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The bewildering phenomenon of declining quality

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Re: The bewildering phenomenon of declining quality

#771

Post by immibis »

randallsquared wrote: post #746
immibis wrote: post #743

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Am I the only one annoyed by the continual low-level background radiation (heh) of pro-nuclear propaganda? It's just another fossil fuel. Sure, it doesn't emit CO2, but the sustainability problem is still there. I'll support nuclear expansion when I see a credible plan to complete the transition to actual renewables within 30 years, using nuclear as a stopgap. We have less than 100 years of known uranium reserves if…

We have less than 100 years of uranium assuming we use enriched uranium once, don't reprocess the "spent" fuel, don't use breeder reactors to make plutonium for further energy production (going from 100 to thousands of years at current usage rates), and don't use breeder reactors to produce U233 from thorium, which is so much more abundant and available than uranium that it would extend current use by another 100-270…

I don't know how you can say with a straight face that solar power is a stopgap and nuclear power is a long-term sustainable solution. I cannot rightly comprehend the confusion of ideas that would provoke such a statement.

Re: The bewildering phenomenon of declining quality

#772

Post by sershe »

When I was growing up we had an old Soviet fridge at our dacha. It was at least 30 years old (maybe more, it's age was definitely compared to my mother's on multiple occasions) and it was working 3 months out of a year in unheated uninsulated room in up to 90 degree heat, while sitting idle thru Russian winter.

The only issue with it was that the door didn't close too well. My more conscientious family would bend down to push it gently, whereas I would just kick it. It took me less time to quit smoking than to quit kicking fridges every time I close the door. I think I was still kicking fridges in the US in 2010 after last seeing that one in 2000. It was also small and didn't have any features other than producing some amount of cold air. But it worked! It still works for all I know.

If most hand wringing in this thread is to be taken at face value this is what we should pivot to :)

Re: The bewildering phenomenon of declining quality

#773

Post by game_the0ry »

When quality goes down, most of the time, its bc a corporation is trying to cut costs.

I have 2022 Toyota 4runner. The frame is already getting surface rust. I have been noticing new Toyotas have been needing new engines, other major problems. even Toyota is riding hi on a reputation from the past.

When that happens, you should take your dollars elsewhere, so I bought another car.

Re: The bewildering phenomenon of declining quality

#774

Post by panick21_ »

SwordAndCitadel wrote: post #715
panick21_ wrote: post #179

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And yet almost no industry is actually a monopoly, funny how that works. Even even if it is, most of the time its only in certain region. And even then, often the pricing power of those 'monopolies' is not very strong. In fact, historically most monopolies were state sanctioned, and that is still mostly true. Literally non of the things mentioned in the article are monopolies. Cloths, absolutely not even close to a m…

I would argue that almost every industry has been increasingly monopolized. Look at the historic number of players in every major industry - it's indisputable that the trend has been towards consolidation, not increased competition. What's more - the companies that dominate various industries are majorituly owned by the same financial entities, which in turn own each other. Think of the biggest players in each indust…

That's likely because you are looking at the US and not globally. And it also depends of you are evaluating the total number or the total number that control say 50% of the market.

And when people think of large industries the look at the large players and ignore the much larger market behind that. And industries that are very distributed, generally are not perceived as large industries, despite them being very large, like hotels or food.

Also Blackrock for example is 170 billion, that's about half a % of US GDP and like 0.1% of global GDP. so if after 200 years Blackrock is the best example you can come up with, I'm not convinced.

And the companies Blackrock are owning a stake in, are still competing with each other, because companies like Blackrock can't control all those companies.

Re: The bewildering phenomenon of declining quality

#775

Post by randallsquared »

immibis wrote: post #771
randallsquared wrote: post #746

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We have less than 100 years of uranium assuming we use enriched uranium once, don't reprocess the "spent" fuel, don't use breeder reactors to make plutonium for further energy production (going from 100 to thousands of years at current usage rates), and don't use breeder reactors to produce U233 from thorium, which is so much more abundant and available than uranium that it would extend current use by another 100-270…

I don't know how you can say with a straight face that solar power is a stopgap and nuclear power is a long-term sustainable solution. I cannot rightly comprehend the confusion of ideas that would provoke such a statement.

Well, I said “medium” term. But ultimately if we stayed on the curve (that is, longer term), humanity would be using the entire output of the sun in less than 2000 years, requiring a Dyson sphere or something. Solar power can’t keep up with human flourishing. We’ll have to have something that is denser and more distributed. :)

Re: The bewildering phenomenon of declining quality

#776

Post by swed420 »

GoblinSlayer wrote: post #727
swed420 wrote: post #658

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You argue like a true capitalist whose underlying assumption is that free will isn't mostly illusory. Modern science disagrees: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/83817782-determined Warning: ego might get bruised

That's not science, just Sapolsky having no idea what he's talking about.

It's well sourced.

The people who seem to hate/misrepresent him tend to be capitalists, philosophers, religious types, and generally egotistical "individualist" types.

Re: The bewildering phenomenon of declining quality

#777

Post by willhslade »

kevincox wrote: post #607
nfriedly wrote: post #188

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I'm not saying that a high price label guarantees high quality, just that the spectrum of cost vs quality has broadened, even within big name brands. I think this needs to be repeated. People tend to think more expensive equals higher quality (I want this to be true!), and I think brands frequently take advantage of that to increase margins without significantly increasing quality. For example: I've been through th…

The main problem is that the average person has no way to evaluate quality. The closest most people get is heaver == built better (which is probably a correlation overall, but not that accurate for any two random products). At the extreme end of this you have companies putting little steel plates into things they want to appear higher quality. How can consumers evaluate how robustly some Bluetooth firmware is written…

I mean you've just described why people pay the Apple premium. Their stuff is mostly going to work and work well.

Re: The bewildering phenomenon of declining quality

#778

Post by kevincox »

willhslade wrote: post #777
kevincox wrote: post #607

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The main problem is that the average person has no way to evaluate quality. The closest most people get is heaver == built better (which is probably a correlation overall, but not that accurate for any two random products). At the extreme end of this you have companies putting little steel plates into things they want to appear higher quality. How can consumers evaluate how robustly some Bluetooth firmware is written…

I mean you've just described why people pay the Apple premium. Their stuff is mostly going to work and work well.

Yes. They are one of the few examples of a brand that for most aspects of the word have kept quality up.

Re: The bewildering phenomenon of declining quality

#779

Post by int_19h »

comfysocks wrote: post #644
WalterBright wrote: post #543

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do socialist economies produce superior products?

It’s hard to compare. Almost everything at a mass market price point is made in China. From luxury iPhones to cheap commodity crap. With the exception of maybe cars, made in USA, Europe or Japan tends to be niche or specialty.

China is not a socialist economy.

Re: The bewildering phenomenon of declining quality

#780

Post by int_19h »

trod1234 wrote: post #725
Dylan16807 wrote: post #711

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Uhh, you are aware that planned obsolescence is only incentivized in fiat markets based in money-printing which aren't real markets. I have no idea why you're claiming that. What should I read? But you're not going to get rid of business cycles by not having 2% inflation or whatever, and those cycles don't seem strong enough to impact product lifetimes all that much. "chaotic whipsaw" is a big exaggeration.

To start, you need to have a correct grasp of economics. Hazlitt (Economics in 1 lesson), Mises (Human Action/Money and the Theory of Credit), Austrian Business Cycle Theory, Thomas Jefferson's letters to Thomas Cooper, Carl Menger (SVT) to start. Adam Smith provides the requirements for factors and producers to operate in a market, also describing markets pre-fiat in a five volume set. The observations made are inva…

Austrian economics is a pseudoscience.
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