Should All the Modern High-Tech Gizmos We Buy Be Considered DISPOSABLE?

SeaBreeze

SeaBreeze

Endlessly Groovin'
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Are all the computers, TVs, cell phones, etc. that we buy these days to be considered disposable? Isn't it true that having something repaired, paying the cost of a tech representative to come into the home to evaluate, order parts and repair...almost as much as the price of replacement?? :dollar:
 

"Planned Obsolescence." It's been a long time in the making.

In the 1930s an enterprising engineer working for General Electric proposed increasing sales of flashlight lamps by increasing their efficiency and shortening their life. Instead of lasting through three batteries he suggested that each lamp last only as long as one battery. In 1934 speakers at the Society of Automotive Engineers meetings proposed limiting the life of automobiles. These examples and others are cited in Vance Packard's classic book The Waste Makers. By the 1950s planned obsolescence had become routine and engineers worried over the ethics of deliberately designing products of inferior quality. The conflict between profits and engineering objectives were apparent. The fear of market saturation seemed to require such methods to ensure a prosperous economy, yet the consumer was being sold inferior products that could have been made more durable for little extra cost.
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http://www.uow.edu.au/~sharonb/columns/engcol8.html
 
What Di said.

Many times it's actually more expensive to repair than to replace, and, with electronics as well as with automobiles, you're left waiting for the next weakest link in the chain to break, usually one day after the warranty runs out.

I remember hanging out in a TV repair store when I was a kid, a friend of my brother ran it, and I'd be so impressed that he would spend so much time replacing vacuum tubes and "tuning" the sets.

Now you just throw it away and run to Wally-Mart for a replacement, usually something bigger and "better".

Thus continues the cycle of madness. What's nice is that many times someone would be throwing something out, something new and expensive, because they thought it was shot. I would come along, grab it, do a simple repair and save a few hundred bucks over buying a new one.
 

And now we have to pay more money to get rid of it, you just can't put computers, TVs, etc. out with the trash.
 
Forty years ago, we would repair a car's water pump with a kit (seals, bearing, gasket). But exchange pumps soon took over and now (I believe) you can't buy exchange, just new factory or other after-market manufacture.
 
Unless you know a good junkyard ... many were the hours I spent wandering around old wrecks, looking for that water pump that might or might not last a few months.

But for $5, it was worth it.
 
Well I plan on trading my old iPad in when I get my iPad air next month...best buy right now gives you a $200 gift card towards the purchase of a new whatever you want in their store.

Im sure other stores also offer similar deals.
 
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Old Hipster said:
Everything is junk nowadays. Nothing is built to last anymore. And it doesn't!
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OH..we were talking on your other thread about the power company supplying new appliances. The old appliances people are giving up probably would have still been running long after the new ones have died.

I have a Sears Kenmore freezer in my open shed that we purchased in 1980. It sill runs like a champ, has made 7 moves with me and has lived most of it's life in the heat of a Texas garage. I bought a new freezer (Not Kenmore, that's another b****h), 2 years ago, because I was sure the old one would die soon..Nope..still going..I sure wouldn't take bets the new one will last 34 years. Same with my old Kenmore fridge, it was 30 years old, and I left it in the house we sold when we moved here...You don't get that kind of life out of appliances anymore. I keep service contracts on all of the newer appliances,, and they have more than paid for them selves.
 
Old Hipster said:
Everything is junk nowadays. Nothing is built to last anymore. And it doesn't!
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I want to agree, but just this morning I was watching a show on the local public access channel that showcases local businesses. Today they had a guy who makes autoharps, and he makes them to last. Seems there's a whole sub-culture out there of autoharp fanatics, and his are supposedly the best of the best.

And his prices reflect that - $1,500 is the base price for any of his 4 models, anything custom will of course be more expensive.

$1,500. For a few pieces of wood and some strings.

Same in my field, martial arts - I used to have what I called "throw-away" weapons such as swords, mass-produced in China or Korea. They were basically wall-hangers - you couldn't even sharpen them, and the handles would usually separate from the blade within the first few uses.

But I also had a few Paul Chen swords, the Ferraris of the sword world. They were a few thousand each, but they were the real thing. You could chop at a concrete wall all day with those and they not only wouldn't break, they'd hold their edge as well. You knew, just holding them, that they were meant to last.

You get what you pay for.
 
As for kitchen appliances, take a look at Bosch, Sub-Zero or Monogram - they too are superior to the crappy Sears / Westinghouse - type boxes.

But you're going to pay for them. That's life.
 


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