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> I know a thermostatically controlled toaster is feasible to make into a cheap product because it existed in the 1960s Having bought a toaster and electric k
by tuatoru 4y ago
> I know a thermostatically controlled toaster is feasible to make into a cheap product because it existed in the 1960s
Having bought a toaster and electric kettle recently, I completely agree with your main point: buy the cheapest one you can bear to look at, because they're all the same in the essentials.
But this anecdote about your aside might be diverting. One of my earliest extended memories (in the 1960s) is watching my dad repair our toaster. winding new resistance wire around the mica central divider. (The toaster was a manual model with flip-open sides, toasting one side of the bread at a time.)
I don't think automatic toasters were all that cheap in the 1960s. Not everywhere, anyway, if repair of a manual toaster was worthwhile to do.
- blihp 4y agoManual repair of just about everything was worthwhile to do back then. Partly it was because labor was cheap and physical stuff was expensive (which has inverted) and partly because the overall <pick the appliance> was well built enough otherwise where one could expect to get years more service out of it post-repair. This approach doesn't payoff nearly as well when everything in the device is engineered to be within an inch of it's life once the warranty period ends. (if you're lucky)