RANT about our god darn consumer culture!!

[Jwalk]

So my home phones, yes I still have home phone. Don't really get reception in the basement and yada yada yada.

My home phones needed new batteries we have two home phones. I bought special batteries for one of them a few months ago and realized well might as well get one for the other one . Anyway so I finally get around to buying the second pair for the second phone.

Then my better half says well you know we could have just bought brand new set of phones.

I just went on staples sites and see that yes I spent more money on the god darn batteries then if I just bought a entire new set of phones... For F@$K sakes..

I guess I can take solace in the fact that I haven't contributed more to garbage island out in the middle of the ocean!

Its just depressing and so backwards, This isn't a new experience to me but it doesn't get any easier to know we are doing things such 4ss backwards. I mean the phones I have could last another ten years easy..

Oh yeah I haven't even told ya about the new dishwasher I bought because the old one isn't rinsing that well . But to fix that would have cost more than the new one.

Just to clarify when I say dishwasher I don't mean my wife I mean the thing that you buy at home depot.:Big Laugh

 

[SignosaurusRex]

True Story Jwalk!
It's getting that way with everything, Appliances, Printers, Plotters, Cars, on and on. The product models are changed or discontinued regularly while the inexpensive repair/replacement component prices are jacked sky-high in order increase profits and coerce one into new models on a regular basis. It's a vicious cycle. Components are designed to last just beyond the warranty period. Disposable Society!

 

[James Burke]

The product models are changed or discontinued regularly while the inexpensive repair/replacement component prices are jacked sky-high in order increase profits and coerce one into new models on a regular basis. It's a vicious cycle. Disposable Society!

A couple of additional reasons:

- Competition: manufacturers are always in need of outdoing their competition in order to survive in the marketplace, hence the ever changing models.

- New and cheaper technology is making the "old ways" of doing things obsolete.

- "New" replacement parts quickly become aftermarket parts...which can not be manufactured economically. Onesie and twosies will always be more expensive due to tooling maintenance, setup costs and short runs, not to mention warehousing those slow-moving parts.

So yea, I don't like it any more than you do.

I really liked the last laser mouse I bought four years ago so I bought two...knowing full well that it wouldn't ever appear on the shelves again. The new one is still waiting for me, but by then USB technology will probably be gone.


JB

 

[Billct2]

Seriously, a wide format printer that cost more than the house I grew up in is now disposable?! after only 4 or 5 years?

 

[bob]

Most anything that uses consumables, like printers [especially desk top printers], coffee makers, small things that use batteries, etc. would seem to use the marketing model created by King Gillette in the early 20th century. That would be "Give away the razor but sell the blades."

Desktop printers have taken this model to such an extreme that they are little more than ink vending machines.

 

[rjssigns]

I am old enough to remember small appliance repair shops that were in every town. Way back when you could get your toaster repaired, or vacuum, etc... Of course appliances back then were built like tanks, but also meant to be serviced should the need arise. Products were made to such a standard that it was worth sticking a couple bucks in them. These small shops also helped the local economy.

Now you buy something from China, it blows up, and you get another POS from China. Remember kids junk is no longer just a boat.

 

[TimToad]

We had the exact situation with the cordless phones here at the shop happen six months ago.

And who exactly forced us all to follow this business model?

Who put a gun to working class people's heads and said "You will reject common sense and your own economic self-interest and support the 1%ers goal of world domination at your financial, social and economic risk"

For over four decades as an informed and socially responsible consumer capable of seeing the big picture I have driven salespeople of every stripe crazy for rejecting cheaply made imported shoes, appliances, TVs, etc. until recently when the price of durable, well made, domestically produced goods are reserved only for folks in a much higher income bracket.

We still do heavy research and set extra money aside to still do what we feel is the right thing on most larger purchases, but its like an ant swimming against an ocean tide.

I really feel for those under 10 years old who will eventually pay for the mistakes and shortcuts we've all made in the name of convenience and perceived "cheapness".

 

[Sign Works]

Consumer mentality? Recently a friend told me that his 50" Plasma TV had died and asked me to help him toss it into the dumpster. I took the initiative to do a little online research and long story short, $15 used X-main board off ebay and I've got a new 50" Samsung plasma TV. Friend had already ran out and bought a $2,000 replacement.

 

[gabagoo]

I remember our washing machine finally went and we bought a new Whirlpool front loader...My wife nagged me about getting the matching dryer, if for no other reason that they looked good together. I of course said no...who goes in the laundry room anyways... 3 months later the dryer is on the fritz...call in the appliance repair guy and he says that we should fix the dryer as they don't make them like this anymore....sure it might use more energy but the new ones break down all the time and are generally only built to last at most 10 years.

We are now on our 3rd washing machine as the Whirlpool broke and would cost more to fix than buying a new one...lasted about 5 years and we still have that old dryer working away.....

The repairman told me that Maytag went bankrupt and was taken over by Whirlpool because their appliances never broke down...

hell I still run my Mimaki after 8 years and the service tech that comes in always tries to get me to upgrade... I always say there going to give me virtually nothing for this one, and I now take on another $20,000 of debt....so what if it is faster and less maintenance required.... I have the time!!!

 

[WildWestDesigns]

I am old enough to remember small appliance repair shops that were in every town. Way back when you could get your toaster repaired, or vacuum, etc... Of course appliances back then were built like tanks, but also meant to be serviced should the need arise. Products were made to such a standard that it was worth sticking a couple bucks in them. These small shops also helped the local economy.

Now you buy something from China, it blows up, and you get another POS from China. Remember kids junk is no longer just a boat.

We actually still have the toaster (Toastmaster) that my grandparents had when they ran their bowling alley in the '50s. To my knowledge, it has never seen the inside of a repair shop. Now, it is commercial grade and has received home use they last decade or so, but it has still outlived more modern toasters that I can count that my sister has had with the same or even less use.

I have an overlock machine that is actually a home model (built by Juki though) and it still sees active use with me when doing the edge work for long runs of patches.

I still think we can get quality items that will last longer, but I think the mainstream public buys items like this. It sucks.

 

[noiz]

I just bought new batteries for our phone system...off ebay. They only cost $6.00-8.00. Not a bad deal.

 

[Jwalk]

The repairman told me that Maytag went bankrupt and was taken over by Whirlpool because their appliances never broke down...

Wasn't that the may tag commercial. The repair man never went on any repairs.

I guess I could of did some searching for cheaper batteries. I've bought things of eBay for cheap and that's what I got.. Eh..