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Old 06-03-2010, 09:44 AM
 
4,500 posts, read 12,309,492 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by GregW View Post
Victoronix knives seem to be a good as ever.
Victorinox, Solingen, any half way reputable Japanese maker, they're all good.

Let's not forget why there's more cheap and perishable good on the market today though. People want it, they don't want things that last forever. Look at Tv's, most people change them out ever 5 years or so anyway, so why would they make it last much longer than that?

People want cheap disposable things so they can continuously upgrade, so they sell it.

 
Old 06-03-2010, 10:15 AM
 
15,445 posts, read 21,289,268 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TheViking85 View Post
People want cheap disposable things so they can continuously upgrade, so they sell it.
Craig's List, eBay and Walmart all think so. Whether this is good or bad, I won't say but I do know change in western culture is inevitable and ever-going. Like Craig's List, eBay and Walmart, some politicians have wisely jumped in front of that change and claimed it.
 
Old 06-03-2010, 10:20 AM
 
4,500 posts, read 12,309,492 times
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Well high quality long lasting products are still available, but you'll have to pay more for it. (Much like back in the day, when a TV was really expensive)
 
Old 06-03-2010, 10:52 AM
 
Location: Londonderry, NH
41,478 posts, read 59,660,138 times
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I have a Radio Flyer Little Red Wagon that somebody was throwing away because the plastic wheel busted. A few phone calls and $30 later I had new steel wheels from the company. They said they gave up on the plastic because it kept breaking. This is an American company (Wisconsin?) that improved its product and makes parts available. BTW this is a kids toy that is really useful for hauling in groceries, carting stuff for the garden and general hauling. Buy one, you'll like it.
 
Old 06-03-2010, 01:21 PM
 
5,762 posts, read 11,615,068 times
Reputation: 3870
Speaking of replacement parts, if anyone wants an interesting little shop project, try taking a very low-end consumer appliance (like a $14 toaster) and then dismantle it. Take it apart, and methodically replace plastic with metal substitutes. Reinforce the solder. Place the circuit board into a protective, insulated case.

It might take a bit of machining to get all the new parts into place, but I bet you could massively extend the life of your device.

Not that you'd want to... just as an experiment.
 
Old 06-03-2010, 02:51 PM
 
8,263 posts, read 12,175,851 times
Reputation: 4800
Portable music players.

Older models were tape players with moving parts that sucked batteries and tended to break, weighed a lot more, stored a lot less music, and were far more of a pain to use having to hold down a rewind button.

Today with $20 you can buy something that will hold 500 songs, run 10 hours on a AAA battery, weighs a few ounces, and since no moving parts usually just suffer wear & tear on the buttons themselves. I think most people replace 'em just because two years later there are ones that hold 5x more stuff.
 
Old 06-04-2010, 10:14 AM
 
5,252 posts, read 4,657,929 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by GregW View Post
Staying in your family house instead of moving every five years at the whim of your employer. That would be completely Un-American and lead to the destruction of our country. Remember, your loyalty is to your employer not your family or community. You must devote ALL your efforts to the corporate TEAM. They teach you that in business school and enforce it at work.

This is the place where the current system is vastly inferior to the past.
I'd say the above statement is a clue to the changes we've seen in the quality of most consumer products. Industry and advertisers have succeeded in molding a new kind of consumer, more transient, less educated, more tolerant, less demanding, a far different people have emerged from those days of consumers demanding quality. Every aspect of your life is geared toward working, allowing less time for the pursuit of doing anything else well.

I worked on cars from my earliest adult years to age forty three, in that time I saw the rise of fuel milage becoming the main consideration in the choice of car to buy. The material quality in automotive building is much better, rust proofing is now integral to the material, carbon fiber, fiberglass, plastic, etc, and yes these are also part of that ability to get forty miles to a gallon.

Fit and finish is much better due to robotics and CNC aided assembly techniques. We used to do some real cowboying to get things to fit on American cars, today most cars are equal in the fit and finish be they Japanese, German, Korean or American, robotics has been the equalizer.

I still have a TV I bought eleven years ago, it works fine, the salesman said I could expect five years on average of good use. Of course manufacturers can't allow their product to last too long, it's all about the economics of obsolescence and the mindset that is prepared to accept the continuous "improvements" we've come to worship.

Overall, I'd have to say I'm somewhat confused about the constant drive to buy things, at my age (64) it's getting to be a bit of a task keeping up with all the new devices that we hear so much about. I don't have GPS, no HDTV, A cell phone in the car for emergencies, the quality of products and the quality of our lives have come to a crossroads, we'll need to sort out the differences in the coming of a much poorer world.
 
Old 06-04-2010, 10:45 AM
 
8,263 posts, read 12,175,851 times
Reputation: 4800
Statistically the average employed person works less hours per year in 2008 than in 1998.

*source International Labor Comparisons (ILC)
 
Old 06-04-2010, 10:46 AM
 
Location: Lehigh Acres
1,777 posts, read 4,847,581 times
Reputation: 891
Quote:
Originally Posted by tablemtn View Post
Speaking of replacement parts, if anyone wants an interesting little shop project, try taking a very low-end consumer appliance (like a $14 toaster) and then dismantle it. Take it apart, and methodically replace plastic with metal substitutes. Reinforce the solder. Place the circuit board into a protective, insulated case.

It might take a bit of machining to get all the new parts into place, but I bet you could massively extend the life of your device.

Not that you'd want to... just as an experiment.
My toaster has never failed, it's probably 6 years old. Wasn't anymore than $20.00. Some things, that are simple, will last forever, regardless.
 
Old 06-04-2010, 10:50 AM
 
Location: Louisiana
1,768 posts, read 3,405,668 times
Reputation: 604
Quote:
Originally Posted by Memphis1979 View Post
The link states that over the last several years, life expectancy has increased by over 20% from 1970, to 1991. From around 5.5 years in the 70's to 7% in the 90's.

http://www.rff.org/Documents/RFF-DP-98-20.pdf

While this link debates the reason why cars are living longer, it still proves they are living longer.

Even if you agree with the argument in the link I just posted, it shows a improvement in car maintenance and lower costs, still increasing a cars life.

In the end, cars last longer today, for whatever reason, then they used to. Which refutes the OP's premise.
A local mechanic who owns an auto repair business and hosts a call-in talk radio program about car repair issues would certainly disagree with you, poster, and precisely for the reasons the OP mentions.

I will say, however, and as some rebuttal to this that my 2006 Chrysler 300 is the best car I've ever owned -- far better than either the BMW I traded in on it, and that Lexus abomination that left me stranded on the road several times before that.
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