Fucking planned obsolescence. I'm pissed at shit breaking. Back in the day when I was a young lad...

Fucking planned obsolescence. I'm pissed at shit breaking. Back in the day when I was a young lad, when I bought something, it was made to last damnit. Now I can't expect anything to last longer than 2-5 years.

Look at pants. If I get down on my knees to do some work, they get holes in them on the same day. When I was a kid, I could scrape it against the road in a fall and not see any mark. I could roll around in the backyard with the neighbor's kids and they wouldn't have a stitch out of place.

When I bought tools, I could use them damnit. Now I have to hold them like a baby. And those fucking rechargeable batteries die in 2 hours at the best, I avoid buying batteries, I prefer a cord to the wall infinitely more than those rechargeable batteries.

My grandparents passed down their freezer to me. My aunts bought a new freezer 10 years ago and she already needs a new one.

I prefer my shit made out of metal, not plastic.

The technology they have today can do more and work faster, but they cost so much it gets all the more frustrating when they break. And they're so much more feeble too.

Its not some vast conspiracy
There is just no market for long lasting products
People want new shit

>Most of our down starts getting produced in China and South East Asia
>Suddenly the quality of our goods go down and we have to deal with merchant trickery
Really jostles my noggin.

Maybe don't buy your shit from old Navy, Walmart, or target.

Look, who the hell wants their shit made out of plastic? They can make new products that do the work they do today, without trying to save nickels and dimes with cheap protecting materials. They make shovels out of fiberglass or some kind of plastic. Shovels. That shit never broke when I was younger, when they were made out of wood or metal, but now those newer shovels are like digging with a fucking toothpick.

Plastic does not mean weak or bad. Read a material science book someday before you retire, it will really put things on perspective. Industry has come a long way since the 40s.

>Look, who the hell wants their shit made out of plastic?
People that dont care because they are going to throw it out anyway

My Walmart buyer simply won't carry products made in the US or not of the cheapest possible quality (with some promotional exceptions). This is not rp or an exaggeration.
>t. walmart vendor

Well I know I'm still using shovels I had when I was kid, and the newer ones my family member bought are breaking.

What's more is that those old shovels were made right, they didn't get loose at where the shovel head attached to the handle. The new ones are attached differently, they get loose, I have to constantly fix the new shit. Fucking hell.

Anecdotal evidence does not support some vast conspiracy.

Hell I have had metal tools break and strip. Shovels made from wood and iron that still snapped after a while use. You know why? Because it's cheap shit I got from Walmart or Target. If you don't want shit that break, you're going to have to Shell out money on things designed a little better.

Another thing that they use plastic for that they should NOT be using plastic for is to hold liquid. Milk, water, etc. Back in the day they used glass for that shit. Now I can taste the fucking plastic in the water when I drink it, I don't buy plastic bottles anymore they taste like garbage.

If you want something to last forever you'll probably have to pay 5 times more for it.

Glass based consumer infrastructure only works if you recycles. Did you recycle? Did your neighbors recycle?

Or did you do what typical boomers do and throw it away? Producing consumer products in glass is expensive as fuck and if you don't recycles such containers it makes it wildly expensive over time to keep making those types of containers people just Chuck.

>Shell out money on things designed a little better.
It's a fucking shovel. It was designed better back then than they are today.

Get those old ass shovels, they can take a beating, and you can pass them down to your grandkids with those tools.

I don't recycle no, I reuse the hell out of what glass I got. I don't even throw them away unless they break.

OP is the type of fag that wants high quality shit for the same price he's currently paying for cheap chink shit. He really doesn't understand why quality items are 2-3x more expensive than Chinese crap, and it makes him very angry.

It was also more expensive

I am sure if you scaled the price of those to today's inflation it would be a shovel for 40-60 bucks. But instead you'd rather pay 4-10 for shoveling dirt.

Buy cheap get cheap. No conspiracy.

OP is right, products are made like trash today, but it's a necessary evil in that is keeps the market flowing

>If I get down on my knees to do some work, they get holes in them on the same day. When I was a kid, I could scrape it against the road in a fall and not see any mark.

You also weigh five times as much now as you did when you were a kid and are capable of exerting exponentially more power.

So he's a typical boomers. Surprise.

Oh look, surprise. He never recycled. So the factories never got their materials back so they said fuck it. Good job elder asshat. Your wisdom sure is great.

Not sure if bantz but that's an excellent point.

There, someone who understands, I'm not making this up.

Are you sure those shovels were expensive shovels back in the day?

Working with my pants on the dirt, gardening for a few hours? There's no way I put more pressure on my pants now than when I was a kid playing around with the pants all day.

That's my question, what was the cost back then and account for Inflation and see what they would be today.

The world economy is fueled by westerners having infinite demand for cheap shit made by colored people. Without westerners constantly needing to replace things, the whole system breaks down. I think the economy evolved to this as a result of ludicrously out of control fiat currency. Debt backed currency requires that GDP growth is infinite. It doesn't matter if real value is actually being created just as long as the numbers go up on paper to keep fiat currency from imploding

Buy higher quality products?

Any retard can figure out if you buy cheap low quality products from Walmart, they are gonna break after a few years.

And the face you ask it as a question shows your boomer nature. You don't even fucking understand the cost of quality. Another reason they could have been cheap is that they were made shortly after WW2. You know what happened during WW2? Nearly every industrialized society in Europe and Asia was burnt to the ground making the USA the sole manufacturer of goods. There was such high demand to share the cost that high quality goods could be made cheaply due to the sheer income generated from being the only supplier. They could afford to do it back then until boomers decided they wanted cheaper shit then decided to start sending manufacturing overseas where they could be paid pennies

This shit just goes over my head. I don't control the world economy. I just want my tools and my plastic crap to stop fucking breaking. I'm still using tools my dad gave me because they haven't broke yet and they plug into the wall instead of using that stupid rechargeable battery crap.

I have two options.

1. Buy old shit and accept slower work speed.

2. Buy most expensive new crap and pray they don't break.

Youre fucking retarded. They all sell you the same shit.

Like already stated the market for things that last is gone, mindless consumerism killed it. Now you can shit out a toaster with the face of some capeshit faggot and suddenly your current toaster is no longer good enough.

You know, I'm not even sure the difference between expensive and cheap back then was as significantly noticeable like they are today. You could buy tools for all castes back then and expected them to work. The more expensive stuff back then couldn't have really been that different than cheap stuff back then.

I'm actually surprised non-Americans are the only ones agreeing with me in this thread. What the fuck.

The superior durability of older goods is misunderstood. Products had to be made with such robust materials because cheaper, lighter materials either had not been invented yet or the manufacturing techniques to produce them on a large scale had not been developed. Companies today don't use shoddy materials because they want things to break. They use shoddy materials because they are cheap and easier to process into products. There is also the fact that whites no longer manufacture their own goods. That would certainly affect the quality of whatever is produced.

I think what has improved in today's society is that we have become much more efficient with our resources, I'll admit that, we design products better of course. But that efficiency isn't to our benefit. They will use as little material as possible instead of laying on materials slightly thicker to ensure they last longer.

There is a market for higher quality items. You just won't find them at war or target practice gap or old Navy.

Many factories have tiers of specifications. To still get a return on those that pass spec, they sell to discount stores. Take Hanes underwear for instance. You can buy a pack from TJ Max and from Macy's. Same type of underwear. I did this because the max was cheaper than macys but when I opened them, the ones from tjax we're stiff and the waist band was frayed. You can do this experiment easily.

DONT GET ME GOD DAMN STARTED ON WASHING MACHINES
>triggered

I certainly see that with plastic taking over roles that metal once had before, which is an excellent example of your argument. You understand the situation we are in, what advice do you offer to us for future as products continue to degrade in quality?

the wonders of free trade and cheap foreign goods.

hehe stupid goyim

I agree with you. Probably because I have kids now and am a home-owner. Shit was just of a better quality when I was younger. I pay more for less now.

>I pay more for less now.
There, this is absolutely the simplest, shortest sentence that would explain my frustration I'm experiencing.

Pressure is force/area. As you grow, lets just use height(h) at a metric, your weight goes as h^3, but your leg surface area is only going to grow as h^2. Since the force you exert is directly proportional to your weight, you will exert more pressure because your weight grows at a faster rate than your area.

Well I'm glad to have been of service. Now witness my satanic trips

So does anyone in this thread have advice or knowledge on how to reverse this trend of paying more for less for my own personal sake and those I know. I'm talking about real advice, not trying to change international trade here.

>Imagine if he's more ashamed of the hole in his pant than of his son/grandson.

My father still uses a shovel his dad used to clear snow. Solid as a rock.

I pity you user.
I inherited my grand mother's washing machine 10 years ago and still use it almost daily.
It's a Vedette from 1967, all metal, bright-blue and white (epoxy paint). Easy as fuck to service and repair, almost no electronics involved, and when the 90°C preset is pressed, it really heats up to 90°C.

If I take my pants with holes in them, patch them up with older pants I used as a child, I guarantee you those patched portions will last longer than the pant they are patched on. I've seen it already with one pant I've been wearing.

It's simple - EITHER you can have cheap shit that doesn't last long, OR you can have expensive shit that lasts longer... nobody has any incentive to make super cheap stuff that you only need to buy once

OR, buy old CHEAP shit that still works to this day.

the funny part is you actually spend less money on the expensive shit.

let me give you an example

i once bought a cheap pair of boots($30 or $40) for work from walmart one time because i was like "hey, i'm just going to beat them up anyway". well in under 3 months the boots were coming apart at the seems

after that i bought a pair of boots that were like $100+ and i've had them for years. if i would have kept buying cheap boots every time they blew out, i would have ended up spending way more money than just buying the more expensive boots that last longer.

i really don't understand how people don't get this simple concept

>Parents have a Crock Pot from the 70s
>Wanted another one, bought a new Crock Pot
>Broke in a year, old one still fine

I think we also used their fridge from the 70s up until the mid 90s. And used our first microwave from the mid 80s until the late 90s.

I don't disagree with you about modern products generally being built with poor quality. The statement you made about pressure was just incorrect.

Nowadays you can still get quality products that will last a long time: they just cost significantly more. Just look at the different types of leather goods for example. You could get a solid wooden desk that will last a lifetime, or a processed pulp thing from ikea that will last a few years. Since so many people like to take the easy way out and buy cheaper things, it can also make it harder to find nice high-quality goods.


Electronics are a whole separate issues as far as 'planned obsolescence' goes. Not only do you have some companies *cough, apple* that seem to actually plan obsolescence, but there is also steady technical progress coupled with shitty developers who write shitty, inefficient software and count on better technical specifications to make their frankenstein piece of shit run decently.

>companies realize they can make shitty crap for far less than it'd take to produce good things
>people will buy the shitty crap because it's cheaper and they can't manage to save up the cash to buy a good pair of boots because they need the boots now to work or else they won't get any money at all
>company benefits even more because when the boots break to shit in 6 months the person now needs to buy another pair of boots

remember though capitalism is perfect and cannot fail, it can only be failed. there is no room for improvement

>Fucking planned obsolescence.
"Planned obsolescence" is bullshit. There's nothing new about that fact that if you cheap fucks buy the least expensive piece of shit you can find, it will perform poorly and break quickly. It is impossible to optimize for two variables at the same time. If you want it NOW, you can pay more for quality, or pay less and suffer the consequences. The saying goes, "Cheap, fast, good: choose any two," and it is not sarcasm. It is a fucking LAW of economics dictated by the parameters of physical reality. Everyone is such a cheap fuck now, blowing all their money on their drug habits, that they pretend corporations are conspiring against them to cheat them out of the expensive quality they pretend they are paying for. The reason your grandfather's push mower still works is he saved up and paid a lot for it, instead of getting one on sale at Walmart from China for $9.99. Welcome to fucking reality.

I don't find that to be true, I never had expensive boots but both my cousin and my dad say they beats up their expensive boots fairly quickly and hand them to me once they're done. They get their boots all worn out in a year, like clockwork, they just gave up and bought cheap boots, and they might last 2-3 months shorter but they're 1/4th the cost.

they're probably buying some shitty brand. i've had a pair of boots for like 5 years of hard use. i used to have a pair of LL Bean boots that i had for almost 10 years that were still good, i just outgrew them.

Be the change you want to see pal. It's as simple as that.

This is a very strong point, but not the whole story. A large part of the story is the death of the concept of fair price, general decline in concepts of maintenance, and simply what has made it.

>Fair price
Brooks Brothers are probably the best example of this. They never touted themselves as a luxury brand from their founding; they did men's clothing, and they did it at fair quality for fair prices. You would expect to pay for what you bought. Thus, it was really a mid tier, "You get what you pay for" deal. Presidents as well as middle businessmen bought their suits from them.

Their decline was essentially when the market dried up for what they did; people didn't want to pay fair price for fair work, they wanted cheap. People also had no real concept of what quality meant. Thus, they lost market share until they were bought out.

>Maintenance
Very few people oil their leather anymore, but it is very useful for extending the life of leather goods. Patches on elbows were not for decoration; suits will almost always wear out first on elbows. A suit hanger has a certain shape to hold the shoulders correctly.

Things lasted longer often times because they were simply more important and thus better taken care of.

>What has made it
There was a ton of crap produced before, but by the very nature of being of poor quality no one bothered to maintain it or pass it down. Crappy things get discarded, only old things of decent quality stay around.

>WHAT DO?
Reasonably understand what you are purchasing and what the company typically does.

Go for things of simpler design that have practical use of complicated designs. Maintain your goods better. For clothing, buy multiples; a suit worn everyday survives a year. Two suits alternated everyday survive 3 years each.

I'm worried nobody heard me the first time. A few of you know what I'm talking about here.

>boots that i had for almost 10 years
No. Fucking. Way. You didn't even use them then.

Read a science book

i used to hike in them all the time

My dad bought boots that were $150+ or more, even $200 because he thought the same as you did, that he could save money in a long term by buying expensive shit. He was pissed to find that it wasn't true.

That made the U.S poorer since they couldn't trade with anyone

Learn to fix shit yourself using automotive grade parts

some brands are expensive but have shitty quality.

I agree OP my graphics card just died and it's only a couple of years old. Plus I've bought a ton of headphones over the years.

Everyone is a moron here. Cars are almost the exact same price they were 30 years ago, but in effect are much cheaper because wages have gone up. Yet they will last just as long if not longer than the cars of 30 years ago.

So their argument is simply illogical. The gooks and electronics companies could make decent quality stuff for the same price they are selling it now if they wanted to.

$200 is a cheap boot.

I'm snorting obenauf's right now

>This shit just goes over my head.

And this is the problem. You're one of those, "I don't want to know how the world works, I just want to understand my own little bubble" people. That's fine, the world is a complicated and scary place and it's easier if we pass the buck onto smarter and more resolved people.

The problem is the more people start doing this, the more the world goes to shit because then the only people who do understand shit are usually those of wicked character who want to do nothing but exploit.

Not understanding how everything works is a luxury that can't last forever.

gj

Society will tolerate some things breaking quickly but not others. Cars and TVs will work for a long time still, I find fridges and white goods do as well.

People will tolerate a kettle breaking, so they can have a little trip to Walmart to buy a new one. As for my graphics card well no one gives a shit about some gamer fag. So they can screw me over.

It all fits in into what is socially acceptable.

>I could use them damnit. Now I have to hold them like a baby. And those fucking rechargeable batteries die in 2 hours at the best, I avoid buying batteries, I prefer a cord to the wall infinitely more than those rechargeable batteries.


You never worked construction.

I use dewalt cordless, Klein hand tools, some Milwaukee stuff.

oh shut the fuck up you pseudo-intellectual douchenozzle

>"Planned obsolescence" is bullshit.

Wheher its bullshit or not depends on what kind of product we're talking about but there has been numerous cases of planned and programmed obsolescence. Apple products for example are filled with code making the product lose its processing power and memory though time inorder to ensure that Apple products aren't around for long in the second hand markets.

Modern cars have a timed computer failure which forces you to drive to licensed maintenance where your cars computer is reset, updated and timer for your next appointment is set in without your knowledge. I used to work for a licensed maintenance and I still have my computer with all necessary software for doing this. Last time I had to actually repair something physically was back in 2013.

>For clothing, buy multiples; a suit worn everyday survives a year. Two suits alternated everyday survive 3 years each.

Do you actually believe this? Why does a day off in between magically extend the number of days you can wear a suit?

>i once bought a cheap pair of boots($30 or $40) for work from walmart


Get red wings

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Well you understand the world economics and world trade. Now what are you doing to influence world events to better the lives of white race? Nothing. Or even your own personal bubble, is your life made better now you have understanding of world events?

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>He really doesn't understand why quality items are 2-3x more expensive than Chinese crap
Where exactly do you buy these quality items?

Like, if I want screws that don't disintegrate when you screw them 2-3 times, or needlenose pliers that don't bend, or a lightbulb that doesn't burn out every month, where exactly do I go for those?

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>Modern cars have a timed computer failure which forces you to drive to licensed maintenance where your cars computer is reset, updated and timer for your next appointment is set in without your knowledge. I used to work for a licensed maintenance and I still have my computer with all necessary software for doing this. Last time I had to actually repair something physically was back in 2013.

Fucking hell, so I should avoid buying modern cars then. Get something older than 2010ish to avoid this.

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Stop

It's the new spider meme.

>Apple products for example are filled with code making the product lose its processing power and memory though time inorder to ensure that Apple products aren't around for long in the second hand markets.


And I should buy Android as well.

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>Superior Nippon denim stitched over 1000 times

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Here in Finland the older your car the more you pay taxes and insurance fees for it. This is all supposed to be for "ecological" reasons but when you take a look at the people behind these pieces of legislation you'll notice that they're either heavily influenced by automobile sales industry or are directly involved with car sales due to either owning a car sales business themselves or family own business.

Yes they're making newer appliances to be more energy efficient but then they get busted as hell in 5 years and you throw the whole thing into the heap pile. How is THAT ecological vs. using the same freezer for a thousand years?

no. i'd rather not look like i'm wearing clown shoes

Androids have similar programs in them. So does Microsoft. Apple is just the most blatant in doing this since they've being trying to change EU laws on products making it so that the iphone you bought isn't legally really your but rather that you only rented it meaning selling it yourself would be considered theft. EU doesn't want to have none of it so Apple programmed their phones and computers to fail after a certain time period has passed.

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