Re: Quality, reliability,durability -- in the 1980's! Message #10 Posted by Karl Schneider on 11 Feb 2005, 4:05 a.m., in response to message #8 by Palmer O. Hanson, Jr/
Palmer said,
Quote:
Here's some more anecdotal evidence of better quality, reliability and durability in the good, old days.
Valentin also made a similar post regarding his early '80s Sony CD portable player, and I couldn't agree more.
I think that the 1980's and early 1990's were a "golden era" of consumer products. Granted, certain technological products were immature or unavailable (e.g., PC's and cellular telephones). However, most other commonplace products were well-built with sensible design and styling.
Today, however, gaudiness prevails over soundness in a market of low prices but razor-thin profit margins. It is as though manufacturers are compelled to grab consumers' attention with bizarre stylization in order to gain that critical bit of market share for profitability.
The development of capable and cheap electronics, as well as access to very inexpensive labor in mainland China and Mexico (via NAFTA) has drasitially reduced the price of consumer goods. However, the newer products are often not well-engineered or durable because low price and rapid obsolecence makes that a losing proposition.
Here are some of my everyday "things", which I still use on a regular basis. Many of these I bought new.
- Cars:
1986 VW and 1989 BMW. Well-built, straightforwardly engineered, cleanly styled. Many of today's cars are stylized and gimmicky, and I would refuse to own one, depite the technological improvements.
- Wristwatch:
1981 Seiko duodisplay. After 24 years, I just had the crystal replaced and minor repairs made at their national Service Center. Still works great and keeps good time. I'm told that the newer ones aren't made as well inside.
- Television:
1988 Zenith 19". $329 new. Doesn't have superimposed graphics or RGB input for DVD player, but does have sharp NTSC picture and displays the channel below the screen. Remote control is easy to hold and use.
- Shaver:
1989 Braun AC. Simple, clean, and straightforward. Not cordless, no fancy cleaning system, no LED displays.
- Vacuum cleaner:
1985 Eureka canister with solid metal case. Have you seen the colorful plastic stylized monstrosities in the stores? Maybe they have HEPA filters, but I just can't stand them.
- Calculators:
I own and use most of the HP calcs based on models orginally released during the period 1979-1988. The ones designed later (48G, 33S) just don't measure up in ease of use.
-- KS
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