 |
 |
Remember When
| June 13th, 2014 at 12:42:10 PM permalink | |
| rxwine Member since: Oct 24, 2012 Threads: 189 Posts: 18761 |
I wouldn't doubt the companies have figured out how to maximize value since the origin of these things. More water, more sodium, more cheap meat byproducts, vegetables not meeting higher quality standards end up here, etc., There's no way to compare now, but it's quite possible they started with better food in the early years. edit: maximize value to the company, that is You believe in an invisible god, and dismiss people who say they are trans? Really? |
| June 13th, 2014 at 3:50:27 PM permalink | |
| beachbumbabs Member since: Sep 3, 2013 Threads: 6 Posts: 1600 |
Pretty sure Planned Obsolescence is responsible for the majority of what you're saying. My Norge clothes dryer, purchased in 1986, lasted 23 years. 5 years now if you're lucky. My Hamilton Beach kitchen mixers were made in the 50's and still work great; all steel and enamel. I have a 70 year old rotary phone; still works, just had to change the plug. 80 year old GE table fan, black base and wire protection, still going strong. Things now are BUILT to wear out and break. Some of it is to keep it affordable while quality materials skyrocket, like hardwood vs. particle board furniture. IMO, more of it is because they want things to wear out so you can sell another one. If you used it enough to break it or wear it out, you'll want to replace it. Especially technology-dependent stuff. They could back-program things to stay compatible, but why? They want to sell you the new one, not support their old technology. So wasteful. I have a couple of family-owned dressers myself, and my mom has a lot more furniture, pre-1900's to early 1900's. What I don't have is any furniture manu'd in the last 50 years worth passing down. Yard sale at best. Never doubt a small group of concerned citizens can change the world; it's the only thing ever has |
| June 13th, 2014 at 8:52:28 PM permalink | |
| boymimbo Member since: Mar 25, 2013 Threads: 5 Posts: 732 | Remember when you would have a coffee-maker that lasted 10+ years? My wife asked for a Keurig for Christmas each year for the past three and last Christmas, I caved. Coffee works out to about .60/10 oz cup, so if you like to drink 40oz of coffee, you're looking at $2.40 whereas a pot of coffee might cost you at most a buck to make, even if you're making Starbucks at home, and if you're using the cheap stuff, you can probably get away with $.10 / cup. But whatever, I like to please my wife. I told her that I doubted the machine would last longer than a year, two max. Last week, after six months, it died. The thing is that Keurig doesn't care with its high warranty rates. I called it in on Tuesday, and they tried to have me fix it over the phone by doing a few things to ensure that thing wasn't clogged with coffee grounds. They shipped me a new one, and it arrived this morning. The company doesn't care about quality -- it cares about perception and being able to sell a single-cup brewer for sub $100. |
| June 13th, 2014 at 10:39:12 PM permalink | |
| Fleastiff Member since: Oct 27, 2012 Threads: 62 Posts: 7831 | Planned Obsolesence? Remember those old GE refrigerators with the engine and heat exchanger on top and cold box below. Featured in the movies in the 30s, those things were built like tanks. Of course there are life style considerations too. There are short term apartment complexes where everyone rents furniture and works on some computer project at a nearby military base. An entire army of short term project programmers who after two years will leave everything behind and go onward. The particle board is just perfect for them. Why have museum quality furniture if living a temporary lifestyle. Remember when shirt collars were detachable? Now the collar gets frayed, the whole shirt gets ditched. Do a laundry? As one cop show said: ''donate your shirts to Goodwill on Friday, buy them back freshly laundered on Monday for 99 cents". Have fresh Florida orange juice? Or orange juice from Chile and Mexico surely not fresh and probably pesticide tainted but sold a few cents cheaper. Buy a Papermate Pen? I used to buy a woman some fifty cent pens designed for elementary school students. They were big, brightly colored and she could find them in her handbag. Five shoddy flashlights beat one sturdy one, since the cheapies are brightly colored and all over the place, but the sturdy one is black and can't be found when its needed. |
| June 14th, 2014 at 12:15:23 AM permalink | |
| rxwine Member since: Oct 24, 2012 Threads: 189 Posts: 18761 |
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centennial_Light You believe in an invisible god, and dismiss people who say they are trans? Really? |
| June 14th, 2014 at 12:38:37 AM permalink | |
| Evenbob Member since: Oct 24, 2012 Threads: 146 Posts: 25011 |
I heard about this bulb 30 years ago. Thanks for the update. It throws off very little actual light, maybe 5 watts worth. But it's still going, what the hell. Edison would be proud, even though it's not an Edison bulb. It's an eery connection to the past, ya gotta love the thing. If you take a risk, you may lose. If you never take a risk, you will always lose. |
| June 14th, 2014 at 2:49:24 PM permalink | |
| boymimbo Member since: Mar 25, 2013 Threads: 5 Posts: 732 | Thinking about "squelch"... Remember when you had a CB radio in the car? My parents would use it to figure out whether there were any smokies ahead on the freeway and to have occasional chats. I used to like to hang out in my parents van and listen to it early at night as the "skip" was tremendous and you could pick up CB chatter hundreds of miles away. It had a squelch knob to decrease the static. I like that feature. You had to learn the "lingo", not just the obvious 10-4, but all of other codes as well to understand what they were saying. |
| June 23rd, 2014 at 9:56:59 AM permalink | |
| Greasyjohn Member since: Jun 20, 2014 Threads: 6 Posts: 68 |
Remember those orange styrofoam 76 balls the people used to put on their antennas? |
| June 24th, 2014 at 9:03:36 PM permalink | |
| Evenbob Member since: Oct 24, 2012 Threads: 146 Posts: 25011 | When you go thru the boxes of pics or the fam albums of you growing up, you can feel the age of and get a sense of history by all the different types of photos. B&W's from the 50's and 60's, with the dates stamped on them. Poloroid's and Kodak's with the color fading from the 60's and 70's. Kids these days will have none of that, they will forever be on computers and memory sticks and the color will never fade. Saw a classic pic of 4 generations of my wifes family men taken by a 5X7 camera in 1950 in BW. Part of the classicness of it is because it was taken by a 5X7 camera. If you take a risk, you may lose. If you never take a risk, you will always lose. |
| June 24th, 2014 at 9:21:43 PM permalink | |
| rxwine Member since: Oct 24, 2012 Threads: 189 Posts: 18761 |
I can still remember the goo when stripping a Polaroid and watching the picture develop. Also, what were the square rotating flash bulbs that you snapped on the camera? Those were the great innovation over the single bulb in a dish. I never actually used a box camera, but we had one for a long time that just stayed stored away. I suppose my parents used it at one time. You believe in an invisible god, and dismiss people who say they are trans? Really? |