In past articles I have given examples of how simpler designs are often better, cheaper and more reliable than their complicated counterparts. Almost always in industry you will find that the simplest, least expensive design is utilized for nearly everything unless there is a very good reason not to use it. But often there are good reasons for the manufacturer not to use the simplest, most reliable design.

Lee Iacocca, former CEO of Chrysler Corporation has been quoted as saying they (the car companies) thought they would have success building “little boxes that got 30 miles to the gallon” but found out that it didn’t work in terms of sales appeal. I would agree with that to a point. There are always some car buyers who want all of the bells, whistles, gadgets, fancy paint jobs and interiors and are willing to pay for that.

However there is a significant segment of the car buying public values things like durability, reliability, low maintenance and ease of maintenance when it is needed. If that’s not the case how do you explain the success of the Volkswagen Beetle? The original Volkswagen did not have any frills and it wasn’t perfect but it was cheap to buy, reasonably reliable, cheap to run (good gas mileage) and, most importantly, was cheap to maintain and repair. A fellow I worked with one time told me he could remove the entire engine from his Volkswagen Beetle in less than 1 hour.

In later years Volkswagen went away from that overarching philosophy and, in large part, their customers went away from them. There is a reason that cars (and a lot of other things) have numerous gadgets, computers controlling everything (with limited success) and unique one-of-a-kind parts where standard, proven, off-the-shelf parts would work equally well. Various computer controlled parts mean numerous electrical connections which is the weakest point in any electrical system. Non-standard parts mean lower production quantities which mean higher prices. This is purposely building in unreliability and increased maintenance that the car owners, in most cases, cannot do themselves.

An elderly widow I knew one time had an electrically adjustable seat in her car which had a flimsy, plastic switch lever that broke off. The plastic switch lever cost the car manufacturer a few cents to buy and a metal lever would have made much more sense given that this lever would often “catch” clothing as people would get into and out of the car. This widow was told by the car dealer that the lever could not be replaced and that she would have to buy an entirely new seat for over $200 plus installation. That, along with a few other similarly needed repairs cost more than the car was worth at the time so she had to look for another car.

Along those same lines why do we need electric car windows? Hand cranks work equally as well moving the window up and down its track. The hand crank needs no power, is very reliable with no motors, switches and wiring required. Some have maintained that hand-crank windows are safer if the car ends up in water such as a flood which could trap the occupants. But most new cars nowadays have electric windows.

Even though computers are a big mystery for many people computers can be built to be very rugged and reliable and the same principles apply. These are: Use only the components that you need to get the job done and nothing more. Use the proper components for the task and test the finished product thoroughly before releasing it to the public. Adding unsuitable or unnecessary components has never been a substitute diligent research. Even with computers almost always simpler is better.