On 12/27/2010 9:18 AM, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
?
"Molly Brown" wrote
Ed Pawlowski wrote:

So you'd really rather have a 19" B & W TV instead of a flat screen HD
with
a 47" screen? My family lives better with more air conditioning,
computers, bigger and better refrigerators.

The point that I was trying to make was that his evidence supporting
his postulate that things are better now is faulty for the exact same
reason that you stated of appliances being “more, bigger, better” In
other words he is comparing apples with oranges. We did not have
computers or color TVs then but we also didn’t have to call the repair
person or mechanic almost every day when those so called “better”
appliances and cars crammed with more and more idiotic“ amenities” or
“water and energy saver” features break down.

I recall changing tubes in the old TVs frequently while the newer ones
go for many years with no repair. I typically drive my cars over 150,000
miles and change spark plugs one time at 100k. Maintenance on newer cars
is a bit more complex, but it is needed far less. I remember cleaning
spark plugs every 5000 miles and replacing them at 10,000 miles, along
with point and maybe wires. And resetting the timing along the way and
adjusting points after a few thousand miles.

I had a 70 MGB. You'd get to work on that almost any day, particularly
if you needed to get home!

Everything last so much longer on a car today. Certainly internal
engine parts. Cars really are a lot better. So are TVs, what you had to
go through when color first came out. Now some of those old products
were substantially built, and money was spent on appearance (chrome
bumpers, furniture cabinets for TVs), but technology has made them a lot
more reliable and less of a pain to own and operate.

Jeff


No thanks, I'll keep my
newer cars that are cheaper to operate than any of my older cars.

My other appliances are just as good as they were in the past. You can
buy a decent basic gas or electric range for about $400 to $500. You can
also get better quality for $4000 if that is your desire.


Did you include the cost
of what you pay to the service technician or the parts supplier or
store for renewing every two years that cheap made in China garbage
when you said “But since we can more easily afford appliances, we can
more easily afford that bag of potatoes.

The last time I had an appliance serviced was about 20 years ago. Maybe
you need to buy better brands. I did just replace my dryer that was 29
years old and a few years ago, we opted for a new gas range rather than
fix the 25 year old one.


When I said I wish I could buy the same appliance I used then I wasn’t
referring to a TV set, computer or microwave oven but a range,
dishwasher, clothes washer, dryer or the early self defrosting
refrigerators which were substantially durable than what we have now.

I'm not so sure. Other than your perception, do you have evidence? Seems
to me that appliances did go through a stage about 5 to 10 years ago
where they were less reliable, but they seem to have rebounded. That is
my perception, not something I can prove.


I can even make a point about color TVs, computers and text messaging
cell phones which have killed social skills, conceptual thinking and
the English language if you like. The last genius we had was Einstein
with E=MC2. I dare you to name one Shakespeare, Beethoven or Da Vinci
since then. You don’t even see anymore polymaths like our founding
fathers anymore. What we have are bored so called “professionals” who
only want to go home and play SimCity or Call of Duty. Why do you
think that is?

While I agree with you there, it has nothing to do with reliability and
quality of a refrigerator. Many do say that TV has destroyed the human
species. That would be a different thread though.