this post was submitted on 30 Dec 2023
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If there is one thing I could bring back from that era, it would be the durability of their appliances and materials. Much better than this throwaway culture we have, where everything is made to last a couple years past warranty, then thrown out at the first sign of malfunction. Shit from the 1950's was built to endure decades of regular use, and repairs were simple and cheap.
so how come they're so rare nowadays? I mean everyone had one back then, why aren't the overwhelming majority of these appliances still with us? Survivorship bias, that's why
I've lived in at least 20 residences across 4 continents and only one of those was from the 1920s.
It still had an original stove.
That stove was the fucking best shit ever. It was amazing. I swear to God I have never been able to cook bacon so amazingly as on that stove top.
I don't disagree that survivorship bias is a thing. And perhaps I had the best possible option of that era. I mean, yes with an induction top I can do great things. With an MSR dragonfly gas stove I can cook the camp a great breakfast anywhere in the world. I've cooked on wood fire stoves. I've cooked primitive fires in outback Australia and the himiliaya mountains... But there was something special about that 1920s stove that I've won't ever forget.
You either live an interesting life, or are a great storyteller. I choose to believe both.
How do you downvote a compliment?
Side note, MSR dragonflys are the shit. I love everything about them, the literal drink bottle of petrol you have to carry around, the crazy aluminium foil windshield, the pumping, the way they spray fuel everywhere as you light them, then the tower of flame that almost burns down the building as it primes. Cheap to run, indestructible, perfection.
I recently heard an interesting take on a podcast that prior to electronic calculators and especially computers, doing calculations was very tedious, time consuming, and not as precise for complex calculations. This resulted in things being over engineered to compensate.
Once it was easier to make calculations, you could easily figure out the minimum amount of resources needed to make a product last during the warranty period. With spreadsheets, you could have a complex view of all variables and tweak the materials to maximize profit, largely at the expense of durability.
This is I think one of many factors, including survivorship bias, why people feel like they don't make em like they used to.
My dude, they said "1950's", and "decades". They're no longer around cause it's been decades since the last one has been produced.
but if they were "built to last" then surely we shouldn't have needed much more produced after market saturation. And yet, they actually are vanishingly rare today. Which means most did break down
Sure, I'll agree that they did break down. Everything does at some point or another. Back then it was easier to repair your equipment and you had the right to. That's why they were "built to last"
Then, as time passed, that changed. It became difficult to find the necessary parts for repairs.
Example: My father is a heavy equipment mechanic. I'd say somewhere in the last ten to twenty years, his suppliers started to refuse selling specific parts he needed because he's an independent.
He also described to me how some jobs he takes today feel like he's handling a bomb. If he so much as trips a stray sensor, a representative from the machine's manufacturer will come sniffing around the yard to catch him.
Then there's the knowledge required to perform the necessary repairs. The common sentiment I hear from people is that it's cheaper to replace than to repair. They're not wrong, however this way of thinking demotivates the need to learn how to repair it.
So yeah. Those built to last machines have broken down. Knowledge and parts for them have become difficult to acquire, however an enthusiast willing to put the time in to repair them will have a machine that hums for the rest of their lives.
Tons were thrown out for fashion or modernization, not because they broke down. Kitchens have trends that last around 7 years and even back then people wanted the latest designs.
Don't discount how much marketing convinces people they need to just buy new shit every few years either. I've seen a lot of perfectly functioning appliances replaced just because someone saw something they thought was nicer "on sale".
I don't know, their lamp seemed pretty fragile.
Sounds Italian