They Used To Last 50 Years • Hacker News Board

Re: They Used To Last 50 Years

#191

Post by PuffinBlue » Mon, Mar 20, 2017, 1:54 AM UTC

15thandwhatever wrote: post #125

lobster_johnson wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are we ready to dismiss an entire brand because of one anecdote? All appliances fail at some point. We can't make a judgement based on a single data point. Reading about this stuff also makes me sad that the rest of the world have such weak consumer protections. In Norway, sellers are obligated to provide 5 years of warranty by law, and the consumer has certain rights such as the right to get a replacement if the pro…

The other thing that's discounted here is how people treat their products they've purchased. I'm not saying that's the sole cause, but it surely doesn't help when filters aren't cleaned, things aren't replaced at their regular intervals, and other standard maintenance isn't done. I'm comfortable with buying a used car given the maintenance paperwork and/or maintenance-related receipts are provided. But that's about i…

Point of order: The non-filter cleaned item is the longest lived.

Also, do you guys even dishwasher? You clean them by using a wash pack like this[1]. You don't need to physically remove the filter save for a blockage as you just wash it in place.

So yeah, I exaggerated, what a dastardly scallywag!

[1] https://www.tesco.com/groceries/product/details/?id=25945475...

Re: They Used To Last 50 Years

#192

Post by mrbill » Mon, Mar 20, 2017, 1:54 AM UTC

nickhalfasleep wrote: post #9

A coworker was raving about their refrigerator from New Zealand as being against this trend: https://www.fisherpaykel.com/

It's really weird seeing F&P as an appliance maker, they also make (or did, the design keeps getting sold off to various companies) the CPAP mask I wear every night.

Re: They Used To Last 50 Years

#193

Post by anigbrowl » Mon, Mar 20, 2017, 1:55 AM UTC

tl;dr more proof that capitalism is broken

Re: They Used To Last 50 Years

#194

Post by ajdlinux » Mon, Mar 20, 2017, 1:56 AM UTC

lacampbell wrote: post #91

MichaelBurge wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Around 40%[1] of the population rents, which means 40% doesn't make the purchasing decision for many appliances. We can sanity-check your argument with this: That reasoning should predict no change in the quality of commercial appliances used in apartment complexes and laundromats, since these customers are used to making spreadsheets with a capital expenditures budget that they pay into for 30 years. [1] http://www.…

Around 40%[1] of the population rents, which means 40% doesn't make the purchasing decision for many appliances. Do all rental properties come with appliances in the US? Here in NZ that's the exception rather than the rule.

Here in Australia, my apartment came with a dryer (required by law), a dishwasher and an oven. We had to buy the washing machine and the fridge, though.

Re: They Used To Last 50 Years

#195

Post by carapace » Mon, Mar 20, 2017, 1:57 AM UTC

There's a huge international ecosystem of sorts. Cf. "Junkyard Planet: Travels in the Billion-Dollar Trash Trade" by Adam Minter.

Metal is made into shoddy components and appliances and sold to the consumer. When they break, they're scrapped, recycled, and remanufactured into new shoddy components and appliances. The material cycles in a loop, pumping cash.

Re: They Used To Last 50 Years

#196

Post by seiferteric » Mon, Mar 20, 2017, 1:58 AM UTC

Weird I got a whirlpool washer that looks almost exactly like the washer in the picture in 2011 but I have 0 rust.

Re: They Used To Last 50 Years

#197

Post by bnolsen » Mon, Mar 20, 2017, 1:58 AM UTC

mrbill wrote: post #174

When we moved into this house 12 years ago, I got the cheapest, simplest, most "mechanical" washer and dryer set that Lowe's offered (I think it's branded GE). Haven't had a single problem other than the light inside the dryer eventually burned out when a housemate left the door open. I know that when one of them eventually fails, it will hopefully be a cheap and simple mechanical fix. I have no desire to own a "majo…

A serious problem in the US was that regulation demanded clothes washer lids be locked when in operation. This led to forced electronics on clothes washers starting several years ago just to handle the automatic switch. I know Speed Queen was trying to delay this mess but I don't know if they are still manufacturing purely mechanical washers or not...

Re: They Used To Last 50 Years

#198

Post by Nition » Mon, Mar 20, 2017, 1:59 AM UTC

dbg31415 wrote: post #184

Nition wrote: post #139

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd love to see a store that sells buy-it-for-life style products that are probably more expensive up front but also built to last, all with robust warranties so you know the claims are backed up. A place you could go into and know everything in there was good. If you wanted the cheapest you'd go somewhere else but man, I'd shop there. They could do appliances (stuff like SpeedQueen washers), hand and garden tools, k…

You're describing Sears, no? Sarcasm doesn't read so well on the internet but yeah my parents still have a washing machine from probably 1970 in their house. The matching dryer finally gave up on them about 5 years back... that thing was still to this day the best dryer I ever used. Run it 30 minutes, even the heaviest towels were crispy dry and almost too hot to handle when you took them out. I think having high qua…

Heh, our house is 20 years old too but the appliances they put in are terrible! Got a cheap warped Westinghouse oven that we have to prop closed with a guitar stand.

Re: They Used To Last 50 Years

#199

Post by Keverw » Mon, Mar 20, 2017, 1:59 AM UTC

mrbill wrote: post #174

When we moved into this house 12 years ago, I got the cheapest, simplest, most "mechanical" washer and dryer set that Lowe's offered (I think it's branded GE). Haven't had a single problem other than the light inside the dryer eventually burned out when a housemate left the door open. I know that when one of them eventually fails, it will hopefully be a cheap and simple mechanical fix. I have no desire to own a "majo…

I remember seeing on HN a year or two ago? About Samsung smart fridges calendar app not being updated when Google phased out the API it was using.

Also Blu-ray players don't get updates after a long while too I've heard as YouTube and Netflix changes their APIs - the devs of these devices don't keep them up to date.

I would prefer a dumb TV, and just buy a replaceable box with the computer part. The only way I could see embedded software lasting is if the company made the firmware/OS across all their devices and made it more generalized to work with all their devices of that class.

Re: They Used To Last 50 Years

#200

Post by mrbill » Mon, Mar 20, 2017, 1:59 AM UTC

foxylad wrote: post #189

mrbill wrote: post #174

When we moved into this house 12 years ago, I got the cheapest, simplest, most "mechanical" washer and dryer set that Lowe's offered (I think it's branded GE). Haven't had a single problem other than the light inside the dryer eventually burned out when a housemate left the door open. I know that when one of them eventually fails, it will hopefully be a cheap and simple mechanical fix. I have no desire to own a "majo…

Microwave ovens are another classic. We got ours 25 years ago, and it's still going strong. In fact several people who know about appliances have warned us never to ditch it - apparently the magnetron tubes for all modern microwave ovens burn out in a couple of years.

When we moved into this house, the wife made noises about replacing the "ancient" oven [0]. I asked "Has the technique of cooking food with heat, changed drastically since the 70s?" We left it in.

When I went to college in 1993, I was given my grandmother's original Amana RadarRange microwave from 1968 or so, the model with the two dials and the "done" buzzer that wouldn't stop until you hit a button [1]. It was huge, HEAVY, and we joked that it was full of lead shielding, but it got used for three years of college and after that was donated to my workplace when I moved to Austin. As far as I know it kept working there for another 2-3 years, and by then was most likely 25+ years old.

[0] https://goo.gl/photos/qrgoixCJDViks8am9

[1] https://i.ytimg.com/vi/hLhXgVAYoAE/maxresdefault.jpg

Addendum: I just realized that the microwave I have sitting in the kitchen was given to us as a wedding gift in 2001. The clock no longer works properly, but it cooks just fine.