Steve’s thread about the state of the five year old appliances in the lake house made me think of this article.

quote:

How the cult of consumerism ushered in an era of badly made products.

https://www.vox.com/the-goods/...t-fashion-technology

Good article, and a good illustration of why I like to buy at thrift shops and antique stores. Sharon shops differently, as do her friends. They like new, inexpensive things and when they wear out quickly they look forward to buying new, modern replacements.

Doing the house really brought our two styles in to focus. There is a lot of furniture in that house I can’t wait to replace. The Wayfair and Amazon stuff was dirt cheap, readily available, and does an OK job of keeping the lamps off of the floor but has no real value. It’s built and sold to become trash in short order. Never mind the endless stream of stuff we sent back because it was so crappy I couldn’t assemble it.

Old guys like me have been complaining that things aren’t made like they used to be since the dawn of time. My Dad in particular griped about the “crapafacation” of everything. The only modern invention he really liked was polyester, and leisure suits in particular. The things I inherited from him will probably last forever if anyone cares to keep them.

You can’t buy quality like that any more, mostly because so few people want it.

Bought two end tables to put back to back between two recliners. The chairs are near the middle of the room next to a floor plug. I could not find a single piece that would not show a bare back.
Got them from Wayfair. They are rapidly crapifying from being exposed to the air I suppose.

An interesting article and it certainly makes some valid points, particularly as regards the quality of materials such as fabrics used in consumer goods and the right to repair devices rather than throwing them out when they break. However, I think the picture is more nuanced.

I have been hearing the complaint that they don't make things like they used to for as long as I can remember. It's true in many cases, but it's not necessarily a negative trend. Would you still like to be using that PC or Apple MAC that you first encountered as a personal computer or the sleek, light, and portable laptop with wireless connectivity that you're likely using now? Most manufactured objects have vastly improved functionality versus their early predecessors while still costing comparatively less in real dollar terms. If microwave ovens cost $5,000, how many of us would own one? Controlling cost while providing desired functionality is the real triumph of modern design and manufacturing. Would that black dial telephone that the telephone company installed in your home satisfy your communications desires?

Decreased lifetime or reliability is a sacrifice that sometimes occurs in trying to meet a competitive price point while making a profit. It's hard to judge at the time of purchase, although flaws in construction or fit such as in clothing can be a clue. Buying information such as Consumer Reports or anecdotal information such as the recent Samsung appliance thread here at WTF also can help. Warranties can be helpful; the lifetime guarantee that Sears provided on hand tools was a pretty strong assurance of some level of quality. My last two vehicles prior to the current ones went 268,000 and 297,000 miles before I disposed of them. I clearly remember when reaching 100,000 miles on a vehicle was considered a major milestone.

Clothing is a special case, being driven by fashion changes as much as usefulness. This opens the door to low-price suppliers (think Old Navy) for consumers who expect to swap out today's style for something new and different in a short time. It's still possible to buy longer-lasting clothes, but they cost more and are harder to find. I think that this is symptomatic of market demands coupled with the fact that clothing incorporates a lot more hand work than almost any hard goods. The house I grew up in had a small closet in each bedroom. Over the years, my parents added much larger closets in three of those bedrooms, partly to accommodate an increasing variety of clothes, but also to store other things used seasonally like Christmas decorations. Now, many homes feature large walk-in closets to house the vast range of clothing, shoes, and accessories that the owners consider necessary.

People refer to planned obsolescence and I'm sure it exists to some degree, but designed and manufactured improvements play as big a role in changes to products. We each cast our votes in the marketplace as we weigh initial cost, expected cost, and reliability over the lifetime of the product, and now, perhaps, the ultimate disposition at end of life of the products we buy. Choose thoughtfully.

Big Al

That story begins with a bra. I completely relate. My favorite was discontinued, and then brought back in substandard shiny fabric that doesn’t breathe. I haven’t found a reasonable replacement, so my 15 (20?) year old bras are still in rotation.

The rest of the story makes sense, too. Blergh.

quote:

Originally posted by AdagioM:
That story begins with a bra. I completely relate. My favorite was discontinued, and then brought back in substandard shiny fabric that doesn’t breathe. I haven’t found a reasonable replacement, so my 15 (20?) year old bras are still in rotation.

Iliza Shlesinger has a bit about old bras ("your longest relationship") in one of her Netflix specials.

For years I hung onto some old (1950s vintage ) cotton bed linens that belonged to my grandparents and my parents. Damn things lasted forever, and people actually darned them if holes appeared. If you kept them long enough, they became almost transparent until finally collapsing into shreds.

I reluctantly got rid of the twin bed size sheets I had stashed away for years because I have no twin beds to use them on. but I hung onto some of the pillowcases. I love to use them in summer because in addition to being soft they are cooling.

Where has that cotton gone? I've looked high and low but have never found bed linens that can match them.

quote:

Would you still like to be using that PC or Apple MAC that you first encountered as a personal computer or the sleek, light, and portable laptop with wireless connectivity that you're likely using now?

I wrote on my first laptop--a Toshiba with two floppy drives--for a very, very long time, and I still have it, and all the floppies. I've gone back to work on a novel I re-started on that laptop and the floppy drive is a necessity to get back into those files.

My current daily driver is a circa 2008 ThinkPad x200--maybe the nicest laptop ever made, and virtually indestructable. You can run it on the very latest MS operating system, you can replace every part of it, you can run it on the latest Linux iteration. I have put in a 3T hard drive, maxxed out the RAM (you cannot upgrade RAM on new laptops), have replaced other parts as they failed--there is a thriving market on new parts for this machine because people love them.

My husband is a techhie, and he insisted that I had to have a new laptop already. I did my research, and was surprised to discover that my current (old) laptop was still a very hot item and much in demand.

Nevertheless, I bought about five different new laptops and was very unhappy with all of them and sent them all back.

Sometimes "they don't make them like they used to" is a serious issue with functionality. I am spoiled by my x200 and don't plan on getting a new laptop, not ever. There is nothing you can do on your new laptop that I can't do on mine.

And there has never been a better keyboard for a writer. And the graphics cards in the new machines--Intel Evo I think it is--gives me horrible eyestrain that is NOT relieved by hooking it up to my old monitor.

Now, if I were a gamer, or a videographer, I might have to cave and get a new machine. But writers can manage with a lot less. And I do create multimedia for my public talks on it, too.

quote:

Where has that cotton gone? I've looked high and low but have never found bed linens that can match them

guided by "wirecutter" on the NYT site I have been finding wonderful 100 percent cotton sheets, cheap.

but i didn't go out and buy until I experienced these terrific cotton sheets my new Rolfer was using. I literally wanted to steal them from her. She said she got them at Target. I remembered that Wirecutter had recommended these sheets.

We picked up a set immediately. I love love love them! So cool in the summer!

wtg, i think this is them:

https://www.target.com/p/400-t...14131704#lnk=sametab