"Doug" wrote in message

stuff snipped

On a side note, things that I was once told were to last so many
years, more recently I'm told those same things last perhaps half (or
less) as long nowadays.... ie: washing machines, hot water heaters,
refrigs come to mind. That's sad in my opinion.

It's a deliberate process. The manufacturer examines parts on machines
returned for servuce that have lasted longer than the warranty and decide
which ones were stronger than they needed to be. Then they weaken them.
(-:

Two examples come to mind. The first Compaqs were indestructible, using
gold-plated connectors rated at 10's of thousands of insertions along the
unit's I/O backplane. They almost never failed. Over the years, they
reduced the spec of that part until they started to see *some* consumer
complaints. That's when they decided to stop reducing the part's quality.

Toyota used to paint the inside of their bumpers until cost experts said
that customers would almost never see the paint and so they stopped doing
it.

Still, if you're thrifty, it's hard to trash something that hasn't failed
for a gradual payback on your electric bill. It's so much nicer when they
cooperate by dying a quick, expensive to repair, death.

--
Bobby G.