Re: Quote from an owner of one of my 'pid' quick mill HX units

It's funny - we were just having this discussion on another group
(horology) - it turns out that mechanical clocks that were made 100 or even
200 years ago are of much better quality than those made in the last 20
years, which are basically junk that wears rapidly. Obviously we have the
metallurgy to do better than our ancestors but the manufacturers just don't
want to spend the money. They are not thinking in terms of centuries - they
figure if the clock lasts 20 years that's plenty good enough.

I just opened a toaster oven that stopped working and saw that one of
the thermostat contacts had arced thru and burned away. In some former age I
would have been able to replace the thermostat or even just the contact but
this appliance was designed to be disposable - it was all put together with
welds and rivets (probably by automated equipment) instead of screws and is
basically unrepairable. Very often in the life cycle of a product (I'm
thinking of Popperies for one) you'll see the first generation is built
solidly and then in later generations, even if they leave the "skin" the
same, the manufacturers do "value engineering" - they figure out ways to
take cost out of the product - the casting is replaced with *** metal, a
powerful motor is replaced with a less powerful motor, they get rid of the
power switch, screws become rivets, etc. They squeeze every nickel they
can out of the product because they want to keep the price of the product
the same as inflation increases, because they want to increase their
profits, because Walmart is pressing them to reduce the price, etc. I also
own a very early VCR that weighs around 50 lbs. and must have cost $500 in
1978 $'s - each section of the VCR (tuner, audio, video , motor drive,
etc.) has its own big circuit board.

Now the flip side of this is a lot of stuff today is more affordable than
even before, especially in post-inflation terms . A lot of stuff also works
better, especially (mostly) stuff that benefits from advances in
electronics. But this cheapness has been achieved at the expense of quality
and repairability.

However, you do have to balance the loss of quality with the advantages of
modern technology. Old cars are solidly built but I wouldn't want to go
back to messing with carbs and points. Back in the day, 1/2 the time your
car would not start in the winter and you'd be out there drying off the plug
wires and spritzing ether in the carb - in some areas the technology has
really made a big difference that more than makes up for the loss of
quality. Modern laser printers (themselves much more cheaply built but
cheaper to buy than early laser printers) are a joy compared to the old
daisy wheels that wheezed along at 1 page per minute, etc.


"Danny" <danny@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:59qtdsF2m0p7aU1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Robert Harmon wrote:
Howdy Danny!
Trying to figure out which best describes you; Luddite or Troglodyte? ;)

http://www.websters-online-dictionary.org/definition/Luddite+
http://www.websters-online-dictionary.org/tr/troglodyte.html

So says the owner/user of Silex vac pots that outdate your Gaggia by 40
years or so.

I can assure you that I'm neither, although I would love to live in a cave
(with 240v and broadband).

Ken has (succinctly) got me to a tee.

I have no problem with progress, but there is often a point when
"progress" goes backwards, and in todays throwaway society, things are
designed and made, not to be particularly good at the job, but to be made
cheaply and discarded shortly after the guarantee period expires.

Take electric Kettles. I prefer to use the Russell Hobbs K2. This Kettle
dates from 1960 (as featured on my site) and wasn't updated for 10 years
or more. I have several, all of which work fine. Parts are available, so
since this appliance is made of good quality SS and has renewable element
and switch gear and boils 3 litres of water in as many minutes, why would
I want to dispose of these and buy a modern plastic variant that taints
the water and won't last a tenth of the time?

Lever machines typically have large boilers - necessary for the tea and
americano customers. They can have litres of water renewed in the boiler
with shot temperature remaining stable (within 3 or 4 degrees). They have
little to go wrong with no complicated electronic switch pads etc. I have
only ever had two failures in service in five years plus of daily use.
Once when the water in the boiler froze and split the non-return valve,
and once when I incorrectly fitted a piston gasket which then leaked
during the day. It took less than 10 minutes to fix both problems and
return the machine to service.

I would use an older LM in the trailer if I didn't have lever machines,
and this may be unavoidable as parts availability changes.

My house is full of old stuff, which performs better than modern
counterparts, and often has more beauty in the design. It also has, where
appropriate, modern stuff which obviously performs better than earlier
versions - printers, computers, etc...

--
Regards, Danny

http://www.gaggia-espresso.com (a purely hobby site)
(apparently bad grammar but I like it that way...)



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