Posted on 01/08/2023 8:05:40 PM PST by anthropocene_x
The Great Depression changed the very nature of consumerism. The economy desperately needed stimulation — and consumer goods were one way to do it. It was around this period that advertising heavyweight Earnest Elmo Calkins laid out a selling strategy that came to define purchasing habits for the next century: “consumer engineering,” or how advertisers and designers could artificially create demand, often by making older objects seem undesirable.
Fast-forward a handful of decades, and now several generations of people are conditioned to buy the new thing and to keep replacing it. Companies, in turn, amp up production accordingly. It’s less so that objects are intended to break (functional planned obsolescence) but rather that consumer mindsets are oriented around finding the better object. But “better” doesn’t always mean long-lasting when companies are incentivized to produce faster and faster and faster.
For years, Apple opposed right-to-repair laws, claiming they would expose company secrets. Because their screws are proprietary, you need special equipment to open up a device. This meant swinging by the dreaded Genius Bar or an authorized third-party shop to fix a broken screen until 2021, when Apple announced it would finally sell the parts required to open (and therefore fix) a device following years of activism from folks like Gordon-Byrne and pressure from regulators. Apple’s products still remain some of the toughest to repair on your own, according to iFixit, but the company is not alone in opposing right-to-repair; Microsoft, Amazon, Google, Tesla, John Deere, and General Electric have all spent billions lobbying against right-to-repair laws.
(Excerpt) Read more at vox.com ...
“Because we import sh!t from China “
Just one more way to financially break Americans.
Brooks Brothers is poor quality!? Good grief
That never occurred to me, but it’s a good point. Not enough water, no room for proper agitation.
I’ve noticed that you can pretty much give up on a company when they switch production to China.
The Chinese mindset can’t comprehend quality. At first almost all Chinese imports were crap. Then they wewre forced to offer a warranty. So what did these Chinses mfgers do? They designed (planned obsolescence) their stuff to FAIL just after the warranty expires. Especialy true in car parts. If the Chinese made water pump has 24 month warranty I can assure after month 25 you will start smelling anti freeze.
This has been the world I have lived in all my life except it’s in certain ways worse now but also better in certain ways. Computerization of everything was probably the biggest change that happened over those years. Anyone have any solutions to all this besides go live in a cave. One can rail against technology all one wants but it’s a bit odd to be doing it on an internet bulletin board. :)
“Least acceptable level of effort.”
13 lawsuits were consolidated in November of 22, so it’s winding through the courts.
They have gone downhill after a myriad of acquisitions and the bankruptcy. The stuff they make in Malaysia is not up to snuff.
Same here. Lifelong distrust o institutions
This was going on long before rise of China. Read Vance Packard no
Look what popped up today. Guess they decided settling was cheaper than losing.
https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/4121992/posts
The products don't need to outlast the consumer ...
... and all the consumers are slated for extermination.
Feel better yet?
Our Tennessee washer repairman recommended we not buy anything new .... get an older machine. The new ones are cheaply made and wimpy.
A legal challenge like this sortof is a culmination of frustration built up over years of people becoming increasingly unable to work in their own stuff just out of sheer complexity, design, and regulation.
We wwere looking into a new microwave a few years ago and the reports were terrible. After a few months, they either quit working or caught on fire.
I happened to see an older model of one at a thrift store, the same make as we had from when the kids were in college. It was only $8 so I grabbed it for parts at the very least.
I have read reviews at their site that does say the same things you do. At the prices they charge I will return anything that is what I consider low quality. I have noticed since the illegal chinese virus lockdown that they have fewer shirts to choose from.
#44 they fail because some dumbass sat on it and broke the screen.
I just saw a Amazon delivery guy flipping his cell phone end of end several times as he walked around....
Sorry. God has blessed me with a mate twice.
The first one lasted 47 years. She died in 2018.
I married again 2 years ago. At the peak of the Covid Insanity. Only 5 people in the wedding party. Preacher, his wife and my new bride and her daughter and I.
We planned to use cell phone with some app and stream the wedding to my wife’s 2 boys.
It did not work, but preacher’s wife got her cell phone out and recorded the service. It was not long. They put it on the church’s website (on Facebook?).
Within a week we had over 2,200 people watch the video. That was a surprise.
So I started over again at 72. Turned 75 last month.
God Blessed us both again.
Congrats and I hope you and your new wife will be very happy and have many years together.
Thank you. We are.
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