1.1k
u/NombreCurioso1337 13h ago
They moved the old refrigerator in my house to the garage in the early nineties, to get a fancy new one with an ice maker, in the kitchen. It broke. They replaced it with a vertical split new "better" model. It broke. Just recently the replacement for that one sprung a leak and I condemned the water line. Two years later it broke completely. I just paid six hundred dollars for the most bare bones replacement, hoping to get a decade out of it.
The "beer fridge" in the garage is still chugging along perfectly.
MoDeRN pROgrEsS!!
490
u/Potatoladd 12h ago
The unceasing march of planned obsolescence in action
270
u/BrockLeeAssassin 12h ago
Prices up. Quality down. Broken in 3 years. Costs more to repair than replace.
Yep.
→ More replies (32)135
u/SquidTheRidiculous 12h ago
Capitalism breeds innovation.
129
u/Brief-Equal4676 12h ago
in ways to fuck us in the ass
→ More replies (6)52
u/SquidTheRidiculous 12h ago edited 11h ago
The innovation: "well tiktoks popular so of course we need to have short form video content here on LinkedIn too!"
→ More replies (5)15
u/LegitimateGift1792 10h ago
AND now Disney+ wants to do short form content because YouTube has the most views per month or some shit.
→ More replies (3)16
53
6
u/SasparillaTango 10h ago
new and exciting ways to take as much of your money as possible and give as little back.
8
u/darthsouls69 10h ago
The idea that risk breeds innovation is so stupid. Stability drives innovation risk is a threat to progress. Even medieval societies understood this.
6
u/SquidTheRidiculous 8h ago
People take more risks when they know they won't potentially die starving and homeless because of it. Shocker.
→ More replies (10)3
30
u/searing7 12h ago
CaPiTaLiSm DrIvEs InNoVaTiOn
30
u/Bitter-Researcher389 12h ago
It does! Just for the shareholders, and scummy C-suite executives; not the consumer.
→ More replies (3)11
u/Tiervexx 11h ago
Right. The drop in quality is the direct result of very deliberate cost cutting measures, not incompetence.
→ More replies (1)→ More replies (17)7
17
u/Tablesafety 12h ago edited 12h ago
First instance of it was light bulbs. Look into the history of them and weep with humor!
EDIT: Alright everybody just wants to argue with me instead of look it up so here’s the wiki and a video:
→ More replies (21)5
u/TritanicWolf 12h ago edited 12h ago
Light bulbs are different. They wear down at a specific rate based on a couple things, their brightness, and the material that the wire is made of. As you increase brightness it’s longevity decreases. Because of this it makes it incredibly difficult to make a light bulb last for a very very long time as the longer a light bulb lasts it needs to be dimmer. Eventually you’d reach a point where it doesn’t produce usable light. Because of this the standard of 1,000 hours (if I recall correctly) was chosen because it would be a usable bulb with a good amount of light and a decent amount of time. There is a great technology connections video on this topic.
(Everything I just said applys only to incandescent lights)
This is my source: https://youtu.be/zb7Bs98KmnY
5
u/intern_steve 9h ago
Upvoted for technology connections. He does a solid breakdown of that particularly enduring myth. The forever bulb is running at such a low wattage it's not practical for use at it's main function: illuminating interior spaces.
→ More replies (6)6
u/Tablesafety 12h ago edited 12h ago
They increased brightness to kill it faster, not due to demand. It was about not selling often enough. Look up the phoebus cartel, I’ve got articles in a thread below my comment, listen to a video with quotes from them etc etc
Jesus if I thought that nobody would look into it like I said to I’d have just linked it in the original. Might do that.
Edit: I saw the tech connections video before and im questioning if we watched the same thing bc that perspective is not what I came away with.
4
u/TheMoatman 9h ago
Edit: I saw the tech connections video before and im questioning if we watched the same thing bc that perspective is not what I came away with.
Are you sure you watched the video? I really don't know how you come away with the interpretation that it was to kill bulbs faster when he explicitly and repeatedly argues it was because incandescent bulbs have much better brightness and efficiency when they burn hotter, which also shortens the lifespan.
4
u/moosenlad 8h ago
increased brightness also used much less electricity, as the hotter it was, the more energy comes of as light instead of heat. especailly at the time that a lot of the companies making and installing lightbulbs were also handling eletricity delivery.
→ More replies (6)3
10
7
5
u/turribledood 12h ago
Is that even what we're doing anymore or is it purely just "how much pointless and generally low quality tech can we cram into the POS ice box (or car, for that matter) so we can pump the sticker price as high as humanly possible?"
Shit doesn't even make it to "obsolete" anymore , it just fucking breaks, that's not really the same thing.
→ More replies (2)→ More replies (41)4
u/Taurion_Bruni 11h ago
Planned obsolescence implies the device is going to break as the new product innovates.
This is just a race to the bottom. Building the minimum viable product that just barely works (and often does not) for the cheapest price possible, then marketing it as luxury to justify the high price point.
But hey, at least you get to tell the shareholders it's another year of record breaking profits
36
u/Switchmisty9 12h ago
What you need, is one of them smart fridges…so it can advertise to you, until it breaks
11
u/Own_Candidate9553 10h ago
If they gave it to you free and replaced it when it broke, I could see that.
But paying cash to be advertised to, and you're out of luck when it breaks early? Philip K Dick would be like "bro, that's too dystopian even for me"
→ More replies (1)4
→ More replies (7)6
u/JWils411 9h ago
The screen with the ads will probably still keep working even if the cooling part of the fridge breaks. Priorities.
27
u/myfrigginagates 12h ago
We had an appliance repairman out to fix our 20 year old basic dryer. We mentioned that it might time to update. He said he wouldn't let us, lol. He was adamant about keeping appliances simple (our washer and fridge are basic as well), saying manufacturers are just creating trouble with new appliances.
13
u/damn-queen 10h ago
Our “smart” washing machine is so horrible. You can’t set the time it decides that for you. And it will change the length of time halfway through so we were spending way more on water because it decided an hour wasn’t long enough to wash the clothes. You want to set the heat and spin levels? Okay but only specific ones you can pick depending on the “load type” you selected.
LET ME PICK
Just let me pick the temperature, spin cycle, and time myself without imposing stupid blocks because I’m forced to choose “load type”
6
u/custhulard 10h ago
A dryer that won't function because it hasn't been instructed by the washer over the wifi.
3
u/BellacosePlayer 9h ago
I at least understand that for a dryer, since I often find halfway through puling clothes out that something is nowhere near dry.
→ More replies (1)→ More replies (5)3
u/Dorkamundo 8h ago
Yea, I hate the fact that my washer has pre-set cycles that I cannot override or change...
Let's say that I have a load that didn't quite get spun enough and is still a bit too wet to put in the dryer. I can't just put it on "Spin", I have to select an ENTIRE CYCLE called "Rinse and Spin" which takes 20 minutes and involves getting the damned things WET again.
→ More replies (3)5
u/hudson27 8h ago
I'm out visiting my folks this week and their furnace broke.
I went to check it, just a broken belt, simple repair. Then I look closer, and realize this furnace was installed in 1965, and has only been serviced 3 times.
Each time, it was a broken belt. Cost me about $20 to replace. Couldn't be happier.
→ More replies (2)→ More replies (11)3
u/VladislavThePoker 10h ago
My great-grandmother refused to let us get her one of those Crosley record player/CD/radio combos because it had too many functions and "that's one more thing that can break."
→ More replies (2)3
u/CircleWithSprinkles 7h ago
Any modern device proudly bearing the name of a long dead tech company is guaranteed to be awful.
20
u/sn4xchan 11h ago
I bought a cheap $500 fridge in 2014, it's still doing just fine. Idk why you're doing different.
I guarantee your beer fridge is using 3x as many watts as your other fridges though.
14
u/evranch 10h ago edited 8h ago
So I work with refrigeration. With hermetic compressors, it's often luck of the draw. Also short power flickers kill them.
But what is true if you crack open systems from the 1970s until now is that they put less and less oil into smaller and smaller housings. Modern systems run hotter, with less safety margin. So it's more likely to draw one that dies.
Also the POE oils for HFCs are not as robust as the old mineral oils used with CFCs and more prone to degradation and clogging. My fix is to swap to hydrocarbon refrigerant when possible and back to mineral oil. No callbacks.
And the beer fridge is not chewing that much power. Refrigeration is a very mature technology. Inverter fridges mostly have better temperature control with only modest efficiency improvements.
Edit: I will give the replies credit for mentioning insulation improvements which are definitely significant. However the actual vapour compression part hasn't changed much - the average cheap fridge still uses a crappy critical charged cap tube setup. TXVs/EEVs/inverters definitely boost the efficiency of high end equipment.
Note that where I live, rural Canada, electricity is cheap, repair/replace times and costs are high, and reliability beats efficiency every time.
5
u/PaintingOk8012 9h ago
There is a guy on youtube that takes old fridges and repairs them if needed and then tests them. They are all on par with modern fridges as far as every usage, some even beat new ones albeit they are smaller.
→ More replies (1)→ More replies (35)8
u/hesh582 9h ago edited 5h ago
And the beer fridge is not chewing that much power. Refrigeration is a very mature technology. Inverter fridges mostly have better temperature control with only modest efficiency improvements.
This is just demonstrably wrong. An avg US fridge in 2026 uses less than half the power/year a 1990 fridge did... when that 1990 fridge was new, before the insulation degraded. Also that 1990 avg model is smaller.
Refrigeration efficiency is probably one of the best examples of a technology that's not mature and static. Efficiency gains in home refrigeration since the 70s are insane, and show no signs of stopping.
The avg US fridge in the early 70s used nearly 2000kWh/year. There were literally congressional hearings on fridge efficiency during the 70s energy crisis because such a large portion of avg household income was going to power for the refrigerator. The avg fridge today is around 500kWh/year.
This is the poster child example for how dramatically efficiency focused policies and technology can change things, it's one of the biggest success stories ever in this area.
6
u/sump_daddy 9h ago
I would not overlook LED lighting as a dramatic energy efficiency gain (driven by the policy to discontinue incandescent production)
5
u/iwilldeletethisacct2 8h ago
A lot of it had to do with variable vs. fixed compressors. Older fridges run their compressors at one speed, shut off, kick back on when the temp gets out of range. Modern fridges run at different speeds depending on the internal temperature. The advantage in power savings is massive between these, as well as temperature regulation. The temp swings are way less drastic. They're also a lot quieter.
The downside is that there's just a lot more things that can break. Also, you can get modern fridges that will last decades. They don't sell them at Best Buy / Home Depot, and most people can't afford them.
→ More replies (6)→ More replies (5)4
u/garaks_tailor 8h ago
Irl example. My aunt had a beer fridge in the garage from the 70s. It was reliable as a rock and had worked since 73. She un plugged it because of renovations. Her electricity bill dropped by almost 90$
→ More replies (4)→ More replies (4)9
u/tN8KqMjL 10h ago
People act like basic, reliable models aren't still available. Your basic freezer-over-fridge model is probably one of the cheapest options available at the appliance store and will last forever.
→ More replies (7)6
u/SandSpecialist2523 11h ago
Planned obsolescence. Because the most important thing a company must do, is increase profit. Greed is what is killing this country.
→ More replies (6)3
u/JediSSJ 9h ago
I work IT. There is a clear distinction with HP printers. Ones made before a certain time last for decades, while anything after that lasts a few years at most.
→ More replies (1)3
u/greaterwhiterwookiee 9h ago
I’ve done more work to every one of my “newer better appliances” than I ever did to anything I adopted when I was poor. I have disassembled a dryer so many times I could draw a schematics on it now. Same for the dishwasher. I’ve replaced 4 major components in that one and I can hear the replacement parts failing 2 years in so I know I’ll be doing those again.
If it wasn’t for YouTube and my growing up poor so I had to learn to fix everything I don’t know what I’d do now.
3
u/25_Watt_Bulb 3h ago
This comment is going to get lost and buried, but I'll leave it anyway.
The fridge in my kitchen is a 1936 GE. I measured the refrigerator's actual power consumption for several months and it was on track to use 179 kWh of electricity for the entire year.
Hardly a power hog, and it has lasted 80+ years with only one replacement part before I did some preventative maintenance on it.
Here's a write up about it I made on Imgur:
https://imgur.com/a/1936-general-electric-v-4-c-cf-refrigerator-cD9KE37→ More replies (1)7
u/maringue 11h ago
The beer fridge probably consumes the power of 6 modern fridges though.Cars in the 70s were easy to fix, but they also got 6 miles to the fucking gallon....
→ More replies (8)6
u/Status-Importance-54 9h ago
Friends of mine had a beer fridge in the garage. When they checked energy Consumption, it was responsible for a third of their total...
11
u/rjnd2828 12h ago
How much electricity you using every month for that beer fridge?
→ More replies (4)17
u/Material-Ad7565 12h ago
Not as much as you think. Better thicker insulation, thicker coolant lines, and thicker wiring all around means more efficiency. It's probably a wash.
→ More replies (14)8
u/Gnonthgol 11h ago
The problem with fridges is the compressor leaks that develop over time. The sealing surfaces are sliding in the compressor which means they wear out over time. Thus they become less efficient over time and produce more and more waste heat. We now have much better understanding of metallurgy and better manufacturing processes so modern compressors are much more efficient and can be made to last a lot longer before wearing out. You can get replacement compressors for your old fridge and this is worth considering if it is worn out.
→ More replies (10)5
u/friedrice5005 10h ago
My garage "beer fridge" is an old commercial unit from a restaurant. Those things are TANKS and all the parts are designed to be accessible and serviceable. If you can find a deal on one, I highly recommend getting it
→ More replies (1)2
2
u/gomezer1180 9h ago
Designed obsolescence… Steve Jobs legacy… and the world is much worse for it.
→ More replies (3)2
u/berthannity 9h ago
The joke is they adjust inflation calculations to account for these “improvements”, massaging inflation numbers so they are lower. It’s called hedonic quality adjustment.
Reported inflation numbers are completely false.
2
u/86ShellScouredFjord 9h ago
My problem isn't even that they break. More moving parts means more failure points. My problem is that even if you can find someone who can fix them, the cost is such that you might as well buy a new one.
2
u/MavisCanim 8h ago
It's called planned obsolescence that were developed by engineers in the 1950s to improve resale occurrence. That's why that happens. They design them to break now.
2
2
2
u/charlie2135 8h ago
Bought a newer fridge with the icemaker that does cubes or crushes. Of course it stopped working after warranty was up.
As I worked in HVAC, I decided to troubleshoot and figure out why it quit working. I found that the fan that blew the colder air across the tray to freeze the water wasn't working so ordered a new one. When I dismantled the assembly i found that the flimsy connector, that connected the fan was the issue. When I say the wires were the size of a thick hair, I'm not kidding. I just soldered them together and it works fine since.
I remember growing up with my family of ten that you could tell that my mom was home if the Maytag washing machine was running. It was still working after 10 years when we moved out.
2
u/Salute-Major-Echidna 8h ago
Never but never use plastic for a fresh water line. Not only microplastics but it isn't worth a tinker's dam.
2
u/Early-Ambassador-138 8h ago
This is another form of corruption and of course none of us think of holding people and politicians accountable. This why the US is the way it is now.
2
u/TreyRyan3 8h ago
I’m pretty certain my BIL still uses the Frididaire from my grandparents house as a beer cooler in his garage.
2
u/Much-Equivalent7261 8h ago
A modern fridge will use anywhere from half to a quarter the amount of electricity than quite a few of the older models from the 60's (Basically any one with an freezer). So an energy efficient fridge @ $0.10 per kwh, will cost $50ish dollars to run for a year. Meanwhile an old comparable size fridge freezer combo will cost you up to $200 a year to run. You need 4 years to break even, good investment on year 5. It's not just about the equipment being able to run, you need to include costs to run it. Despite all I said, I still agree with you that planned obsolescence is bullshit.
→ More replies (15)2
u/criscodisco6618 8h ago
I bought my house a decade ago, and every appliance in the house was brand new, except the decade-or-so old fridge, a huge GE affair. I was annoyed at first, only because it didn't match anything else. Now I've replaced or repaired every appliance except for that goddamn ugly fridge, which will never quit.
2
u/HudsonValleyNY 8h ago
Yep, same...my beer fridge has outlived 3 $$$ fridges in 2 different houses over 15 years and it was old af to start out with.
2
u/According-Insect-992 8h ago
Technology has absolutely progressed.
The problem is that so has capitalism and it's way ahead.
2
u/Student_8266 8h ago
Same with my handmixer, oven, microwave, all magically broken just months after the warranty had expired. Also with the induction plate in my parents house… except the induction plate broke 2 months after the extended warranty by SHORT CIRCUITING AND CATCHING ON FIRE…. Almost set the whole house on fire
2
u/glitterx_x 8h ago
Literally "they dont make them like they used to". I never knew how fucking true that is. Our garage fridge just started to go out this year, but it was from my great grandparents house. Bought new, probably in the early 80s, when my mom was a teenager. I've owned two houses with furnaces and water heaters from the early 90s that finally needed replaced in the last few years...I just know the replacements arent going to last that long.
2
u/FakeDoctorMeatCoat 7h ago
This is caused, in part, by the government energy star program. Manufactures had to trade reliability for energy efficiency for compliance. Those cast iron parts? Now plastic. The motors that ran at 60% rated load, now motor selection runs at 95% rated load(made up numbers). The other would be foreign manufacturers dodging QA.
My washer circuit board blew. It cost more to replace the board than the washer. The replacement I bought was the only model with a clicky knob and no LEDs I could find. And it was the cheapest one.
2
u/PiccoloAwkward465 7h ago
And people will say "yeah but modern ones are way more energy efficient!" Sure. Is it efficient when it just stops working? Every white crap stamped metal fridge I've seen in a garage has been working for 30 years, keeping those sodas/beers cold.
2
2
u/TooMuchJan 7h ago
The brown (yes, brown) refrigerator in my grandmother's old apartment is still there. It predated me by at least a decade and I am 45 now. Works great, and lots of room. She used to regularly cook for 10 with no storage issues.
I bought my house in 2019 with a 5 year old fridge in it, it was done a year after we moved in, wouldn't get cold and the fix was expensive. I said "Well I'm not doing this every ten minutes, let me shell out for a nice replacement." The water and ice stopped working on the replacement inside of 12 months. Both of them had such garbage freezer capacity that I bought a chest for the garage.
I fucking hate the future.
→ More replies (1)2
2
u/18minusPi2over36 7h ago edited 1h ago
I used to install and service appliances and I would meet literally a hundred customers a year who have, point for point, this exact same story.
Oldest garage fridge I ever saw at one of those type of jobs was a '49 International Harvester model, with the original compressor, still working like a charm. Iirc the broken one at that place was a late-'00s side-by-side, I forget the make.
2
u/riplan1911 6h ago
But don't you want a refrigerator that steals your info and sells it to big tec.
2
u/MUFNyourteam 6h ago
Some fun stat, I'm sure I heard this in a Technology Connections video. Almost 90% of fridge warranties are for ice maker or water dispenser-related issues
2
u/bebop1065 6h ago
The two fridges in my house I bought 25 years ago still freeze ice and keep things cold like nobody's business. Ain't no tech like old tech. We still write on stone don't we?
2
u/Rowan6547 6h ago
I had my Maytag washer looked at by a repair person and was told they're now made from flimsy parts so that you buy them again every couple years. Washers aren't cheap!
2
u/seppukucoconuts 5h ago
The beer fridge in my parents garage is 25 years old. They’ve done zero maintenance on it. Just plugged it in and left it out there. They have replaced the stainless steel one inside 4 or 5 times since then.
2
2
u/Plank_With_A_Nail_In 5h ago
Who's they? And why are they living in your house and calling the shots?
→ More replies (1)2
u/Lobo_Jojo_Momo 5h ago
You can still find a few 'luxury' brands that cost significantly more but are actually made really well and don't break, but the regular consumer-grade stuff you get from Home Depot or Costco etc is 100% garbage
2
u/Thrilling1031 5h ago
Can we get an Analog company that just makes non smart versions of products that have no place being smart.
2
u/RiffRaff14 5h ago
And it only uses 15 cancer causing materials no longer allowed...
Maybe, maybe not, but there were a lot of materials used back then that we no longer can use.
→ More replies (1)2
u/michaelshamrock 5h ago
When you feed your refrigerator the good stuff, it lasts a long time. Hence why so many “beer fridges” last for decades. Proper nutrition.
2
2
u/Waiting4Reccession 4h ago
Just dont buy one with a water thing or a ice maker.
Useless trash and always causes a problem.
2
u/ZantaraLost 4h ago
The fridge in my house, with zero reconditioning mind you, was quite literally bought in 83 before I was born.
The switch for the light inside doesn't work.
That's it.
2
u/Gold-Sir-223 4h ago
Well clearly you don’t understand how business works. You can’t sell someone a product 1 time in their lifetime, you need to sell them 20. DUH. How else will billionaires afford their private jet flights to the Caribbean???
I’m joking for anyone who can’t read sarcasm
2
2
u/spottydodgy 3h ago
Hard to keep the stock price up when you only sell something to a customer once.
2
u/Toolazytolink 2h ago
I got tired of the damn Washer breaking every couple of years since my wife does 4 or 5 loads a week, 1 for us and each for our 2 kids and mats and other stuff. I went to the laundry mat and it hit me, if we are going to use our Washer like a commercial washer I might as well buy one. I bought a Speed Queen and you turn it on by pushing in the lever where quarters are supposed to be! I show it to my friends when they come by.
→ More replies (2)2
u/fungihead 1h ago
My parents have a freezer in their garage they got when they bought the house, I was about 10 at the time and I’m 37 now. I bought a fridge-freezer when I got my house and it lasted about 5 years before dying and had to be replaced.
→ More replies (174)2
u/CodeToManagement 16m ago
I’ve been running the same fridge for 10y or more now. It was a good one when I bought it but not top of the line. Still works perfectly
We also have a cheap one I bought for my wife before we were married. It’s at least 7 years old and still going strong.
No idea where people are buying all these things that break down after a few years.
264
u/One_Dahlia 12h ago
Absolutely, and your appliances don't require an Internet connection or come with AI. Please somebody make this happen.
92
u/StatlerSalad 11h ago
Here's a vacuum cleaner that hasn't had its design changed in forty years, it can last for decades and all the parts are easily source (many off the shelf) and user servicable: https://www.myhenry.com/henry-home
Here's a toaster that's so simple it doesn't even have a spring, all parts are user servicable and easily sourced: https://www.dualit.com/products/4-slice-newgen
The problem is that most people don't want to spend that much for a simple appliance; that toaster is almost $400 in the USA. All it can do is toast up to four slices of bread simultaneously. Well, it also has a bagel setting that only toasts one side. That's pretty cool.
Or you could buy a $40 toaster and replace it every few years. It'll break because the wires are barely heavy enough for the current and it's made of brittle plastic, but it's a lot cheaper than a slab of machined aluminium and heavy core copper wiring.
Equally, people want battery-powered vacuums. They want motorised brushes for carpet and little wet-sponge attachments for tile. They don't want a bucket with a fan on it and an extension cable. These products exist, they just mean making compromises.
41
u/pavlonibus 11h ago
Same as people complaining about phones not being repairable, yet I've never seen anyone with a Fairphone.
30
u/StatlerSalad 11h ago
Or complaining that they miss their old Nokia.
They bought 3210 back. It has 4G now. It's fifty bucks. It sitll has Snake.
→ More replies (7)3
u/tjdux 9h ago
Verizon is phasing out 4g already and it's basically all that works in my rural area.
→ More replies (1)2
u/Mikel_S 7h ago
4g was a fucking scam. LTE. Long Term Evolution.
It was supposed to mean they'd stick with it for a long time, and improve/expand it without outmoding older devices.
Dropped that in a few years for 5g.
→ More replies (3)→ More replies (16)10
u/ttogreh 11h ago
You know what a Fairphone is. Do you have one? I didn't know what it was until now. Of course, I have a seven year old phone, and will be running it into the dirt. Seem like the next one I get is gonna be a Fairphone.
→ More replies (8)3
u/alvenestthol 10h ago
The problem with the Fairphone is that you'll be paying flagship prices for it, it'll barely perform better than a flagship from 7 years ago (OK, maybe closer to one from 6 years ago), and although you'll be able to buy a replacement battery for the Fairphone, it'll cost twice as much as a new battery for the 7-year-old flagship.
At least you'll be able to buy replacements for stuff like... the cameras. Or the earpiece. Just don't ask about the motherboard, or ask for removable storage, flash wear is apparently not a real thing, but someday maybe you'll need a new sim tray. Nothing is upgradable either, Samsung phones have counterfeit screens with different specs, your fairphone is stuck with replacements of the same screen forever.
→ More replies (8)10
u/OkLynx3564 10h ago
tbf the performance of a flagship phone from 2018 is more than sufficient for virtually all purposes. unless you are trying to play incredibly resource hungry games on that thing you won’t notice a meaningful difference.
→ More replies (8)→ More replies (64)9
u/CaptnLudd 10h ago
Yeah everything was crazy expensive in the 50s and 60s. Well, everything except for property and education. It was common for the furniture inside your house to be worth more than the house.
→ More replies (3)3
u/Beatleboy62 8h ago
One thing I noticed when my family digitized old home movies from the 50s-80s was just how much less there was inside the house, and my grandparents and older relatives explained exactly that. Furniture was an investment. Not to resell, but like, you really better hoped you like what you pick out because you might have that couch for 25+ years. Their dining room set for my entire life was an heirloom from the 1910s (which my cousin now has, cleaned it up very nicely) mostly because, hey, it's cheaper than buying new, not even caring about it as a "treasured family item" even though that's what it is now.
And especially just less random clutter. Not garbage, but like, no "bless this mess" style HomeGoods schlock, or a sign in the kitchen that said "KITCHEN" in distressed wood. There was a calendar and a few magnets on the kitchen fridge, some souveniers from traveling displayed on the mantle, some knick knacks on the bookshelf, but that was it.
Also DAMN everyone smoked like a chimney.
→ More replies (2)5
u/chuckmonjares 11h ago
I’ve actually thought about trying. I’d make so much money for a short period of time.
→ More replies (5)3
u/Maximillion322 10h ago
You’d also spend a jillion dollars in startup capital. You’d need a manufacturing facility and a supply chain, employees to run the facility, and you’d need to purchase whatever old patents you intend to use, all before you can make and sell any kind of product.
3
u/chuckmonjares 10h ago
Don’t worry about capital brother (jk I have none).
My idea would be reverse engineering. Whatever amount you think this idea would cost, it’d be more in my case. Hiring the right engineers to modernize an older design to be more efficient without sacrificing durability would probably cost much much more.
Only way to go about it would be to designing the product, and selling it under contract to someone with money, who would inevitably just go back to what we have now. My idea can’t work haha
→ More replies (8)3
u/Sassman6 10h ago
All the relevant patents would be expired at this point. Patents do not last indefinitely.
→ More replies (2)3
u/BellacosePlayer 9h ago
And if you made any headway the established competition would raise their game for a bit until you're wiped out or bought out
→ More replies (18)4
u/MrVeazey 12h ago
Use more energy efficient components and you've got yourself a plan. The biggest issue is your whole supply chain is going to be lower quality than anything made back then, so you're gonna have to either eat a lot of warranty payouts or vertically integrate.
→ More replies (3)
102
u/AMSAtl 12h ago edited 9h ago
When you analyze the value of the dollar with inflation, if you're willing to spend the same amount of money, you can often get just as quality of an item nowadays as you could back then. The difference is now you can get a really cheap version that doesn't last for such a low cost that it would have been unfathomable back in the day.
Edit: Having said the previous statement, I want to add that just because something costs more does not mean it's better quality.
43
u/Wipedout89 12h ago
This is exactly it. I got told by a plumber that washing machines are made from cheaper and cheaper materials now to keep costs down, because nobody would buy one for £1,000 as it should cost if they kept up with inflation.
You can still get high quality ones and they cost... £1,000
→ More replies (8)16
u/Wjreky 12h ago
But, will the $1000 break just as soon, or will it actually last?
11
u/kyle46 11h ago
My washer and dryer have been going strong for over 10 years. Only issue i have is the washer has a groove in the bottom thats the perfect width and depth to catch coins. God are they hard to get out of there.
→ More replies (3)5
u/urworstemmamy 9h ago
If only you had some way of keeping them from going in the wash in the first place 😔
→ More replies (2)7
u/mr-debil 11h ago
you can buy a speed queen for $1600. It'll last forever. BUT, it holds half the capacity of a GE or LG washer that only costs $600 or less.
Most people struggle to justify (or are capable of) spending an extra $1000 for a machine that is half the capacity. Even if in the long term it will be fine.
→ More replies (18)4
u/SamAllistar 8h ago
Always reminds me of the Vime's theory of economics. Poor people have to buy cheap products. Cheap products need replaced more frequently. So being poor costs more
→ More replies (1)→ More replies (23)5
u/Wipedout89 12h ago
Well he said that those expensive ones are made from the proper materials the old ones used to be, not flimsy plastics and cardboard you find inside new cheap ones
→ More replies (1)7
u/hypnogoad 10h ago
Except now every appliance has some sort of PCB with components that are all made in the same place, whether it's a $500 unit, or a $3000 one. It's almost always the PCB's that fry and when you go to order a new one 5 years later, it's been discontinued.
3
u/L2_Troll 10h ago
Yup I paid someone $75 to come out and tell me that my perfectly usable (until then) washer fried its control board and I should just get a new one instead of trying to repair.
My gf was adamant about getting a replacement that is as basic as possible so it won't break, but the PCB is the same in all of them and has the same odds of failing in each.
6
u/Invisico 8h ago
So the real culprit is wage stagnation due to corporate greed, the source of every other problem in the world.
→ More replies (1)4
u/dk_peace 12h ago
Landlords dont care about the long term, and most of us rent, so our experience with appliances is mostly with shitty ones.
→ More replies (4)4
u/MonetizedSandwich 9h ago
Ironically, those apartment appliances last the longest in my opinion. The barebones ge ones are solid as hell.
Just less to break on them I suspect.
→ More replies (1)2
u/SweetEuneirophrenia 11h ago
Yup. I sew a lot, like a lot a lot, and I use an old all metal vintage 1952 gear driven singer. If taken care of, it'll out last me for sure. I decided once to look up what they originally cost and it was the equivalent to an entire months pay for the average household at the time. I can't even fathom spending an entire months pay on a sewing machine. Granted they definitely sell them today in that price range and they are amazing and dependable machines compared to lower end versions that break all the time, but they're well outta my range of affordability. I'm just glad I got the 1952 equivalent for $100.
2
u/phdemented 11h ago
1959 sears catalog has a washer/dryer set (Kenmore) for $209/$169 ($378 for the set,
CPI inflation calculator puts that at $4,223 in 2025 money.
I can get a similar set for ~$1000 these days (more for fancy ones with bells and whistles the old ones never had, if you want them)
→ More replies (1)2
u/JLeavitt21 10h ago
Yes, this is the reality. The devaluation of the dollar makes anything with real value (ie quality materials) very expensive. To maintain an affordable quality of life, cheap materials and components have been substituted for almost every product you can think of.
I also think this also has to do with the huge bias in innovation focused on computers over the last 40 years instead of infrastructure, materials and processes. What is exciting is that there is huge opportunity to leverage computerized automation in material processing and manufacturing which has really only just begun in the US.
We can optimize the production and simplify the products instead of cheapening them to reach an affordable price.
2
u/CompEng_101 8h ago
And a fridge from from the 50s will be about half the size and be less energy efficient. And it may break less frequently, but also require more regular maintenance like manual defrosting.
→ More replies (35)2
u/thebeez23 8h ago
To add to this, we only see the stuff that’s still working. The stuff that was taken care of all these years. The stuff that happened to be built with good quality in the plant whose neighbors ended up in landfills. How about we see all the old stuff that failed before we judge the quality of past stuff.
202
u/Reverend_Bull 13h ago
Ah, the famous longevity of mid-century appliances. By the way, you don't need to armor the fuel tanks on the bombers - they never come back with bullet holes there.
93
u/MajesticNectarine204 12h ago
Facts. The survivor bias is real.
→ More replies (6)38
u/HeatAccomplished8608 12h ago
It's important to remind people
16
u/XeNo___ 11h ago
And what many people like to forget: A lot of stuff has also just gotten A LOT cheaper. If you pay 60's prices (adjusted, of course), you can still get quality appliances. But who is paying $3k+ on a fridge or washing machine? You find basic fridges for less than $500; of course they won't hold up as well.
Now, planned obsolescence is absolutely real. But it's not nearly as black and white as some make it appear. If you drop $25k to equip your house with Miele Professional or similar exclusively, then you still get good, long-lasting quality. A washing machine or dryer used to be an investment taking up a good chunk of someone's salary.
5
u/SpicyRobotPotato 10h ago
Speed Queen is what OP is looking for. The washers and dryers are super expensive but built to last and are repairable.
→ More replies (15)3
u/HeatAccomplished8608 10h ago
YES! There's still all steel appliances made in the USA, consumers just prefer the cheaper alternative
→ More replies (3)5
u/LordOfDorkness42 10h ago
To be fair, sometimes shit is all you can afford.
Boot Theory is a cruel Mistress for the poor.
→ More replies (4)→ More replies (21)3
u/seantabasco 10h ago
I agree, the companies are just doing what the consumers actually asked for, lower prices. Is it a better value? Probably not, but when people go shopping a lot of them just find the lowest price with whatever features they want.
→ More replies (1)3
u/Chinglaner 8h ago
And on top of what others have said (20% of the price at 25% of the lifetime is still a better deal), also be aware that that 30 year old fridge is probably draining 3-4x the power of the modern one.
25
u/Binger_bingleberry 11h ago
Also, of note, if you happen to have a mid-century fridge, and you need to replace the refrigerant… well, that stuff has been banned for decades, and is illegal to sell… you know, because it was eating up the ozone.
7
u/LFC9_41 11h ago
People like to romanticize a lot of old tech but there are far more advancements made in exchange for durability.
→ More replies (8)→ More replies (15)11
u/tankerkiller125real 11h ago
Fun fact though, you can get a replacement pump and switch the refrigerant type for a significant amount less than a brand new fridge if you go to the right people.
10
u/SorryAboutTheWayIAm 11h ago
HVACR guy here, this kind of retrofit is doable but retrofitting an old refrigerator to a modern refrigerant is rarely economical or practical. Compressors are refrigerant and oil-specific and changing refrigerant means a compatible compressor, oil change, and full system flush. Elastomers in older units often are not compatible with newer refrigerants, POE oil etc.
→ More replies (12)3
u/PaintTheTownMauve 10h ago
Yea, the quote to update our AC unit was more expensive than a new unit. Lots of redditors talking out their ass here as usual
→ More replies (5)4
7
6
u/LairdPeon 10h ago
The appliances did last longer because there was very little on it to break. Not really a difficult concept. If your oven has a computer on it, it is thousands of times more likely to fuck up than if all it had was a starter and a rubber hose.
→ More replies (1)2
u/molehunterz 11h ago
Is a very popular Reddit response. And it just feels like it can only be from people who haven't lived long enough to see it firsthand. Therefore they think it's made up
I just put to rest my old range/oven. 1980. My biggest fear replacing it with a new one is that it isn't going to last. My second biggest fear is how long new ovens take to preheat. It is absolutely insane.
If I had enough motivation, the thing that was broken on the oven? Were the little receivers for the stove top elements. Could have replaced all four and that thing would have worked for another 40 years.
I also have a GE refrigerator for 1970. Some of the modern conveniences of new fridges I miss, for sure. I have to defrost this one manually sometimes. But it's literally once every year or two.
I have replaced two different refrigerators that were made after 2005.
The first place I moved into had a dryer from 1956. Thing just ran like a champ. It was small. I replaced it. I wanted larger capacity. I have now replaced the new dryer twice. After repairing the first one for $350, when it broke again they said it was a different circuit board, of the $550 variety.
It's not that I haven't tried.
→ More replies (18)2
u/Carvj94 10h ago
Not to mention in the case of refrigerators an old one will cost as much as an entire modern refrigerator in electricity costs after a few years. Old heat pumps are shit.
→ More replies (11)2
u/AtomicShart9000 9h ago
Jesus im stupid, you wrote that it in a way that that I finally understand that fucking bomber picture that ive seen dozens of times.
→ More replies (38)2
u/Boris_Godunov 9h ago
In Death of a Salesman, written in 1949, the main character notes how they had to by a no-name brand refrigerator since they couldn't afford a big name brand, and theirs was constantly going on the fritz and needing repairs.
And I won't go into how modern cars are definitely far, far more reliable and resistant to mechanical problems than those made in the 1940s-1980s.
→ More replies (5)
15
u/Super_Interview_2189 12h ago
So my mom installed a 1954 Frigidaire, we couldn’t regulate its temperature control and the freezer froze shut. It hummed like an engine all night as well.
For fixtures we had a 1963 American Standard bathroom set. Tub and sink work fine (updated plumbing) but the toilet wasted an absurd amount of water, we live in the woods and have to well our water so this was impractical.
Appliances from days of yore are often overhyped when in reality they can be extremely wasteful and inefficient.
→ More replies (38)4
u/MortemInferri 10h ago
Its the waste and inefficiency that makes them better
And thats not even hyperbole. "This toilet always flushes everything" yeah, and when its just a small turd it dumps the same 5 gallons
→ More replies (9)
53
u/Ok-Release-6051 13h ago
You’re getting seven to ten?
19
u/DrButtgerms 12h ago
Look at this guy and his long-lived appliances like he's in some sort of microwave blue zone or something...
3
u/athleticelk1487 11h ago
5 is pretty good anymore. It should be criminal to design that way.
→ More replies (1)→ More replies (6)2
u/holy_cal 10h ago
I swear I have the only good Samsung fridge ever made. We bought it in like 2015 and it’s still going strong.
→ More replies (1)
9
u/gluepet2074 12h ago
Speed Queen makes the washers and dryers
→ More replies (2)4
u/theredhound19 12h ago
My TC5 is a throwback in style and I love it. I wish the knobs weren't plastic and the buttons were mechanical but you can't have everything.
→ More replies (2)
25
u/bobbymoonshine 13h ago
Hear me out: a startup whose business model is “no repeat business”
23
u/DisapointedVoid 13h ago
Nah, in 100 years when my great great grand children are looking for a new appliance then I can still recommend the same model I have recommended for the last several generations of my family and the original of which is still chugging away in my space habitat.
There are plenty of businesses which don't subscribe to the "growth at all cost" model and do fine.
→ More replies (3)9
u/Quotidiayt 12h ago
Yep, plus appliances can still break and need repairs even if they're not designed to be intentionally terrible. Not to mention you could spend time offering better services and showing people how to use your products instead of simply having very crappy products. Not to mention it touches on a customer base that is sick of this obsolescence and customers who don't necessarily want the most over the top gadgets, just something that works.
→ More replies (1)→ More replies (15)3
u/Bullet-Ballet 13h ago
It's not as profitable, but the key is to sell parts and maintenance services.
→ More replies (1)3
u/Ambitious_Fan7767 13h ago edited 12h ago
You almost had yourself there. You cant afford to be not as profitable that means the other guys can offer shit you just can't and you get put out of business for not being able to compete. This is the problem no one got stupid and lazy we voted with our dollar and killed those businesses. No one isnt doing it the same way as they did back then because they are too dumb or lazy to. We have simply proved time and again we don't care, we want it fast and cheap right now. A few of us sort of pine for the old days but the old days are when the new shit started and everyone bought the new shit and presumably threw out the old shit. It didnt just happen once it happened over and over. Even the lamentations of our time are sort of lies, someone in the above comment says there a plenty of these businesses which means again that MOST people dont give a fuck and we want to be treated like this. We pay for it and our ancestors traded away their forever machines for plastic.
→ More replies (4)3
u/theredhound19 12h ago
If you adjust for inflation some of those old machines were crazy expensive back then. Makes me feel better about the amount I splashed out on my Speedqueen.
5
u/christophertstone 11h ago
A 20cuft refrigerator with no ice maker or any features would cost $300 in 1970.
That would be $2,600 today. Nobody would buy that when they can get one for $700.
→ More replies (1)3
u/Minute-Object 11h ago
I spent 4k on a Bosch to avoid constant repairs. No regrets.
→ More replies (8)
3
u/professor_fate_1 10h ago
There are tons of such companies. The actual customer demand for these is incredibly low though.
A washing machine from the 70s cost the equivalent of 3k USD today, with insane resource consumption. Nobody would ever in the right mind pay this right now especially since you can get a fairly decent one for a few hundred that will serve you 5-10 years easily.
So only market for these is professional use. Remember that toaster that you saw at breakfast in the hotel? Or the vacuum cleaner they use? In home use they would last decades. Ask r/VacuumCleaners
But you don't want to spend 350 USD on a toaster, do you, what are you a billionaire? Case in point.
→ More replies (8)
4
u/glansma 10h ago
My washer dryer combo machine stopped emptying water, just made a grinding sound, I watched a YouTube video, ordered a part, took the machine apart (I have never done this before) replaced the part, put it back together. I was quoted $350 to fix, did it my self for $35 and two hours of swearing and sweating. Runs smooth as butter.
→ More replies (11)
7
u/MajesticNectarine204 12h ago
Yeah and they consume about 100x as much electricity. Great plan. Maybe just focus on modern products that are easily repaired and sustainably produced.
The fact alone that my phone has an easily replicable battery extends its life by more than double. More of that please.
→ More replies (6)6
u/Rat_Man591 12h ago
I honestly wish the new appliances were easy to repair, but Its 9 times out of 10 easier and faster to fix a 40 year old washer than any washer that came out in the past 10 years except for speed queen
→ More replies (3)5
u/LuckyNumber-Bot 12h ago
All the numbers in your comment added up to 69. Congrats!
9 + 10 + 40 + 10 = 69[Click here](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=LuckyNumber-Bot&subject=Stalk%20Me%20Pls&message=%2Fstalkme to have me scan all your future comments.) \ Summon me on specific comments with u/LuckyNumber-Bot.
2
u/twelfth_knight 12h ago
Well you could repair them. Your grandparents' 1960s washing machine is the Washing Machine of Theseus.
If you want to replace the heating element in your dryer, you have to be good at finding part numbers. Sometimes it's easy and the manufacturer stamped it on the part you're replacing, but sometimes that number is an internal number that doesn't match the part number from the supplier. It can be a real pain, and I don't think it used to be hard. It's getting harder and harder every time I have to fix something from a more and more recent manufacture date.
→ More replies (3)
2
u/Backwards_is_Forward 10h ago
I support this. I don't understand why this has to be a boomer bashing thing. I have had 2 LG refrigerators go out within 7 years from date of manufactur.
→ More replies (4)
2
u/nhh 10h ago
Go buy a Miele refrigerator. It will last, but it will cost you 10K
→ More replies (1)
2
2
u/Fresh_Strain_9980 9h ago edited 9h ago
I'd much rather have a stove with a mechanical switch that can easily be replaced than a circuit board that fails after repeated heating and is no longer stocked becuase the model was only built for a single year.
A few years back i read about a printer that had a counter in it that failed every 1000 pages and was reset once a new ink cartridge was inserrted. Russian hacker figured it out and wrote a program that just update the counter. printer was never out of ink. Planned obselences and be built into stuff in so many ways.
Blenders with all metal parts but one single nylon gear that handles all the torque, short build runs with all custom parts that only fit super tight oddly shaped spaces. so no replacement parts can be sourced from any other competitor. John deer has service lockouts built right into their contract that needs a guy with a widget to unlock stuff when doing minor fixes.
2
u/SuchTarget2782 9h ago
On average, the old stuff didn’t last as long as you think. You, a young person, have only ever seen the “million mile truck” exceptions that didn’t die.
→ More replies (1)
2
u/JacobJoke123 8h ago
Except its illegal to make and sell anything off those old designs because they aren't efficient or "environmentally friendly" enough
2
u/Significant-Ear-3262 8h ago
Can they also sell those $10k vehicles that major auto manufacture make for sale outside of the US. The ones without all the BS electronics.
→ More replies (1)
2
u/voinageo 8h ago
Or just buy a brand that did not moved production to China and converted all the parts to cheap plastic.
Hint Miele, liebherr etc. My 20+ year appliances used daily are still OK.
2
u/Ghost-1911 8h ago
He's not wrong tho.
My 25+ year old Frigidaire in the basement kitchen is still kicking. The main floor kitchen fridge has been replaced twice in that time.
→ More replies (3)
2
2
u/NoNotice2137 7h ago
And then they go bankrupt because the customers won't return for the next 40 years
2
u/ChrisAplin 7h ago
You can still buy high quality appliances. You choose not to because they are expensive. They were expensive back then too.
You can also buy super cheap, super efficient refrigerators with no bells and whistles that are super easy to repair. Refrigerators are simple machines and learning how to fix them saves a ton of money. They will last you as long as you decide to repair it yourself.
→ More replies (1)
2
u/irascible_Clown 6h ago
Old fridges and stoves are definitely superior in my view as well the problem is energy usage. If they could reproduce old styles with quality but also save energy then that would make sense
2
u/outworlder 5h ago
"Vintage patents" isn't a thing. It's like called rotten food "vintage food". They expired, so you can do whatever now.
Electronics sucked, anyone who's had to replace capacitor or solenoids will confirm. Motors were noisy, large, heavy and weak. They consumed a lot of power. And many appliances didn't work all that well.
Modern technology isn't a problem at all. It's cheap and more reliable than ever before. The problem lies with the bean counters, not the engineers. If you cut corners you get crappy appliances. There's also some unnecessary features added but even these aren't a problem if done well.
→ More replies (2)
2
u/TheRealMrChips 5h ago
All joking aside, I absolutely believe there's a market for old-school lower-tech devices that are built with modern engineering but also with the idea of longevity and repairability as a primary design goal alongside their core functions. The problem is that it requires someone to go into the business knowing that they won't be able to profit off of churn. It requires a long-term mindset that says "it's OK to do a steady, solid, business without focusing on higher profits every quarter". It also requires the ability of the business itself to produce a variety of such products (and the ability to pivot to new products as needed) so that if one product area gets saturated due to its success they can continue with others.
→ More replies (4)
•
u/AutoModerator 13h ago
Just a reminder that political posts should be posted in the political Megathread pinned in the community highlights. Final discretion rests with the moderators.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.