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Generation Junk

walterkirn.substack.com

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Re: Generation Junk

#131

Post by c22 »

jonahss wrote: post #67
naravara wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Honestly if you could plonk down a ton of money for a reliable appliance that’d be great but that’s usually not what money buys you now. Spending more usually results in fancier styling, nicer materials if you’re lucky, and a bunch of unnecessary technological frippery that ends up making the thing less reliable, not more. That’s the real problem is that the luxury tier of so many markets has thoroughly enshittified.…

the Miele vacuums are incredible. If you want appliances that last, buy the commercial ones. Hobart makes an under counter dishwasher that you can bet will never wear out and can be repaired. Shell out for an industrial washing machine like they have at the laundromats. Those things are made to run all day for years. If they break down, they're repairable.

The industrial washing machine will last a long time and it is repairable if it breaks down. But the one guy on this coast who services and can get parts for it is pretty busy and if you can't offer him a long-term contract to maintain thirty of them you may find yourself fairly low on his priority list.

Re: Generation Junk

#132

Post by LeafItAlone »

LiquidPolymer wrote: post #106

We have friends that just laid out $3000 for a new washer drier set and washer is already leaking from the front door. Pursuing warranty repair has been a major hassle. My wife and I use a washer and drier set from the late 90's that are nothing to look at but work really well. They appear to be designed with service in mind and changing components is usually extremely easy - something I have done infrequently. These…

> We have friends that just laid out $3000 for a new washer drier set and washer is already leaking from the front door.

What brand?

Re: Generation Junk

#133

Post by lamp987 »

drcode wrote: post #4

I feel arguments like this always ignore the fact that buying a toaster in 1950 was a major investment for a family, and if you want to spend $2000 on a high-end toaster in 2023, which is probably equivalent in inflation-adjusted price to the 1950s toaster, it will probably also be very nice.

you really underestimate the living standards of 1950. in many ways higher than today.

Re: Generation Junk

#134

Post by chubot »

willis936 wrote: post #27
fullstop wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A toaster in 1951 was $21, which is about $250 today. I would argue that a $250 toaster today is still not a "buy it for life" item, but it would certainly have a lot of bells and whistles and almost no user-serviceable parts.

Toasters are an interesting case study. I went on a tear last year after being fed up with every toaster doing the same bad job. I thought maybe someone made a proper toaster. What I found is that when you pay more the coat of paint gets nicer and maybe there's an MCU+LCD, but the guts and logic are identical. There is no good commercially available toaster today. It's sending a very loud message about how markets op…

I mentioned my Zojirushi toaster oven in another comment .. I use it as a toaster, and for a dozen other things. But it looks like they don't make the bread slice kind of toaster.

Re: Generation Junk

#135

Post by spitfire »

woopwoop wrote: post #12

So this article implies that a number of things that we buy previously were built to last longer, and indeed did last longer. The first few examples are kitchen appliances. In this case I don't really know, but I'm at least willing to listen. Ultimately the evidence is people responding to a thread on Twitter where he solicited complaints. Not so compelling. But then he mentions a "hybrid sedan". Here I'm aware of th…

> Modern cars are much, much more reliable and durable than ones built at any time in the past

Bullshit.

Mercedes-Benz W123.

Re: Generation Junk

#136

Post by thfuran »

jmarbach wrote: post #80

From The Bitcoin Standard: "The reduction in the purchasing power of money is similar to a form of taxation... As people start spending more and saving less, they become more present oriented in all their decision making... this helps explain why civilizations prosper under a sound monetary system, but disintegrate when their monetary systems are debased."

Yes, we should return to the gold standard so that we can all buy snake oil like in the old days.

Re: Generation Junk

#137

Post by x0x0 »

woopwoop wrote: post #12

So this article implies that a number of things that we buy previously were built to last longer, and indeed did last longer. The first few examples are kitchen appliances. In this case I don't really know, but I'm at least willing to listen. Ultimately the evidence is people responding to a thread on Twitter where he solicited complaints. Not so compelling. But then he mentions a "hybrid sedan". Here I'm aware of th…

Well, the explanation that people are getting exactly the dirt-cheap shoddy crap they demand is correct.

You can buy a nice burr grinder from a company that not only sells spare parts for at least 5 years after they stop selling the model, but who also shares youtube videos on how to disassemble and repair the grinder. Mine is 11.5 years old and I replaced the central gear when it stripped around year 7 or 8, after grinding 2-3 coffees a day, probably 150+ kg of coffee, for that time. However, it wasn't cheap, and people appear not to care. Baratza, btw.

Re: Generation Junk

#138

Post by paleface »

jonahss wrote: post #67
naravara wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Honestly if you could plonk down a ton of money for a reliable appliance that’d be great but that’s usually not what money buys you now. Spending more usually results in fancier styling, nicer materials if you’re lucky, and a bunch of unnecessary technological frippery that ends up making the thing less reliable, not more. That’s the real problem is that the luxury tier of so many markets has thoroughly enshittified.…

the Miele vacuums are incredible. If you want appliances that last, buy the commercial ones. Hobart makes an under counter dishwasher that you can bet will never wear out and can be repaired. Shell out for an industrial washing machine like they have at the laundromats. Those things are made to run all day for years. If they break down, they're repairable.

> Shell out for an industrial washing machine like they have at the laundromats. Those things are made to run all day for years. If they break down, they're repairable.

Industrial - or old school, Hoovermatic twin tub, where you can choose the exact length(s), of your wash/rinse - albeit, by babysitting it.

Re: Generation Junk

#139

Post by [deleted] »

samtho wrote: post #122
wredcoll wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The irony of course is that they deliberately make some parts out of plastic so they break before the rest of the machine does when you're misstreating it.

They’re built out of plastic because it’s $0.02 cheaper than a metal part and 99.9% of them last through the warranty period. It’s not deliberate that they make stuff that fails, they build stuff that lasts only as long as it needs.

[deleted]

Re: Generation Junk

#140

Post by blueridge »

marginalia_nu wrote: post #21
drcode wrote: post #4

I feel arguments like this always ignore the fact that buying a toaster in 1950 was a major investment for a family, and if you want to spend $2000 on a high-end toaster in 2023, which is probably equivalent in inflation-adjusted price to the 1950s toaster, it will probably also be very nice.

A lot of the high end stuff is crap too. You get a toaster with wifi and a touch screen and an app instead of something that works.

Go to BestBuy, behold this shit:

https://www.geappliances.com/profile-laundry#front-load

Smart wash! Smart rinse! Smart dispense! AI enabled!

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