Re: Why not turn back the clock?
- From: Farmer Giles <Giles@xxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 29 Nov 2007 09:32:44 +0000
Ivan wrote:
"Farmer Giles" <Giles@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:DaGdnTXTbKT5WdDaRVnyjwA@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxMel Rowing wrote:On Nov 27, 11:43 pm, Anton Gÿsen <an...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:Mel Rowing wrote:
[snip]
No they don't make 'em like that any more!There's no reason why, given TLC, they couldn't still be on the road today.
Indeed there is not and a few are and very nice it is to see them from
time to time.
However, they are in the hands of enthusiasts where they should be.
That's a far cry from saying that we could and should still be
clinging to these concepts today.
I don't are which technology you care to choose, it has progressed and
for the better.
How I remember with nostalgia Radio Luxembourg coming howling and
whistling on 208 MW onto our six valve superhet. DAB is like having
somebody in the same room with you.
Stop being so pretentious. All radios and TVs that receive RF are superhets - even today. Your Radio Luxembourg problems were down to reception - which can still be a problem with DAB, despite the hype to the contrary.
I remember our first TV set at home. It cost Dad about £90. I reckon
in those days he would have had to work about 5-6 weeks to earn that!
Pictures were black and white, of low definition and had a cathode ray
tube which was expected to deteriorate over around two years before
giving up the ghost altogether, There was an army of former forces
radio and radar mechanics dotted around the country who set up as TV
engineers and lived very well out of it.
Compare those with the solid state coloured HD digital sets with
access to more channels than one can possibly watch and I wonder where
all the engineers have gone?
More pretentious waffle - seems to be a speciality of yours - we had all solid-state coloured TVs 40 years ago - and hybrids before that. But you're missing the point entirely, technical improvements have occurred as the technology has evolved.
While this has undoubtedly produced a better product with increased reliability, the electronics industry has virtually destroyed itself - and threatens to do the same to the planet by its 'efficiency' and by those in control who often cannot see (or refuse to see) beyond their own short-sighted self-interest. With such things as surface mount technology, component level repair of these things may not be as possible as it once was - but there is absolutely no reason why equipment cannot be modularly constructed to faciliate repair. It might cost a fraction more, but the amount of serviceable eqipment that is blithely tossed into skips these days is nothing short of criminal.
Which ever facet of everyday life you care to look at things have
improved, The first pinnicle of my Mum's domestic life was when she
got a vaccum cleaner, the second when she got an electric cooker and
the third when she got a fridge. She'd go barmy if she saw her
daughter in law's kitchen.
Materially we are all better off than we have ever been.
With the exception of motor cars and electronic gadgets (a mixed blessing, at best) I would dispute that. Some aspects of life have undoubtedly improved, but the baby haslong ago been tossed out with the bathwater.
Whether we are any the happier for it is open to question.
There is no question - 'we' are not. Whatever the position with our 'material' well-being, the quality of life for most has declined considerably.
Well said that man, I have an (Electra) electric tumble dryer which has worked perfectly without any problems for the last 33 years and a Hotpoint automatic washing machine probably over 20 years old, which has admittedly given a few problems in its life but is a piece of cake to repair.
In total it's had about three sets of brushes circa £2.00 a set a drum spider and bearing set at about £15.00 and a door seal which probably cost around a fiver.
I know someone's going to tell me how much more green and efficient modern machines are, but from an environmental point of view the production of new stuff from the raw materials through the complete manufacturing chain and into my kitchen would probably use far more energy and cause more pollution than the continued use of my present 'less efficient' equipment for decades to come!
Absolutely correct. Thankfully spares for 'white goods' are still relatively easy to find - not so with a lot of other equipment. Even so, the price of some spare parts is often seriously out of kilter with the price of new equipment - this has to change. Forty years ago we repaired almost everything, now very little. Things are thrown away with minor faults because repair is said to be 'uneconomical'.
It's not just the price of spare parts though, or their availability, but the way that things are put together - often to make repair virtually impossible. In the past the opposite occurred,and things were put together with servicing and repair very much a part of the overall design.
.
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