PUBLISHER'S LETTER
The Electronic Service Industry
Advisory Code of Practice
Late in March of this year,
the NSW Government
Agency of Business & Consumer Affairs launched the
"Domestic Electronic Service Industry Advisory Code
of Practice". Essentially, it
is a code of practice which
mainly covers people involved in TV and VCR service, microwave oven service and TV antenna installation.
No special legislation has
been enacted to enforce the
new code of practice but it is backed up by the Fair Trading Act and the
Trade Practices Act. It has been a cooperative effort between the NSW
Business & Consumer Affairs and the following industry bodies: Consumer Electronic Suppliers Association (CESA), Television and Electronic Services Association (TESA) , the Electronic Services Industry
Association and The Electronic Technicians Institute of Australia (TETIA).
Now that the NSW code of practice has been introduced, it is likely that
other states will follow.
No-one would argue that the new code of practice is not worth having.
It is likely to avoid a lot of disputes in the future, both over the nature of
repairs and the cost of these services. But as Gary Wilson, the representative from CESA remarked, it is a case of "too little, too late". The fact is
that the great boom years of TV servicing have long gone. Fifteen or
twenty years ago, in the heyday of b&w TV and during the introduction
of colour TV, was when TV service boomed.
In those days, all the major retailers had large service departments to
cater for the one, two or more service calls per year that most TV sets
needed. Nowadays, all those service people are retired or working
elsewhere because it is rare for the average TV or VCR to need a service
call more than once in 5 years. And as TVs and VCRs become more and
more reliable, they will need even less service.
In fact, these days most appliances never require any service at all.
They go for years and years and when they finally break down, they are
not worth repairing anyway - you buy a new one. But, and this is worth
saying, if they are worth repairing, we can be reassured by the existence
of the new electronic industry code of practice.
All of which leads one to conclude that any measures or legislation
brought down by governments are often likely to be overdue, too late or
worse, misguided. Sometimes though, governments do make the right
decision, as was the case when Federal Cabinet recently debated the
introduction of pay TV. It was postponed for at least two years and
probably indefinitely.
Without going into all the politics involved (and it had nothing to do
with available technology), this was the right decision. For the moment,
most people don't want, don't need and can't afford pay TV. And neither
can the country. In five or ten years time, it will be a different story.
Leo Simp-s on
2
SILICON CHIP
Publisher & Editor-in-Chief
Leo Simpson, B.Bus.
Editor
Greg Swain, B.Sc.(Hons.)
Technical Staff
John Clarke, B.E .(Elec.)
Robert Flynn
Darren Yates
Reader Services
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John Hill
Jim Lawler, MTETIA
Bryan Maher, M.E. , B.Sc .
Jim Yalden, VK2YGY
Bob Young
Photography
Andrew Darby
Editorial Advisory Panel
Philip Watson, MIREE, VK2ZPW
Norman Marks
Steve Payor, B.Sc., B.E.
SILICON CHIP is published 12 times
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ISSN 1030-2662
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