Today, when I crashed some program on my linux box I remembered the old days with that well-known operating system and I also recall the following lines of Bodo Wartke’s song PCdenzfall:

Neulich mal im Traum packte mich das nackte Grauen,
ich hab' geträumt, Microsoft würde Flugzeuge bauen.

Free English translation:

Recently in a dream I was seized by the naked dread,
I've dreamt Microsoft would build airplanes flying over my head.

In contrast to Bodo Wartke I’m not supporting the opinion that Bill Gates would wrongly deserve so much money. It’s about the consumer to buy software. And people have choices such as Linux and dotProject.

I recently contacted the manufacturer of my Braun 5614 Flex XP razor with a request for specification of the original obviously industrial and special and now weakening built-in batteries (Sanyo 1hr AAC GJH).

In a response I’ve been told that I am not allowed to open the razor at all (not even after warranty is expired!). Braun is moreover not willing to disclose any specifications. I have further been referred to their service partners in common.

In a subsequent talk to a local service partner I learnt that even they are not allowed to exchange the removable batteries as well and they usually have to exchange the whole motherboard!

Why should Braun develop such an intelligent battery removal system (a major innovation compared to the soldered predecessor such as used in the 5533) as it has been implemented in the 5614 if nobody is allowed to exchange batteries at all?

Happily, I’ve been able to easily replace the batteries with some Sanyo eneloop I manually clamped in. I only had to bolster the distal electrical contacts a little bit such that the batteries clamp well.

By the way, the new batteries are recognized correctly by the internal controllers and are recharged internally without any problems by the originally supplied Braun charger 5496.

In the above sense and in particular in days in which one has identified the threat of electronic waste the German company Braun as a leading razor producer is rather brown (as an allusion to the colour of dirt) than green.