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Generation Junk

walterkirn.substack.com

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Re: Generation Junk

#141

Post by friend_and_foe »

klipklop wrote: post #42

I wonder if this is the symptom of ever eroding purchasing power the average western person is experiencing. Everyone is looking to stretch their income further and are willing to buy ever cheaper, but flimsy goods. Really the only thing that will fix it is stronger warranty law, this will make things more expensive, but it will massively cut down on landfill fodder. A refrigerator that can’t last 20 years is terribl…

This is one angle to view the problem, yes. Shrinkflation is the quintessential symptom of the problem, from the perspective of the consumer. But it's not just "how do we raise the price per pound without raising the price per unit."

Another angle to view this from is that saving money is jot worthwhile. People who get paid in dollars need to spend them quickly, so on offer around them is a plethora of goods and services that they can spend it on. Nobody saves for stuff so that stuff better be cheap, I'm sure the ideal price for an item is some function of the median weekly paycheck and apartment rent.

Viewed from yet another angle (and IMO a more informative one if you want to get at what exactly is going on here objectively) you see that inflation has a general corrosive effect on value and quality. The velocity of money increases, and the value of holding money decreases the longer it is held. So businesses trying to maximize profit have to go from getting people to spend their money to getting their money first. They have to have fast turnaround time for that capital. They have to pump out as many units as they can as fast as they can, those units have to degrade quicker than the money loses value or they can't make a profit. This creates a culture of unscrupulousness, the phenomenon compounds and speeds up over a few generations. Inflation hollows out and cheapens everything, including the culture of your society.

Re: Generation Junk

#142

Post by boring_twenties »

twodave wrote: post #17

At least as far as coffee grinders go, find a reputable company that will repair them. My Baratza Encore stopped working after about a year or two of operation, and I sent it in for repairs. It was probably just a small short somewhere, but I'm not an electrician. They sent it back to me after a week or so, cleaned inside and out and working better than new. I keep saying I'm going to replace it with the one from Fel…

My friend has a Fellow grinder and I honestly can't stand it. It takes about 5 or 6 iterations to get all the grounds out. It looks sleeker, and would match all the other Fellow stuff I have, but is too frustrating to use, even if it were free.

As to your Encore, if you feel like a cheap upgrade you could replace your cone burr with the M2 from the slightly more expensive Virtuoso model. It's a drop-in replacement, however, you will have to take your grinder apart.

Re: Generation Junk

#143

Post by jchook »

ljnelson wrote: post #23
neilv wrote: post #9

> For the remains of the Pyrex casserole that shattered when I removed it from the oven, Noteworthy example. Current Pyrex-branded kitchenware is no longer borosilicate glass. I shattered a Pyrex casserole dish with what I guess was probably thermal shock, by moving it out of the oven, into a stainless steel sink.

You want to make sure you're using PYREX, not pyrex. They're different![1] [1]: https://www.allrecipes.com/article/what-is-the-difference-be...

Unreal that this very misleading branding was allowed to continue.

Re: Generation Junk

#144

Post by massysett »

TehShrike wrote: post #2

This feels like something that could be ameliorated by trustworthy curation, but The Wirecutter hasn't given good signal for years now, if it ever did, and I haven't seen anything else yet. Maybe I should try paying for Consumer Reports

My main problem with CR is that when I'm looking for an appliance, it typically recommends a slew of models that simply are not available anywhere. They are all discontinued or out of stock, and they have not tested the models that are widely available.

Perhaps they are more worth it for cars, though that is not a frequent purchase.

CR is inexpensive enough to be worth it for a homeowner - there is always something breaking that needs replacing - but not as worthwhile as I would hope. I often wind up buying based on poor signals such as brand name and online ratings.

Re: Generation Junk

#145

Post by shepherdjerred »

im_down_w_otp wrote: post #68

I’ve had to buy a lot of furniture and other things for my new house this year, and one of the things that really sticks out to me is that practically every category of product seems to be split into a bimodal distribution: cheap crap & luxury boutique. There are practically no entries occupying the middle of the market that are on the basic end regarding features & frills but also high-quality. It’s incredibly annoy…

That's a mind-boggling anecdote. As an example, Crate and Barrel are known to make good, high-quality couches, and many of them are far less than $5000

Re: Generation Junk

#146

Post by friend_and_foe »

p1mrx wrote: post #75

My advice on electric coffee grinders: just buy a manual one with a hex shaft, and drive it with a brushless drill. I've been making drill coffee for years now.

I wouldn't drive it with a drill because too fast and you'll damage the augur pretty badly. I just hand crank mine, it takes a little time and slows my pace, gives me a minute to think and it's a small work out.

Re: Generation Junk

#147

Post by kube-system »

fullstop wrote: post #11
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 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.

> 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.

Not if you buy one that is $250 because it has bells and whistles. You can buy a $250 dollar toaster that is just a toaster and it will be of good quality.

https://www.webstaurantstore.com/waring-wct708-4-slice-comme...

Re: Generation Junk

#148

Post by friend_and_foe »

thfuran wrote: post #136
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.

You're missing the point. I actually had this realization on my own and had heard that the concept was outlined in the book which is what prompted me to read it.

Cheap money cheapens everything, because the velocity of money is high and so capital turnover is the name of the game. To make a profit, what you sell has to be cheaper than the money you get. It cheapens people because they have to constantly be scratching for a buck just to keep up.

Re: Generation Junk

#149

Post by LeafItAlone »

pete762 wrote: post #100
crooked-v wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For me, I think the prime comparison is the KitchenAid stand mixer. You can get a new one that's functionally identical to the classic models that have lasted forever... and it'll run you at least $350 even during a major sale.

My mom has a Kitchen Aid kettle. That shitty thing breaks all the time forcing my dad to replace some parts of the circuit. (And it's not the users' fault, it's a damn kettle, there's not much you can do wrong except maybe starting it empty which they don't do)

> breaks all the time forcing my dad to replace some parts of the circuit

> there's not much you can do wrong

That’s right, which means that the repair jobs are probably failing or incorrect…

Re: Generation Junk

#150

Post by slavik81 »

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.

There's a single nylon gear. The rest are made of metal. They've been using a sacrificial worm gear since the 1960s.

KitchenAid switched to all-metal gears on their high-end models fairly recently. In the past, all models had a nylon gear, but the new high-end mixers use electronics to protect the motor.

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