# Things that Don't Break Anymore **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 20, 2015, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-dont-break-anymore/723006 "2015-06-20T13:31:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2015, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-dont-break-anymore/723006/21 "2015-06-20T23:49:45Z")
> [@BobArrgh](#): > > I’m in the dark here. What are these things you are talking about? A desk telephone that uses wires to connect to the phone company. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![No\_umlaut\_for\_U](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ea5d25/32.png) [@No\_umlaut\_for\_U](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/No_umlaut_for_U)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2015, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-dont-break-anymore/723006/22 "2015-06-21T00:20:17Z")
Have to agree with shoelaces. I have to stop myself from removing them when I discard worn-out shoes. I might posit computer printers, although maybe I’ve learned my lesson and have quit buying cheap-ass garbage brands. Photocopiers have gotten much more reliable between 1990 and now. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2015, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-dont-break-anymore/723006/23 "2015-06-21T01:49:51Z")
> [@No\_umlaut\_for\_U](#): > > I might posit computer printers, although maybe I’ve learned my lesson and have quit buying cheap-ass garbage brands. Printer companies want to sell us toner. A guy who worked on our printers pointed out that it was cheaper to buy a new HP printer than replace the toner. ---
**Author:** ![Kropotkin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kropotkin/32/18045_2.png) [@Kropotkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kropotkin)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2015, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-dont-break-anymore/723006/24 "2015-06-21T02:53:41Z")
After many angst-ridden episodes in the 1970s-early 80s, my heart hasn’t been broken since 1984… ---
**Author:** ![pool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pool/32/4152_2.png) [@pool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pool)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2015, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-dont-break-anymore/723006/25 "2015-06-21T03:09:21Z")
My car doesn’t have LED’s they’re just the regular old lights. ---
**Author:** ![usedtobe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ec9cab/32.png) [@usedtobe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usedtobe)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2015, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-dont-break-anymore/723006/26 "2015-06-21T03:25:03Z")
> [@Kropotkin](#): > > After many angst-ridden episodes in the 1970s-early 80s, my heart hasn’t been broken since 1984… I was waiting for this one. Your time is gonna come… ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2015, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-dont-break-anymore/723006/27 "2015-06-21T03:34:18Z")
> [@Cabin\_Fever](#): > > 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 got fed up with my laces always loosening up. One day I came across these things. I didn’t even know they existed. And they really work.[Lock Laces.](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007DLVLDY?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o07_s00) ---
**Author:** ![Kropotkin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kropotkin/32/18045_2.png) [@Kropotkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kropotkin)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2015, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-dont-break-anymore/723006/28 "2015-06-21T03:44:37Z")
> [@usedtobe](#): > > I was waiting for this one. > > Your time is gonna come… What do you know about my 30+ year relationship that I don’t?!:eek::eek: ---
**Author:** ![Cabin\_Fever\_1](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cabin_fever_1/32/2908_2.png) [@Cabin\_Fever\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cabin_Fever_1)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2015, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-dont-break-anymore/723006/29 "2015-06-21T05:36:06Z")
> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > I got fed up with my laces always loosening up. One day I came across these things. I didn’t even know they existed. And they really work.[Lock Laces.](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007DLVLDY?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o07_s00) Definitely going to try that. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Cabin\_Fever\_1](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cabin_fever_1/32/2908_2.png) [@Cabin\_Fever\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cabin_Fever_1)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2015, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-dont-break-anymore/723006/30 "2015-06-21T05:43:04Z")
> [@Jennshark](#): > > 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. So many consumer goods are considered throw-aways nowadays. My mother has a Hamilton-Beach toaster that must be …what… 100 years old by now. (I jest). Still works just fine. ---
**Author:** ![usedtobe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ec9cab/32.png) [@usedtobe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usedtobe)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2015, 8:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-dont-break-anymore/723006/31 "2015-06-21T08:10:14Z")
Batteries. I ran across a photo flash unit from 1985-87. Somehow, someone had gotten old carbon-rod-in-lead-can-packed-in-acid batteries and ruined it. Haven’t seen corroded battery compartments in years. OTOH, when I decided to buy a stand kitchen mixer, I went to ebay to find an original Kitchenaid unit. Kitchenaid was the name Hobart gave its residential-sized mixers. Then they sold the name and somebody else is using it. This thing will outlive at least another generation. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2015, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-dont-break-anymore/723006/32 "2015-06-21T12:21:53Z")
Electricity. When I was a kid, we suffered through power cuts three or four times a year, and for 6 or 8 hours at a time. We’d need candles and a battery radio to entertain us. But now they’re very rare. I haven’t been in a power cut in five years, and that one only lasted 20 minutes. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2015, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-dont-break-anymore/723006/33 "2015-06-21T12:26:49Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > Printer companies want to sell us toner. > A guy who worked on our printers pointed out that it was cheaper to buy a new HP printer than replace the toner. The cartridges that come with cheap, new printers are tiny. You aren’t getting anywhere near the same amount of toner as with a new cartridge. This is generally not a good idea. (Once cartridges for you older printer become scarce, it’s another issue.) ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2015, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-dont-break-anymore/723006/34 "2015-06-21T12:33:41Z")
> [@bubba001](#): > > I think “planned obsolescence” is basically a myth. Cars have always been made with available technology and cost limitations. Technology has improved cars. > [@california\_jobcase](#): > > 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. Planned obsolescence in the auto industry had to do with marketing, not with technology. A marque, say Cadillac, would have top-tier, mid-cost, and entry-level models. Over time, the top-tier model would be topped by a new top-tier model and the entry-level model would be phased out. It was intentional degrading of a brand name to a lower price level. The idea, at least in part, was that over time, a customer who couldn’t afford the top-tier model when it was top-tier, would eventually be able to afford the name and the price level would take advantage of the residual good will of a brand name to cater to new (lower price) markets. ---
**Author:** ![Dibbs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/da6949/32.png) [@Dibbs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dibbs)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2015, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-dont-break-anymore/723006/35 "2015-06-21T17:46:24Z")
I’ve bought several Franklin portable electronic pocket dictionaries over the years as well as their electronic Bible and the things never fail to stop working after a couple of years even though I’ve babied them and, in the case of the Bible, hardly used it at all. I asked several tech people why this is and was told that these devices purposely have some type of chinchy gizmo in them that fry-out after a bit of time so that you’ll have to go out and buy a new device! Makes me mad to shell out $80 or so only to have THAT happen! (I will no longer buy any of their products, btw.) ---
**Author:** ![Hopeful\_Crow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/da6949/32.png) [@Hopeful\_Crow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hopeful_Crow)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2015, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-dont-break-anymore/723006/36 "2015-06-21T18:20:37Z")
> [@Cabin\_Fever](#): > > 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: Try rubbing lip balm on your laces. I don’t know about the heavy-duty round boot laces but I’ve had resounding success with the lighter round ones for shoes. It really keeps them from untying! I find you do have to reapply the balm every four or five months or so. I got a freebie at a health fair that I keep for just this purpose. It would be worth trying if you’ve got an old tube lying around somewhere. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2015, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-dont-break-anymore/723006/37 "2015-06-21T20:16:52Z")
> [@The\_Angry\_Badger](#): > > 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. here’s the thing- most people aren’t automotive enthusiasts. back in the day people would praise how easy a car was to work on yourself, because you always had to work on them. Spark plugs didn’t last long, you had to replace/adjust the points regularly, etc. Then the Japanese automakers showed up and proved that cars didn’t have to be fiddled with all the time. So the non-enthusiast mass market voted with their wallets. Then the rest of the industry eventually learned that to get customers back, they had to be _at least_ as good. also, a lot of car buyers will get a new car every few years (e.g. leasing,) so the automakers don’t have to worry about the longevity of their cars letting buyers put off future purchases. > [@nearwildheaven](#): > > I was going to say the same thing. They don’t go flat unless they’ve been punctured outright, not from ordinary use. You can thank Michelin for inventing the radial tire. Prior to that, tires were mostly of bias-ply construction, where the layers of fabric cords wrapped around to form the carcass criss-crossed each other at about a 45-degree angle. As the sidewall flexed during normal driving (and even more so if the tire was low on air pressure) the flexing of the sidewall made these criss-crossed plies “scrub” and “twist” across each other. Eventually this weakened the sidewall and you would end up with a “blow-out.” It’s extremely rare for a properly inflated radial tire to blow out. ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2015, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-dont-break-anymore/723006/38 "2015-06-21T20:39:36Z")
> [@jz78817](#): > > You can thank Michelin for inventing the radial tire. Prior to that, tires were mostly of bias-ply construction, where the layers of fabric cords wrapped around to form the carcass criss-crossed each other at about a 45-degree angle. As the sidewall flexed during normal driving (and even more so if the tire was low on air pressure) the flexing of the sidewall made these criss-crossed plies “scrub” and “twist” across each other. Eventually this weakened the sidewall and you would end up with a “blow-out.” > > It’s extremely rare for a properly inflated radial tire to blow out. [http://www.bloomberg.com/bw/stories/2006-05-04/a-tale-of-two-tiresbusinessweek-business-news-stock-market-and-financial-advice](http://www.bloomberg.com/bw/stories/2006-05-04/a-tale-of-two-tiresbusinessweek-business-news-stock-market-and-financial-advice) Looks like they’ve been around for a while. Do you know if there have been any major changes since the mid 90s? I haven’t found any information. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2015, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-dont-break-anymore/723006/39 "2015-06-21T23:47:49Z")
> [@Cabin\_Fever](#): > > 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: Mine too, so I asked my shoemaker. He said to replace the nylon laces with cotton. It works! Of course, they will break much sooner. Trade off. Another pet peeve is plastic wrapper that cannot be undone. Used to be that plastic wrap was ever so fragile. Not any more. ---
**Author:** ![Bookkeeper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bookkeeper/32/281_2.png) [@Bookkeeper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bookkeeper)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2015, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-dont-break-anymore/723006/40 "2015-06-22T00:49:43Z")
> [@No\_umlaut\_for\_U](#): > > Have to agree with shoelaces. I have to stop myself from removing them when I discard worn-out shoes. > I might posit computer printers, although maybe I’ve learned my lesson and have quit buying cheap-ass garbage brands. > Photocopiers have gotten much more reliable between 1990 and now. The HP LaserJet 4L I bought in 1993 is still in good working order and I still use it a couple of times a month. It’s getting so that I need to go online to buy replacement cartridges, though. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-dont-break-anymore/723006.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-dont-break-anymore/723006.md?page=3)