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A toaster from 1949 is still smarter than any sold today

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Re: A toaster from 1949 is still smarter than any sold today

#111

Post by ASalazarMX »

cuddlybacon wrote: post #59

Since everyone is mentioning Technology Connections (he deserves it, great channel), I want to bring up this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UiS27feX8o0 To me, this really shows the sad direction smart appliances have gone in. I would love to see that smart appliances would have continued to evolve in this direction. I don't like the current state of smart appliances, but going back to the absolute basic seems…

I wanted to automate my house, but the results convinced me that starting from the absolute basics and growing from it is the best approach. It's more environmentally friendly too.

The only smart devices left are some smart bulbs, and I'm waiting for them to fail before replacing them with regular LEDs. Nothing beats the reliability and energy/resource savings of plain locks and buttons.

Re: A toaster from 1949 is still smarter than any sold today

#112

Post by jfim »

Gigachad wrote: post #95
jfim wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are some companies that do build long lasting appliances. For example, one can buy a Speed Queen washing machine for home, and they're supposed to be comparable with their commercial laundromat offerings. They're also 2-4x the price of a similar washing machine. The big problem is that on the consumer side, it's pretty much impossible to evaluate durability of goods. Is the $80 toaster much more durable and bet…

And then is it even worth thinking about which toaster will last 50 years vs 10 years when the price may as well be free for how cheap they are.

That assumes that the sticker price is the only externality. If it breaks, one has to throw away the toaster and order a new one, potentially being without toast while the new one is shipped.

For me, it's less about cost and more about not leaving a pile of cheap toasters in a landfill for future generations.

Re: A toaster from 1949 is still smarter than any sold today

#114

Post by maccard »

malleefowl wrote: post #55
deskamess wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks for the info. How was pricing? I assume it has be on the high side given the restoration.

Mine was $360 with shipping. Obviously very high compared to a new toaster, but I wouldn’t have wanted to do the wiring myself, so worth it for me.

It's high, but not unreasonably so, compared to a decent modern toaster. For example, a dualit 4 slice toaster is £200/$260. Pretty much everyone I know who has one is happy with it, and it meets modern safety standards out of the box.

Re: A toaster from 1949 is still smarter than any sold today

#115

Post by AussieWog93 »

Gigachad wrote: post #86
rob74 wrote: post #78

I can contribute another simple example of a kitchen appliance that didn't necessarily get smarter: the cooking plate! Remember the good old cookers with rotary switches? Those actually had up to seven different stages of heating (see schematic here http://www.herd.josefscholz.de/7Takt/img16.gif )! While the new digital ones are... digital - i.e. they switch the plate on and off repeatedly to produce different amount…

The digital touch screen ones won because they are so much easier to clean. A current model induction stove is a completely flat sheet of glass. You spray some chemical on it and give it a wipe down and its done. No pulling knobs off, working between gaps, etc. And on the switching behavior, I believe that is more related to just how induction cooking works rather than the way you control it. The values on the contro…

To be fair, they do have gas stoves with inductive touch panels now. Only thing to clean are the grills themselves.

Re: A toaster from 1949 is still smarter than any sold today

#116

Post by Gigachad »

jfim wrote: post #112
Gigachad wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And then is it even worth thinking about which toaster will last 50 years vs 10 years when the price may as well be free for how cheap they are.

That assumes that the sticker price is the only externality. If it breaks, one has to throw away the toaster and order a new one, potentially being without toast while the new one is shipped. For me, it's less about cost and more about not leaving a pile of cheap toasters in a landfill for future generations.

For me, there is a store I can walk to and pick up a new toaster within 200m, and I have never seen a toaster break since they are dead simple. Avoiding needless landfill is by far the most important part here but a toaster is pretty low on the priority list. Food packaging and just food production in general for a year would outweigh several lifetimes of toasters.

Re: A toaster from 1949 is still smarter than any sold today

#117

Post by Gigachad »

AussieWog93 wrote: post #115
Gigachad wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The digital touch screen ones won because they are so much easier to clean. A current model induction stove is a completely flat sheet of glass. You spray some chemical on it and give it a wipe down and its done. No pulling knobs off, working between gaps, etc. And on the switching behavior, I believe that is more related to just how induction cooking works rather than the way you control it. The values on the contro…

To be fair, they do have gas stoves with inductive touch panels now. Only thing to clean are the grills themselves.

The knobs are part of it but the actual grill bits are by far the worst. I don't understand why gas stoves are so popular when you have to pull them to bits and scrub down after every use if you don't want them looking like crap. While induction is faster and takes a 20 second spray and wipe.

Re: A toaster from 1949 is still smarter than any sold today

#120

Post by throwaway0a5e »

maltalex wrote: post #10
jws wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But maybe redesign it so the coils can’t be live even when it is off. Because you can’t stop humans from using forks. I grew up with one of these and was going to get an old one and refurbish it, but I live with too many hairless apes that would stick a fork or knife in to retrieve their undersized bread. Maybe if I put on a polarized plug, and check all the outlets in the kitchen to make sure they are wired correctl…

Of course. The original sunbeam probably could not have been even made or sold today due to safety standards.

Non issue. The device is so simple the Chinese will have no problem knocking it off with acceptable fit and finish. From there it's a simple matter of slapping a UL sticker on it (and I mean that in the most literal sense).
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