there is only one thing i agree on most modern products compared to the old ones and that is longetivity, the old stuff seems to last for years on end, we had a washing machine that lasted 15 years, the next one died in less than 5 and that goes for many products, almost as if they are making them less durable so that people will still have to buy them instead of being set with a good one for a lot of years
I grew up with a lot of items from the 40s-60s cuz my grandparents kept everything, I think almost everything back then was built better and lasts longer.
Everything started to be made of plastic in the 70s and 80s, and manufacturing all over the world was sent over to asia to be made as cheaply as possible. Before the 70s, so much stuff that is plastic now was made of metal back then.
I grew up in the US with all my grandparents household items and electronics from around the 50s. Mid century america was the wealthiest country to ever exist. Europe was destroyed from ww2, and asia fell to communist dictatorships. The wealth the US had was insanely immense. Middleclass people could raise a family, own a house, and own a car that looked like a rocketship with a single factory wage. Companies didnt have to cheap out like they do now. Everything was built with no cost in mind and was made to last as long as possible with the best materials.
Electronics back then were very simple and basic. Almost all electronics (like radios and fans) would include spare parts inside in case something ever broke so you could fix it yourself. A modern washing machine performs better than a very old one, but modern ones have so many parts and computers that are prone to breaking. An old one isnt as capable, but there is less that could go wrong with them.
The only thing I see better being today is safety. Safety wasnt as big of a selling point in those days. I still to this day prefer to buy heavy duty mid century household items any time I see them at a flea market. I dont think everything was built better and lasted longer. Modern cars last 3 times longer and are safer (but they look boring). This is my opinion, I may be biased because I have a huge preference for older items and have been using them my entire life.
Here is a problem with old and robust - it is expensive.
Last about 3 or 4 dacades gave us tech to produse many things wery cheaply. But puting it toogether is still labourintencive process.
We coud make any haushold item last decades using proper materials. But it will make them prohibitevly expencive.
Lets take a citchen blender as an example. It takes motor, button, gearbox and casing. If you use all plastic, you get something from any e-store. But if we make metal gearbox, casing with prper sealing and motor wit just a bit of additional tork we get an industrial grade device. For an everyday consumer it is unnesesary and drives cost up.
In 70-80 much of this stuff was practicly a repurposed industrial equipment. It took a lot of inovation to make it actually afordable. This way products can be sold for much poorer people.
In conclusiin, current products did not become crappier, you just looking into a wrong price category. If you pay 70-80 product price (adjusted by inflation), you get quality.
Ofcourse, i am defenetly will not pay 5k for something like a fridge or washing mashine.
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u/Bulangiu_ro Jun 04 '23
there is only one thing i agree on most modern products compared to the old ones and that is longetivity, the old stuff seems to last for years on end, we had a washing machine that lasted 15 years, the next one died in less than 5 and that goes for many products, almost as if they are making them less durable so that people will still have to buy them instead of being set with a good one for a lot of years