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Generation Junk

walterkirn.substack.com

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Re: Generation Junk

#401

Post by svachalek »

mikrotikker wrote: post #336
AussieWog93 wrote: post #257

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One thing I suspect has tipped the scales in favour of less repairable products is the massive decline in social capital. 30-40 years ago, if your lawnmower broke down you'd ask Dave from two doors down to come and have a look at it. Now, you'd either take it to a professional repairman (and get it back 2 weeks and $100+ later), try to work it out yourself via online tutorials, or just throw it in the bin. Either way…

What's responsible for that decline in social capital do you think?

It's been captured, packaged, and commoditized. Dave's time doesn't belong to you anymore, it probably doesn't even belong to himself.

Re: Generation Junk

#402

Post by dcchambers »

germinalphrase wrote: post #161
dcchambers wrote: post #159

> I can’t say the same about my coffee grinders. I use the plural because I’ve owned a lot of them, all bought in their original packaging and dead within a year. They’re good ones, supposedly, with burrs not blades, but they stop performing before long Anecdotal, but if anyone is looking for a good coffee grinder that doesn't break the bank, can't say enough good things about my Baratza Encore. 10+ years of near dai…

What upgraded burrs?

The M2 Burrs from Baratza.

Re: Generation Junk

#403

Post by verall »

ghusto wrote: post #276
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. I continue to buy older cars because this has been false for me everywhere I've experienced new cars (borrowed, friends, my own). Pointing out lack of data to support an argument that relies on anecdotal evidence is good practice. However: - The anecdotal evidence is strong amongst older people - Data not existing doesn't…

My $20 Mr. Coffee my dad got me before I went to uni is about 9 years old, went through daily use for about 5 of those, stored outside for 2 years, has no problems.

I think people buy cheap weird shit and are surprised when it breaks but if you buy simple cheap shit it tends to work until you physically break it - I expect my enameled lime hand-squeezer to last basically forever also since I don't dishwasher it.

Re: Generation Junk

#404

Post by jdksmdbtbdnmsm »

roenxi wrote: post #96
jdksmdbtbdnmsm wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

All of the toasters sold today will be in the junk heap within 10 years

To make such bold claims about all the toasters being produced today you must be quite the toaster enthusiast. Although I admit to some scepticism. Seems likely that some toasters will turn out to be of high quality.

I just prefer buying things that will be durable and last a long time. All I can tell you about toasters these days is that none of those exist so I'm not interested in any of the ones that do.

Re: Generation Junk

#405

Post by neonnoodle »

willis936 wrote: post #209
klausa wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Either I'm having insanely good luck or I have extremely low expectations of a toaster, but I genuinely don't understand how a toaster does "bad job". What were the issues you were having?

My biggest issue is with the lever. I have to push it down between 5 and 10 times before it will trigger, without fail. I've had this across most all toasters I've owned. My second biggest issue is related to the same mechanism: the "pop" is impotent and does nothing to eject what's being toasted. The most I can hope for is that I can manually push the lever up. The next biggest issue is with heating element distance…

this guy toasts

Re: Generation Junk

#406

Post by cameldrv »

spzb wrote: post #119
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…

There's also a survival bias in that we don't consider the appliances from yesteryear that packed up back when disco was king.

Thinking back to growing up, we had an electric stove, washer, dryer, dishwasher, and refrigerator. All were purchased from '79-82 or so.

1. Stove died in about 2007 2. Washer/dryer were replaced with something "better", although they were still running in 2009 3. Dishwasher died in 2011 4. Refrigerator was replaced but still running in 2013

This was not just survivorship bias. Basically all of these appliances lasted at least 30 years. They were from good brands (Washer/dryer and dishwasher were Maytag), but I don't think you can buy an appliance today that you can truly expect to last 30 years. At the least, there will be some sort of control board that will give out after 10-15 years and won't be available anymore.

Re: Generation Junk

#407

Post by ikekkdcjkfke »

bigodbiel wrote: post #244
spzb wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's also a survival bias in that we don't consider the appliances from yesteryear that packed up back when disco was king.

Planned obsolescence is industry standard, from toasters to iphones.

Downvoted? Isn't it curriculum?

Re: Generation Junk

#408

Post by [deleted] »

a13o wrote: post #375
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…

This is a self-limiting belief. The middle category exists, if you go looking for it. It's still a second job to find it though. You need to learn about the materials, construction techniques, and even manufacturing and white label trends of the industry in question. It's exhausting. But after spending a month or two studying, you will be able to find pieces constructed to last a lifetime. For sofas try the Insider's…

[deleted]

Re: Generation Junk

#409

Post by dmoy »

nunez wrote: post #391
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…

Mid-tier still exists; you've just got to look for it. We purchased a $3200 couch that is definitely mid-tier for its size and it's been a fantastic value so far.

Yea we got something from... uh... (Insert place I'll go look up), which let us select the specific fabric, and took awhile (months?), but was pretty solid. For yea, around $2.5-$3k for a rather huge couch - something like two separate 2m couches that fit together in an L shape.

Was able to select very durable fabric too

Re: Generation Junk

#410

Post by jacobbudin »

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…

There are well-known furniture makers in the middle, including Room & Board and Stickley. Consider this Bogleheads thread: https://www.bogleheads.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=327476
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