Comment on Some things were better in the good old days
boonhet@sopuli.xyz 4 weeks agoIt’s not because of efficiency that things last less time now.
Crucial parts that used to be made of metal are now plastic to save money, etc.
It’s not because of efficiency that things last less time now.
well, yeah, a lot of over-engineering makes things fickle and it increases the number of potential failure points. simpler technology is simply more durable. My grandma had equipment they used for farming when she was a kid (that was 70 years ago). Stuff like buckets, pushcarts, manual hoes (those you use for farming, think minecraft hoes). They still work flawlessly.
Eh. It made more sense hundreds of years ago for people to build houses that lasted for centuries. That kind of construction makes sense in periods of slow technological and social change.
But think of how differently people live now vs just a hundred years ago. Imagine buying a house without running water, electric wiring, or insulation. Sure, old homes can be renovated to have these. But that requires tearing the thing down to the bare stone or wood walls and starting from scratch. You have to gut the entire building. The only thing that remains is the shell, a shell which represents only 20% of the cost of the building, if that. Most of the cost of a building is not in the structure itself, yet that’s the only part that gets saved in a complete gutting and renovation.
If you build a house today that lasts centuries, the only way that house will still be occupied 300 years from now is if it’s been gutted down to the studs multiple times over the generations. And at that point, why build an ultra-durable house in the first place? Why not build something lighter that requires fewer resources up front, and can simply be recycled once it’s become obsolete?
yeah you’re right, one of the reason why a lot of houses in the US today are built rather thin and lightweight (think wooden structures, cardboard-thin walls) is because it is not clear whether the houses would even want to be inhabited in 100 years. not just because of technological change, but also because there could be population declines. not only is the total birthrate in the US today declining rapidly and far below replacement levels, which will lead to a declining population number in the future, but there is also a lot of migration within the US. think for example of all the towns in the rust belt, where economy used to be very active in the 1900 while now it’s essentially a dead area. the production and industry has shifted to the coastlines, and it might continue to shift, so building a house today that lasts for centuries, if people stop being interested in living there in 50 years, might not be wise.
If you think the concept of saving money on shoddy parts was invented this decade you just never paid attention. “Metal” isn’t some kind of magic substance that just works forever, cheap cast bullshit iron can shatter quicker than you can say “structural integrity”.
The reason everyone is glazing up this old appliances is because of survivorship bias, everyone sees one on the million devices and doesn’t see millions of old bullshits that disintegrated into nothingness over years.
There literally are cases of switching from steel moving parts to plastic in appliances. Plus many manufacturers no longer sell spare parts past past maybe a year or two.
Appliances used to cost actual money so they had to be reliable and more importantly, repairable. Good luck finding spare parts for most washing machines or TVs nowadays. They’re designed to be thrown away because otherwise you no longer have any reason to upgrade. At least 50 years ago, technology changed fast enough that you’d have incentive to upgrade for efficiency, features, etc.
TV is quite unique because they’re cheap so you watch ads and they watch you and sell your data. You don’t repair them not because you can’t but because it’s cheaper to buy a new one because with TV you are the product.
With all the rest you absolutely can repair it, it’s just way harder because the technology is more complicated, smaller, integrated better. I repaired my washing machine myself 5 years ago with no prior knowledge buying a spare part on aliexpress, and it was Samsung, notorious for subpar repairability. On the other hand, I failed to repair my smartwatch even though I had spare parts, again was incredibly easy to find, but it’s was so complicated and small so without expensive equipment I couldn’t do it, but that’s absolutely not their fault.
Meanwhile, 50 or so years old TV my dad refused to throw out for nostalgic reasons had to be repaired every year like clockwork, it took him a full day, and by the end of it’s life spare vacuum tubes were more expensive than a new tv.
Anyway, planned obsolescence was always a thing, the legends are saying the first commercial lightbulb was sold with this concept in mind. But it’s not as ubiquitous as we fear it is
You can still buy those expensive appliances. The brands exist. Just be prepared to pay the prices your grandparents paid.
Some of the brands have turned to shit tho.
Samsung used to make reliable washers about two decades ago. Bosch appliances used to have a better reputation. Etc.
Miele is the only one still making supposedly reliable stuff but I read they’re relaxing their once great parts availability policy. No they’re not getting cheaper, just enshittifying.
tabris@lemmy.world 4 weeks ago
There is also a survivorship bias at play here. Old appliances that are still in use are exactly the appliances where all the constituent parts were top quality, that have had the right maintenance, that have, against all odds, survived. Plenty of those old appliances didn’t survive.
Yes capitalism has done what it does to increase profitability and desirability, but there are still got quality appliances that last. They just usually don’t have the most features, or a luxury look. When I got a new fridge-freezer last year, the guy who installed it told me that he rarely saw that model returned or repaired, and when it was repaired, it was pretty cheap. He also said he’d never buy a smart fridge, so I felt vindicated in buying the simplest device on the market.