Inspired by my fascination with a local TV/radio repair shop that somehow stays in business.
Stuff that always seemed to be broken in my kidhood (1970s-early 80s):
TV > fuzzy pic, horizontal/vertical hold, tubes blowing, roof antenna falling out of adjustment.
Car > Our big American shitbombs (i.e., Ford Marquis, Aries K) were always in the repair shop (and being crappily “repaired”). We were poor and had to buy retreaded radial tires, which predictably blew out every 1,000 miles.
You brought back some memories… I used to work in a TV repair shop when in high school. I went out to pick them up to be repaired. Or rather, two of us did. Monsters.
Everywhere in the shop where mirrors on little stands so the repair technician could see the screen while they fiddled with the components in the TV.
Cars are of course a big one. They go for ever now.
What does break today are landline phones. They seem to have a service life of perhaps 2 years.
Watches.
How many people here are old enough to remember (back in the days when they were called “wristwatches”) just how fragile they were?
Tires aren’t indestructible yet, but they seem so much more robust than a few decades ago. I haven’t tried looking any stats on that.
I was just thinking this the other day.
Even 30 years ago, you’d be generally doing well if your car lasted 100k miles. If it got that far, it was utterly worn out. You can see that now with people afraid to buy a car with that sort of mileage.
Of course, now it’s not unusual to see cars still going strong at 200k+.
In this age of disposable technology where most things are designed to last a few years at best, I wonder what’s so special about cars that that trend has actually reversed?
I can’t think of much else that’s like this - technology, clothing, tools, furniture - most things I can think of are much more flimsily built and don’t last anything like as long as the older stuff. Then again, these things tend to be much cheaper in the first place now so I guess it balances out, financially at least.
It does seem odd, especially since cars seem so much more complicated now.
I think Americans got so angry at the idea of planned obsolescence in cars that when Toyota and other foreign companies tried the strategy of improving reliability, they won big.
In other words, the “Big Three” auto makers got too greedy.
“Big Three” is an older term once used to describe the larger American auto makers, by the way.
Light bulbs in cars have gotten better.
I can remember when my headlights would predictably burn out in January or February, forcing me to wrestle with salt-crusted screws in Chicago’s fine cold winter, (be careful to remove only the retainer screws and don’t touch the aiming screws!) and I kept a small box of assorted turn signal and taillight bulbs in the trunk because those things seemed to pop off every few months.
Now, my truck has 107,000 miles and I haven’t replaced a headlight yet. Just a few days ago, one of the rear turn signal bulbs finally died.
Shoe laces. When I was a kid, back in the 50s, we had to keep a supply of laces in the house; every other week one would break. Today, I have laces that are years old, that are good as new.
I was going to say the same thing. They don’t go flat unless they’ve been punctured outright, not from ordinary use.
I think “planned obsolescence” is basically a myth. Cars have always been made with available technology and cost limitations. Technology has improved cars.
I haven’t replaced a car muffler in ages. They must be made better now. 1970s cars had them go out every 3-4 years.
Perhaps electronic ignition keeps cars out of the shop. Does a catalytic converter make the exhaust cooler, or less corrosive?
Planned obsolescence, or at least the perception of yearly obsolescence, was definitely a thing for U.S. automakers. For Chevrolet full-sized cars, 1955-1968 at least, no major body panels will interchange between any two years. Some models looked similar for a while ('55-'57, '62-'64), but they were different. Ford, AMC, and Chrysler were similar in this respect.
BTW, Napier, the Big Four is the term I remember. It preceded the Big Three.
I can count on something every September or so since I bought my Honda Ridgeline. One headlight will crap out then a week or so later the other will. I have already bought a 2 pack anticipating replacing the bulbs in a few months. But they are easy to change, takes about a minute or less.
Why is it that interior lights in cars seem so much more reliable by the way? I mean I drive a lot and use them, my car is ten years old and I’ve never had one burn out, I mean I guess I don’t use them nearly as much as the ones in my home but at the same time. I definitely use the headlights a lot and have never replaced one, sometimes I’ll install a new light in the house and it will die after like 2 weeks to a month.
Newer cars have LEDs in the lights, which last a very long time.
Not to hijack, but this is a pet peeve of mine.
When I buy a pair of boots I expect the laces to STAY TIED. So many pairs I have bought in the last few years that when I look down, the laces have come untied and I am amazed I haven’t tripped over them, besides looking like a homeless bum that just walked out of a thrift store.
I’ve ended up double-knotting all of them now. :rolleyes:
I’m in the dark here. What are these things you are talking about?
