On 3/9/2016 12:26 PM, Percival P. Cassidy wrote:
On 03/09/2016 08:32 AM, Dean Hoffman wrote:

This is from the Carpe Diem site written by Mark J.
Perry. Manufacturing workers can now buy 11 appliances
with 152 hours of labor what used to cost them 886 hours
of labor back in 1959.

http://alturl.com/a7gqu or

http://www.aei.org/publication/monday-evening-links-6/

How many times do they have to buy replacements for the 2016 appliances because
they don't last nearly as long as the 1959 ones?

Exactly. Or, if you can keep them running, how much does it *cost*
to do so?

Washer/dryer had close to 20 years on them before SWMBO just decided
she didn't like looking at them and wanted replacements. New washer
lasted 16-18 months (in a household that does very few loads) before
needing service (which, of course, would have been out-of-warranty).

Refrigerator is 20+ years old. SWMBO also tired of looking at it.
OTOH, after seeing the prices of new, hearing about typical life
expectancy AND the washing machine experience, decided ours doesn't
look too bad after all! :

[You can buy a CAR for the price of some of these new refrigerators!]

Freezer has been in the (hot) garage for more than 20 years. It
was 20 years old when we moved in. Wanna bet we wouldn't see
half that with a new unit? And, new units aren't as easy to defrost
as this one (we can empty it, defrost it, and refill it in less than
15 minutes!)

Friend makes smoothies. He's on his third blender/juicer in probably
5 years. We juice 200+ pounds of oranges (granted, different technique)
annually (325 pounds this year) with our antique "Acme Juicerator"
(half expect to see Wile E Coyote doing an advert for them!) and have
done so for 20+ seasons.