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Many people in America would be very upset if all of a sudden everyone went to one car households, no cell phones, no massive home theater systems, no buying disposable razors. Our consumption is directly related to our ability to compete in a global economy. America is very lucky to have such a low population and such fertile farm land. If it didn't, without a global economy we would go hungry as well. Many other countries are beneficiaries of the global economy since we provide them with a majority of their food. According to the USDA.gov, we export 1 of 3 acres of agriculture we produce. It is very very important that America remains in a global economy.
All I can think back to is my grandparents and their old floor tvs and refrigerators and cars that seem to have withstood decades of use. But now even laptops can barely stay operational at 5 yrs and shoes and shirts and jackets can hold what seems only 2 years of general wear til they become garbage.
old refrigerators sucked, used more electricty and were extremely expensive
what good is a tiny fridge that lasts 40-50 years that when inflation adjusted costed 5-10 times what modern fridges cost and modern fridges use significantly less electricity?
even if you need a new refrigerator every 10 years, over the same 50 year period the old piece of garbage lasted for you will end up spendung way less money and have a way better product these days
If I was in the market for a refrigerator and someone had a brand new never used refrigerator from 50 years ago that they offered me for free I still wouldnt take it as it would cost me more in the long run than buying a modern energy efficient one. Not to mention how much better and bigger the modern ones are.I really don't feel like deicing, having water leak all over the floor, and having my electric bill skyrocket.
laptops barely last 5 years-ok so what
would you really prefer to have no computers no internet and a piece of crap type writer that lasts forever? you're more than welcome to buy a type writer now and go that route.
look at what laptops do and they cost next to nothing
pick any one thing a laptop can do and anything similar if it even remotely existed in the 40s would have cost hundreds of dollars in 1940s money
seriously complaining about laptops which cost a few hundred bucks and are absolutely amazing pieces of technology is ridiculous. If that's really an issue then just don't use computers at all.
For crying out loud rich people paid thousands of dollars to have ticker tape machines installed in their houses back then to get half hour old stock prices.car radios cost hundreds of dollars in the 40s.another thing that was only for the super wealthy.People payed several dollars a minute for long distance phone calls. Computers save so much time do so much and are so efficient and you complain because you get all that technology for 300-400 dollars and have to buy a new one every 5 years? whats next complaining about air conditiors that cost 150-200 dollars, last for 10-15 years, weight next to nothing, are more efficient,use less electricty than the old fashioned million pound metal pieces of crap from back then that last forever which was a good thing because you needed a small army to move it.
20 years ago people were paying thousands for laptops that literly are thousands of times slower, with thousands of times less memory than cell phones that came out in 2005
your grandparents old tvs were awful bulky pieces of crap and easily cost them a few hundred dollars back then (and thats not accounting for inflation)
****ty picture, cost more than tvs do now and used more electricity oh but they lasted forever lollol
what good is buying some 12 inch 100 pound hunk of garbage that last 40 years when its super expensive, gets 4 channels, and the picture is garbage?
so how were your grandparents better off paying way more and getting way less?
There isn't any kind of technology that isnt infinitely better cheaper and more efficient than the stuff from the 40s. and if you're really dead set on using antiquated technology from back then you still can and it won't cost you much.
and anyone complaining about the costs of cell phones and cell phone plans is either ignorant or a complete idiot
Do you people have any idea what it used to cost to have a house phone 20-30 years ago?How about in the 40s with party lines? How about long distance phone calls? It cost more to have a house phone back then than it does to have a smart phone now. And that's not even an apples to apples comparison. You can get magic jack for 2 dollars a month. You can get a terd phone and metro pcs for like 30 bucks a month - and that is still a cellular phone you can take anywhere and gets free long distance. Not some brick housephone that you have to be tethered to, share with your neighbors and cost several dollars a minute for long distance.
Last edited by bxlefty23; 11-07-2012 at 11:05 PM..
All I can think back to is my grandparents and their old floor tvs and refrigerators and cars that seem to have withstood decades of use. But now even laptops can barely stay operational at 5 yrs and shoes and shirts and jackets can hold what seems only 2 years of general wear til they become garbage.
Aside from what the poster above said, laptops these days are outdated and obsolete because of technological advancement. It has nothing to do with the hardware. I know plenty of laptops that are 7 or more years old but they are garbage because their specs are so outdated.
Modern software is so hardware intensive versus 5-10 years ago that the laptops are unable to handle such loads, causing them to run hotter and become inoperable. Its just something that comes with such a purchase. If you are really worried about laptops only lasting 5 years, buy a desktop. You can easily replace specific pieces of hardware as they fail and desktops are known for being more stable platforms due to the space available for cooling and the lack of abuse (dropping, etc.).
I'll take the second one first. Cellphones are generally kept no more than two years, and people are anxious to get a new one anyway for the new features. The big flat screen HDTV is already being considered disposable, with a similar need to upgrade after 3-4 years. Also,
they are not made to last 10-15 years like the old tube version. We just bought a new electric can opener today,the old one lasted only 7 months and we rarely open cans. I took it apart and found the plastic gears inside had most of the teeth broken off.
That leads me to the first question. Much of the reason for this planned, or at least expected obsolescence is that everything is made in China with inferior materials
by people not paid enough to care about the quality.
Unfortunately this is not likely to change. With the high cost of everything here, especially labor and insurance, with the regulation and taxes, companies cannot compete with the Chinese. I had to laugh when after reading LED TV reviews, where people were raving about a company in Detroit making them that we should all buy them. When I looked on the box at a store it said "Assembled in USA." Closer inspection showed that all of the parts were made in China.
how much was your electric can opener? I bought a higher quality model and have had it for 6 years now. My television is 5 years old and has no issues. You often get what you pay for with these products. Many budget items have the plastic parts like you found. Same thing with a drill. You can buy a cheap black and decker, or you could spend a little more for one made out of quality parts - even if it's made in china it will last far longer.
All I can think back to is my grandparents and their old floor tvs and refrigerators and cars that seem to have withstood decades of use. But now even laptops can barely stay operational at 5 yrs and shoes and shirts and jackets can hold what seems only 2 years of general wear til they become garbage.
you mean the TVs that existed when TV repair men were plentiful? I remember those TVs too, and I vididly remember the TV repairment from my area even though i was a wee lad.
Oh yeah...and i spent more on a quality built laptop that's now 5 years old and still runs like day 1. laptops often fail because people treat them poorly.
i plan on having my TSX for at least another 7 years, and it's already 7 years old.
it's all what you buy and how you take care of it. there's crappy versions of everything you can think of. going to your local big box store often results in purchasing crap. they sell good stuff too, but you have to know what you're looking at.
If we made everything we consume, the average American probably could not afford to consume at the rate we do today. If things were to go "obsolete" after 5 years, many would have a hard time affording to replace the item. Of course, credit cards might bridge the gap. What people don't seem to remember about the "olden days" was you didn't have a house full of cheap consumer goods. You had a few expensive consumer goods that had to last for many years. If your shoes wore out, you took them in to be repaired. If the TV went out, your called the TV repairman. Today, we just throw this stuff out because it is too cheap to be warrant fixing.
Of course, we are starting to see what may be a shift... It is said that a nation can only consume relative to what it can produce. Many Americans are no longer able to benefit from cheap consumer goods because wages have been getting hammered, jobs are hard to come by, and everything is getting expensive besides the American worker's time. Wages are also rising in many developing nations, which will raise the cost of those cheap consumer goods. We'll see how that ends...
And if all the jobs were suddenly reshored? Well, those consumer goods would instantly go up in price, wages might rise a bit although we have an abundance of illegal labor available to hold wages down (and more would be on their way), companies would have an easier time preventing overproduction and could limit the need for hiring... Let's not discount the technological advances that have taken place since the 40's. We can achieve the same level of production with a fraction of the workforce today. It wouldn't be like the "good ole days" for these reasons and more. I wouldn't go so far as to say it would be bad thing however...
i still fix my shoes. a few cheap maintenence steps on them make them last a lot longer. and resoling near me is about $30 for a pair. if i have $80-$120 shoes that still have good condition leather...why not replace the soles?
i still fix my shoes. a few cheap maintenence steps on them make them last a lot longer. and resoling near me is about $30 for a pair. if i have $80-$120 shoes that still have good condition leather...why not replace the soles?
I do this too. I have an old pair of work boots that absolutely rock. I replaced the soles 3 years ago, and I'm going to get them replaced again soon. What I was pointing out was this is not the norm. Your average American throws something away and replaces it if there are any issues. As I suggested, that attitude may be reversing as wages are rising in developing nations, and incomes are declining in this country. People are going to pay much closer attention to where all their money is going if they don't have it anymore.
One other trend that I believe will take hold... People will be more focused on buying things to last. You may see more people opting out of buying the cheapest item on the shelf in favor of the item with the best reputation for quality and longevity. Not everyone, but more than before. Cheap products aren't so cheap when you are replacing them every year or two.
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