# Technology: Friend or Foe? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 3, 2023, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/technology-friend-or-foe/988002 "2023-08-03T12:33:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2023, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/technology-friend-or-foe/988002/41 "2023-11-06T16:09:05Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > They were legendary for shit quality and shit reliability. But delivered with a very stiff lip and complete disregard for their products’ spectacularly crappy but fully deserved reputation. Making them definitively British. “You snobs! You stupid…stuck-up…toffee-nosed…half-witted…upper-class piles of…pus!” Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2023, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/technology-friend-or-foe/988002/42 "2023-11-06T16:10:22Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Lucas Electric was the British / English equivalent of Delphi or Motorola in the USA or Bosch in Germany. Dating from roughly 1900 through the 1980s. > [@LSLGuy](#): > > They were legendary for shit quality and shit reliability. How could they last so long if their products were so bad? ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2023, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/technology-friend-or-foe/988002/43 "2023-11-06T16:13:21Z")
I can’t say for sure. But my guess would be some combo of “The only game in town” in an era where international supply chains hadn’t been invented yet. The overall reliability expectations of 1940s to early 1970s products of all sorts is hard for us to fathom now. But lots of shit broke lots. And automobiles were by far the most complex consumer product in that era. The reason the entire British motor industry has ceased to exist is related to their inability (unwillingness?) to advance with the times. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2023, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/technology-friend-or-foe/988002/44 "2023-11-06T16:22:14Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > I can’t say for sure. But my guess would be some combo of “The only game in town” in an era where international supply chains hadn’t been invented yet. Thanks. That makes sense. It’s just hard to fathom in an age where you can search and find any product world wide in just a few seconds. I guess people were pretty isolated back then. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2023, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/technology-friend-or-foe/988002/45 "2023-11-06T16:24:44Z")
> [@Jasmine](#): > > How could they last so long if their products were so bad? People have been asking that question of the British Empire since at least 1903. The answers are varied and vague, but something about “Ceylon tea”, “The Indomitable Authority of The Crown”, “jellied eels”, and (if we’re being completely honest), [slavery, trains, tobacco, and opium](https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDbSvEZka6GHHIl30un4YM6ofQC2eaO4Y&si=xhOzK_RntlPpc5PN). Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2023, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/technology-friend-or-foe/988002/46 "2023-11-06T16:28:43Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > People have been asking that question of the British Empire since at least 1903. So, if “the sun never set on the English empire”, would it be fair to say, “the sun never set on their crappy products, either”? LOL [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/technology-friend-or-foe/988002.md?page=2)