt to make more money. And there is a further profit motive involved at the general level. If one wants to fix things one has to have tools in order to do it. The more crazy types of screw there are the more tools a given fixer would need. It really boils down to a stupid game of cat and mouse. And of course engineers being dick heads. Hmmm... that gives me an idea. I'll invent the "dickhead" screw just to hear somebody ask for the "dickhead" driver to go with it.