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A fridge from 70 years ago has better features than the fridge I own now

mstdn.social

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Re: A fridge from 70 years ago has better features than the fridge I own now

#171

Post by r0fl »

michaelt wrote: post #111
dustincoates wrote: post #7

This reminds me of the same types of complaints around air travel now versus the 50s/60s. Both ignore the relative costs and the fact that you can still buy high-end fridges or first class tickets if you are willing to spend the same amount of money that you would have had to back then.

> you can still buy high-end fridges or first class tickets if you are willing to spend the same amount Can you, though? Or has the maker of that high-end $1500 fridge been brought out by the maker of $500 fridges? Are the two brands made in the same factory, to the same quality standards, while the owners laugh at those chumps who are paying 3x the price just to have a different sticker on the front? I've brought hi…

You can buy column fridge / freezers from sub zero, thermador, miele that are about $20,000-$30,000 (price in Canada) with complete different quality standards

Re: A fridge from 70 years ago has better features than the fridge I own now

#172

Post by philipkglass »

techdmn wrote: post #80

Certainly not the first to mention this, but see also: microwaves. I worked at a restaurant that had a microwave with precisely one input: a timer dial. To start the microwave, you turned the dial to the desired time. To stop the microwave, you open the door (ok, that's two inputs). To add time, you turned the dial further. It didn't beep a million times either.

I had a microwave from the 1990s that had one power level dial and one timer dial. That interface was the best I've ever used. It took two seconds to start the heating process after I knew what power and time I wanted.

If I could get a modern inverter based microwave oven with a two-dial interface I would love it. I just want the basic power and time controls to be fast and tactile. I'll happily give up sensor based cooking and the other extras in exchange for that.

Re: A fridge from 70 years ago has better features than the fridge I own now

#173

Post by bombcar »

usefulcat wrote: post #119
bombcar wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is it - high quality stuff is often still made, but it's expensive and/or has other downsides that you really do need to be aware of. For example, commercial equipment is often bullet-proof and long-lived, but it can be louder than you'd want in a home kitchen. Commercial dish washers have no noise insulation, get hot, but can wash dishes so fast they can crack them from the temperature changes. Commercial ovens…

> Commercial ovens have no or minimal heat insulation This seems counter intuitive to me. Why would I not want more insulation in an oven that's going to be used a lot more? Seems like the cost of the insulation would be amortized more quickly than in a home kitchen, since a commercial oven is presumably being used a lot more?

Commercial kitchens that want insulation around the oven install it in the walls or whatever it's being mounted in.

Houses aren't built for that.

See https://deqonline.com/blog/post/7-reasons-not-to-use-a-comme... for some example issues that you might not be aware of if you blindly ran in with "commercial better".

If you fully understand them (you worked as a line cook for awhile, etc) and compensate for them, it might be a fine option.

If you need 500,000 BTU.

Re: A fridge from 70 years ago has better features than the fridge I own now

#174

Post by arethuza »

firesteelrain wrote: post #87
drcongo wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My Samsung fridge is the worst thing I've ever bought.

Agree. Mine lasted 6 years. Replaced with a Whirlpool. Lowe's sales rep told us at the time that the Samsung's were great. I went back 6 years later and told him that we bought a Samsung from him 6 years ago when he told us 6 years later not to buy a Samsung. Needless to say, he was apologetic. Now, my Bosch dishwasher has been solid. No issues.

The Bosch dishwasher in our house lasted about 15 years and was fairly repairable - ultimately it got an electrical fault that I wasn't confident fixing so we got a new one and chose another Bosch.

Re: A fridge from 70 years ago has better features than the fridge I own now

#175

Post by forgetfreeman »

DSMan195276 wrote: post #99
forgetfreeman wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure, but you'd buy once and that fridge problem was sorted for a few decades. Over the long term you paid significantly less because you weren't replacing a broken fridge every few years. If problems did crop up appliance repair was a cost effective long term fix. Ain't designed obsolescence a wonder?

I think the point is more that you can buy expensive fridges today that could last that long - people don't because they care more about spending less on a fridge.

But you can't buy expensive fridges that last that long, they just come with more stainless steel, wifi, and a larger price tag. The internals are all commodity components that are manufactured in the same plants from the same materials as lesser models, all with the same incentives to have households replace their fridge as frequently as possible without actually tanking the brand.

Re: A fridge from 70 years ago has better features than the fridge I own now

#176

Post by r0fl »

pikahumu wrote: post #78
dustincoates wrote: post #7

This reminds me of the same types of complaints around air travel now versus the 50s/60s. Both ignore the relative costs and the fact that you can still buy high-end fridges or first class tickets if you are willing to spend the same amount of money that you would have had to back then.

If you want to fly without the security theatre today then a first-class ticket won't cut it. You'd need to get a private jet, which is of higher relative cost than a plane ticket was in the 60s.

Many first class tickets have priority check in, and separate priority security at many major airports. You avoid a lot of the security theatre that way.

Re: A fridge from 70 years ago has better features than the fridge I own now

#177

Post by rascul »

francisofascii wrote: post #39

The ice cube extraction feature is pretty cool. Have never seen that before. Do modern refrigerators have that? (I get that we have ice cube maker features, but those can fail before the refrigerator does.)

I'm not aware of any fridges that use an ice extraction mechanism like that. Seems unnecessary and extra work compared to an ice maker that just dumps ice into a container. If the ice maker fails, it's often replaceable.

Re: A fridge from 70 years ago has better features than the fridge I own now

#178

Post by ethbr0 »

bern4444 wrote: post #152
ethbr0 wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have a Sunbeam Radiant Control toaster that still works flawlessly. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=1OfxlSG6q5Y They used a shielded bimetalic thermostat to measure the radiant heat coming from the toast surface , instead of a timer, to establish doneness (consistently toasting despite heating element variance) and implemented the mechanical lowering & raising of toast without a single motor (which is why 60+ year ol…

What if you only want 1 piece of toast and not two? Will it still automatically go down?

I believe they're weighted so that a single piece of toast has enough mass to trip the mechanism.

Since they only use a thermostat on one side, you do need to use a particular side for single toast.

Re: A fridge from 70 years ago has better features than the fridge I own now

#179

Post by 542458 »

marricks wrote: post #5

Some of those fridges are refurbished and still around[1]! It's my dream to own one someday when my fridge from the 90's dies. Every couple years there's a HN link to a blog post about how those appliances were built better in the day. Couple highlights I remember were: - Parts were dipped in paint rather than sprayed leading to fuller and thicker paint coverage - Motors had some changes so were actually built to las…

> Parts were dipped in paint rather than sprayed leading to fuller and thicker paint coverage

This doesn't sound right to me... You can apply powdercoats much thicker than wet paint because the lack of an evaporating liquid carrier means much less worry about runs and sags. Modern powdercoats can also be much harder than traditional wet paints, and often more chemical resistant. They're also better for the environment, since you're not filling the air with evaporating solvents.

Re: A fridge from 70 years ago has better features than the fridge I own now

#180

Post by AlecSchueler »

CivBase wrote: post #105
AlecSchueler wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why doesn't everyone have old fridges then? You only buy new when the old one breaks down right? But if the old ones were so sturdy why were they all replaced? I expect there's some survivorship bias at play here.

Because it's more convenient to buy a new fridge than to seek out an old one in good condition on the used market? And because they don't manufacture old fridges so the remaining good ones fetch a much higher price? And because there's no way for a consumer to reasonably determine the longevity of a new product before purchase? I don't necessarily think that's why people aren't buying this fridge but those are reason…

Why do you make your statements into questions?
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