Planned Obsolescence is your fault

[Garth Wilson]

Quote:Household appliances' quality has gone south.

Yep. My mother-in-law had a toaster that she and my late father-in-law were given as a wedding present. Although it was over 50 years old, it still worked fine, but had some stains and was out of style, and she thought, "I think I can afford a new toaster every 50 years!" She got a new Black & Decker one, and it lasted only 6 months.

Our 45-year-old dishwasher (made when I was a kid, and installed by the previous owner of the house) worked fine but my wife said it was ugly; so we got a new one. The new one doesn't use enough water or energy to get the dishes clean and rinse all the soap off!. We got a new refrigerator to replace the decades-old one, and we had to get the new one fixed in the first year. My brother-in-law's parents were given a refrigerator for their wedding, and it was still working fine more than 50 years later when they had both died, and it had never had any repairs.

I sure hope my HP stuff lasts my lifetime. There's nothing like it made today. SwissMicros may be close, but they don't offer any interfaceability like HP-IL did (and no, USB does not qualify when you want to interface to lots of things at once, like instruments on the workbench). I've had frequently used programs in my HP-41cx continuously for 25+ years, without ever re-loading. Try that in a smartphone, or even a PC!

I don't use a smartphone. My wife and son have had a half-dozen of them, and every one of them has had major portions quit working after only a couple of years. The things that appeal to the giggling teenage cheerleaders at the electronics counter of Walmart or similar store don't appeal to me one bit.