6 ms·
Tangential but I feel pretty depressed about middle class consumerism. People just buy new gadgets such as phones and tablets every year like their money is bur
by c7DJTLrn 5y ago
Tangential but I feel pretty depressed about middle class consumerism. People just buy new gadgets such as phones and tablets every year like their money is burning a hole in their pocket. Things that you want to last like fridges, toasters, microwaves barely last, with some people I know buying cheap toasters bi-yearly. I bought an expensive monitor earlier this year and the backlight has already failed. When I send it back for a replacement it will inevitably end up being broken up and landfilled. The manufacturer faces no consequences.
The only thing really worth buying as a middle class person is property. But for many it's so out of reach that I suspect they fall into a kind of despair and instead just spend on what brings them momentary happiness, like new gadgets.
We are moving towards a world where everything is just rented. Even the stuff you've bought.
- frockington1 5y agoTake the time to buy quality appliances, you get what you pay for. I bought Viking appliances 15 years ago. They've been so durable I've moved them to new houses twice without issue.
- mikestew 5y agoOf the four or five people I've know with Viking appliances, every one to a person has had them serviced to fix what broke far more regularly than any kitchen appliance I've ever owned. One person that inherited them in the house they bought flat-out said they were over-priced, finicky junk they'd never directly buy themselves. So I'd buy Viking if it lasted longer (because I'm tired of buying disposable appliances, too), but the anecdotal data I've collected says it won't.
- frockington1 5y agoGood to know, I'll have to check out other brands before buying again, was just about to outfit another kitchen with them. Possible I was just very lucky with mine. Any recommendations?
- mikestew 5y agoI wish I had recommendations. I just know that the folks I've talked to with Viking appliances (and to some extent, SubZero) didn't do much to impress me with tales of reliability. I am far from the first to complain that there's no real middle-ground. It used to be "good, better, and best", and that was exactly the schtick Sears used. Now it's more like "disposable, and over-priced-and-not-much-more-reliable". "Better" (old Kenmore and the like) just up and disappeared, and the high-end (in the case of appliances, anyway) looks to be a pretty face plastered on the same disposable internals, it's just easier to get parts.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- 7952 5y agoI wish there was better data on products. The companies know the quality of the parts and level of returns. Maybe we should have some of thia data. At least give some information on grade of cotton in clothes.
- c7DJTLrn 5y agoI was thinking of a breakdown tax. Variable tax based on breakdown rates or product longevity.
- gameman144 5y agoThis is clever, any resources you'd recommend that describe this in detail? Or is this more in the "that'd be neat" stage?
- c7DJTLrn 5y agoThe latter.
- gjvnq 5y agoThat would be cool. Another option would be just forcing long warranties (like 20 years) on most non-consumable products.
- dzhiurgis 5y agoWe bought cheapest dishwasher we could find for our rental (as a tenants). Cost $400 (280 USD) to buy and something like $350 to install (1-2 hours of labour to lay new piping). It had some weird failures already, but lasted over a year already. Willing to bet it's going to last few years and there's just no way 5x more expensive Bosch is going to outlast it.