Mark Jerde wrote
Rod Speed wrote
Mark Jerde wrote

I recall the 1960's:
- TVs going out until a repairman with a bunch of tubes showed up.
- Automobiles needing constant maintenance.

No they didnt.

Rod -- Please realize newsgroup messages about "The Good Old Days" (we weren't good, we weren't
old, and we're talking about the nights
-- (someone)) have certain artistic license. ;-)

Pathetic, really.

Of course most vehicles could make it more than from one corner to the next. But there is also no
denying the fact I froze my buns & fingertips off many a South Dakota winter evening working on
"Timing" and "Points" and "Condenser" in the 1970s.

Irrelevant to the silly claim about why there
was a service station on every corner.

And I didnt spend much time on my points and timing in the 60s.

Condensers in spades.

(Why was there a "Service Station" on every corner? Hint: Cars needed *constant* service.)

And you dont need one on every corner even if they did.
Even you should have noticed that they did manage to
get further than the next corner the vast bulk of the time.

Sigh Of course I was exaggerating. These are newsgroups. ;-)

But the essense of my post is true.

Nope, there was one on every corner and often more
than one on many corners, for a completely different
reason. Nothing to do with the servicing at all.

My dad's cars (when I was a kid) needed *constant* servicing compared to mine (as a grown up).

Nothing like constant and I was grown up in the 60s too.

Yes, modern cars need a lot less routine maintenance, but its silly
to claim that those in the 60s needed CONSTANT maintenance.

- 20,000 miles on bias-ply tires was more than you could expect.

And that is a lot more than to the next corner.

Maybe knot -- ;-) -- I know people that live more than 6 miles from their next door
neighbor.

Irrelevant to the silly claim about corners.

"They Don't Build Them Like They Used To -- Thank God!" ;-)

I stand by this.

Sure, and I didnt even comment on that bit, just the other silly stuff.

I have three TVs in my house and their _combined_ _cost_ is less than IMO an inflation-adusted
*repair* of a 1960's B&W console TV.

And need a lot less maintenance too, like none.

I recall $600.00 CD players, and it wasn't that long ago. I also know modern portable CD players:
one chip and a bunch of membrane switches. If/when something goes wrong, toss the $35 player & get
a new one. You can't repair a single-chip device.

Depends on what broke. Whether there is any
point in bothering is another matter entirely.