It's a real trend happening. People are waking up.
The automotive sector is especially ripe with it. New cars are just not made all that well any longer, unless you're paying serious money... and even then, they're vulnerable to component failure. Cars shouldn't be so disposable. Now people are going back to the late 1990's for cars that were built really well to last many years.
i just got a book by Stewart brand, ( The Maintenance of Everything ) My nice Hey-Wake bedroom set is 70yrs. old. Could use some new Laquer. I am sitting next to the lamp my father made in 1951 and it just got refinished. However i have gone thru fridges ovens, toasters washers and dryers. Furnaces don't last.
My Panasonic microwave from 1983 just died a few months ago. It's just the membrane switch so it should be easily fixable if I can find a suitable replacement.
Yup, it has a carousel and a digital display. I picked it up second hand from a pawn shop in 1992, and it worked flawlessly until this spring when the keypad partially stopped working. It still technically works but you can't properly set the cooking time anymore so it's a pain in the ass now. I'm hoping to get it running properly again this winter when I have time to mess with it.
On or off? A cheap standalone digital timer would work. Your persistence is admirable. My mom had an 80s Panasonic that lasted quite a while. I miss good stuff.
a few of the numbers stopped as well as the power level button, I can still trigger it to go, but it's a pain to do so I just set it aside for now until I have time to work on it more. I was hoping to have it fixed by now but it's been a busy summer, so it's on the to do list. I don't want a new microwave, This one survived over thirty years of me and both my kids so it's basically family now lol
The GE has a florescent display that started to fade before the fan got chatty, forgot about that. Another self-healer. Think the Panasonic had a florescent as well.
I know everyone wants to blame planned obsolesence and this is part of it, but a big thing that drives it is also consumer demand.
You could buy products that last longer made from better quality materials, companies still make them.
But you buy the $499 Fridgidair washing machine instead of the 1299 speed queen, you push your fridge back into a alcove of cupboards where the heat it produces cant escape burning out the motor and want ice and water in the door which are the most common failure.
Consumers demand bells and whistles and low prices and then complain when the things they buy fail because the bells and whistles break and they are made cheaply.
If you don't want bells and whistles, DON'T BUY THOSE MODELS. If you don't want things made from cheep materials... SPEND MORE.
You can't have cheep things that are also made from expensive materials. that fridge from 1985 that still works cost 500-700 thats $1500-2200 today. don't expect your $700-800 new one to last 40 years.
Where are you finding things that are built to last? Whenever we have to make a big purchase, we research extensively, and the vast majority of the time I've found that even the more expensive things are complete garbage. I'd love to buy things that last a long time, but it seems for many categories of products they simply don't exist anymore.
Remember when products lasted a lifetime? Find those. Dust them off. Polish them up, tighten a few screws, a drop of oil here, a bit of duct tape there, and then you can use them some more.
I wish I could do that with my cellphone, but the maker stopped providing security updates. When I travel, I'm vulnerable if I don't take a lot of precautions, and even then they're not foolproof.
Find a basic fridge from 2000. Stop thinking that 1980 is 20 years ago. A fridge from 2000 is going to be energystar rated, but it is also still quite repairable and durable. Don't get something with a touchscreen, obviously.
Exactly this. Like I get the sentiment but there is also a HUGE question of efficiency too. Give me reparable goods with modern technologies please. This should not be a huge ask but the world is incredibly stupid right now.
My (the landlord's) fridge was new in 2000. Still doing the job. No frills but it WORKS, no icemaker, no pixel screen, and it never demands my wifi address either.
q2grapple
I want to give her a big hug. No, seriously.
Zapathasura
Danse Macabre, Nice touch.
NotAGarbageCant
Agreed. But it is missing the chicken
diezl97
Sewing on my vintage 1924 Singer Model 66 (the cabinet's from 1916). Restored from rusted and busted by me, and it'll probably outlive me.
lightfoot2
Quality is always something I look out for. Costs more, sometimes you get old stuff that lasts forever, but worth it :-)
lonosham
Ah, an appreciation of boots
cytherians
It's a real trend happening. People are waking up.
The automotive sector is especially ripe with it. New cars are just not made all that well any longer, unless you're paying serious money... and even then, they're vulnerable to component failure. Cars shouldn't be so disposable. Now people are going back to the late 1990's for cars that were built really well to last many years.
InablueMule
No one can design a Toaster anymore. much less one that will last.
Imalwaysready
Wrong. No one will manufacture and sell a long-lasting toaster anymore. Designing one is t that difficult.
InablueMule
My current toaster doesn't have enough vertical travel . The cancel is turn setting knob entirely off so a cancel loses the setting.
usingYourMomAsAHat
Rip, but
Davidnfilms
This feels like that Wind power ad.
gablestout
InablueMule
i just got a book by Stewart brand, ( The Maintenance of Everything ) My nice Hey-Wake bedroom set is 70yrs. old. Could use some new Laquer. I am sitting next to the lamp my father made in 1951 and it just got refinished. However i have gone thru fridges ovens, toasters washers and dryers. Furnaces don't last.
TheVillageGrouch9000
I have a 1981 made in Louisville, KY GE microwave that gets used every day. It may outlive me.
Jaysen
My Panasonic microwave from 1983 just died a few months ago. It's just the membrane switch so it should be easily fixable if I can find a suitable replacement.
TheVillageGrouch9000
Good luck with that. Does that have a carousel? None in the GE.
~10 years ago the cooling fan in the GE started sounding like a failure was imminent. It seemingly self healed and continues on. :shrug:
Jaysen
Yup, it has a carousel and a digital display. I picked it up second hand from a pawn shop in 1992, and it worked flawlessly until this spring when the keypad partially stopped working. It still technically works but you can't properly set the cooking time anymore so it's a pain in the ass now. I'm hoping to get it running properly again this winter when I have time to mess with it.
TheVillageGrouch9000
On or off? A cheap standalone digital timer would work. Your persistence is admirable. My mom had an 80s Panasonic that lasted quite a while. I miss good stuff.
Jaysen
a few of the numbers stopped as well as the power level button, I can still trigger it to go, but it's a pain to do so I just set it aside for now until I have time to work on it more. I was hoping to have it fixed by now but it's been a busy summer, so it's on the to do list. I don't want a new microwave, This one survived over thirty years of me and both my kids so it's basically family now lol
TheVillageGrouch9000
The GE has a florescent display that started to fade before the fan got chatty, forgot about that. Another self-healer. Think the Panasonic had a florescent as well.
L0rdinquisit0r
https://www.economist.com/img/b/1280/720/90/sites/default/files/images/print-edition/20200801_BKP009_0.jpg 7th seal
statingtheobvious1
Still trying to understand why my toothbrush, tires, refrigerator, watch, vacuum, dishwasher, washer/dryer, etc need Bluetooth.
SumOneElse
So they can bait you into installing a spyware app on your phone.
treboresque
YoureWaifuAShit
aw, you only posted half of it. i really like this one. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bl7xl3IiAqE
rubypilgrim
I bought a monitor last year. Guess what's dying this year.
Imalwaysready
Ironically, if this ad fixes the problem, then this ad will stop being useful.
drunkmastered
1reallyhappydude
I'm currently nuking stuff in an Eatons Viking microwave. I've gotten nicer ones, but they keep dying.
TheVillageGrouch9000
New? Terrible. They are so simple to build - low tech. Two of us have early 80s nukes still going.
EMHPicardo
LordHosk
I know everyone wants to blame planned obsolesence and this is part of it, but a big thing that drives it is also consumer demand.
You could buy products that last longer made from better quality materials, companies still make them.
But you buy the $499 Fridgidair washing machine instead of the 1299 speed queen, you push your fridge back into a alcove of cupboards where the heat it produces cant escape burning out the motor and want ice and water in the door which are the most common failure.
johnnythexxxiv
People buy the cheap model because they can't even afford that one. If it's impossible to save up $1300, the Speed Queen was never an option.
InablueMule
I will never have a fridge that has water hooked to it.
LordHosk
Consumers demand bells and whistles and low prices and then complain when the things they buy fail because the bells and whistles break and they are made cheaply.
If you don't want bells and whistles, DON'T BUY THOSE MODELS. If you don't want things made from cheep materials... SPEND MORE.
You can't have cheep things that are also made from expensive materials. that fridge from 1985 that still works cost 500-700 thats $1500-2200 today. don't expect your $700-800 new one to last 40 years.
johnfsfrank
Where are you finding things that are built to last? Whenever we have to make a big purchase, we research extensively, and the vast majority of the time I've found that even the more expensive things are complete garbage. I'd love to buy things that last a long time, but it seems for many categories of products they simply don't exist anymore.
LordHosk
Specially stores.
Big box stores don't carry every brand. For example Speed Queen is only carried at specialty appliance stores and commercial suppliers.
spontaneous9
Remember when products lasted a lifetime?
Find those. Dust them off. Polish them up, tighten a few screws, a drop of oil here, a bit of duct tape there, and then you can use them some more.
"If it ain't broke, don't fix it."
cullingg
Bamix stick blenders last and are good, been using it almost daily for the last ...4 years now and have had it for about 16 so far.
ButtblasterMcAssmaster
Well that's also survivorship bias. Shitty products from the past just aren't around anymore for us to see that they were shitty.
cytherians
I wish I could do that with my cellphone, but the maker stopped providing security updates. When I travel, I'm vulnerable if I don't take a lot of precautions, and even then they're not foolproof.
Evenmoreuselessname
Fairphone recently entered the US market, which is about the closest thing to that. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=bRI03bLeLIA&pp=0gcJCYsCo7VqN5tD
rolliefingers
You just described fixing them
Imalwaysready
I thought they described tomb raiding.
rolliefingers
Well great now I have a boner.
WhyDontYouMakeMe
I think "is maintenance fixing?" is a philosophical question
Evenmoreuselessname
Well, they was maintaining right until the duck tape came out...
Ilikecreativepeople
Absolutely! My parents had a washer and dryer that lasted 30 years of a family of five heavy use.
LordHosk
Also be prepared to pay more in utility bills.
Fridges from the 80s used about 400% as much power Washing machines back then used 300% more water and 400% more electricity per load.
ExTechOp
Simultaneously, both dish- and clothes washing machine cycle length has become 200–300% longer.
Goldmarble
Find a basic fridge from 2000.
Stop thinking that 1980 is 20 years ago. A fridge from 2000 is going to be energystar rated, but it is also still quite repairable and durable. Don't get something with a touchscreen, obviously.
IMakeLotsOfReferencesAndRemakes
Exactly this. Like I get the sentiment but there is also a HUGE question of efficiency too. Give me reparable goods with modern technologies please. This should not be a huge ask but the world is incredibly stupid right now.
TheShoggothOfMosquitoCreek
There's a 1955 Frigidaire in the basement that was here when we bought the house and is presently keeping my drinks cool.
spontaneous9
My (the landlord's) fridge was new in 2000. Still doing the job. No frills but it WORKS, no icemaker, no pixel screen, and it never demands my wifi address either.