Subtitle of this entry: An I just a Luddite or is the new only partly better than the old??
As the main pic shows, I finally broke down – correction, the CAR broke down – and so a new car was purchased. Second new car of my life; the first (bottom photos) lasted 15 years. Will this new one last the same amount of time/miles? I doubt it.
To be fair, the 97 Escort (the green machine, bottom) had a lot of work done on it outside of the scope that I’d consider normal wear and tear. Brakes a couple of times; full brake-line replacement; full exhaust-line replacement (on top of a couple of muffler replacements; expected), rear-coil replacement (I’ll still never understand that one); radiator replacement.
And this was a car with – at the time of death – had only 67k miles on it.
Do I believe that this new car (top; burgundy replacement) will last 15 years, even with normal maintenance and repair? And factoring in the possible/probable occasional WTF expensive fix?
I honestly don’t.
Today, almost everything is built to last for a shorter period than its predecessor, and – to be fair – in some ways that’s a good thing:
- Especially with anything electronic, technology is moving so fast that by the time you buy X, an improved X is cheaper/faster/better than what you bought. Think computers, smartphones and so on. Many – not all, agreed – want to get the best and the fastest sooner rather than later. Why pay $Z*2 that’ll last five years for something you’ll want to replace in two years? Make it cheaper (price/quality) and everyone wins.
- Innovation is moving so quickly in many areas that it’s great that prices (and quality) are dropping. We can now buy solar panels, have a cell phone (physical; ignore the carrier issues), have LEDs for nightligts and so on. Again, a lot of this is wrapped up in electronics, but that’s just because I’m a computer dork. If I were in fashion, I’m sure I’d have tales about how haute fashion was more quickly getting to the masses and so on.
On the other hand – there’s always another hand, ja? – I don’t agree with some of the “short-lived” products I’ve purchased lately:
- Recently replaced a dozen or so year old microwave with a new one. Yep, faster, but the latch on the door – from day one – is flimsier than the one on the old micrwave’s even after a decade+. Weak link.
- We replaced the stainless steel Cuisinart coffee maker. Except, whoops, for the same price, it’s not stainless steel. It’s plastic that looks like stainless steel. Same coffee maker – a good one – besides this, but a step down.
- DVD players – each one I’ve purchased over the decade (three of ’em) have each been better than the former; each has cost approximately the same as what it has replaced; each has lasted for a lesser period than its predecessor. *Sigh*
- Home wireless phones (i.e. for a landline) fall into the “technology is moving fast” category, but also into this bucket – there really isn’t, for most folks, a need to replace same more than once a decade or so. Sure, some advances, but we’re not talking computers: Just some good stuff, that really won’t blow your hair back. Or – if it does – buy same. It’s inexpensive, and, yes, it’s also cheap, in the low-quality, short life sort of way. We replaced a cordless phone after about 12-13 years, and the replacement is a set of cordless phones (really can’t get anything else). Nice to have the multiple phones; nice to get off the 2.4Ghz band (so no wireless network issues), but the phones are crappy. And they were rated as highly as any other phone on Amazon. Whatever…
- (Fill in your own blank….)
Some longer-lived products that I’ve run across in the last few years include high-end digital cameras (yes, the newer one is better, but not exponentially), Allen/hex wrench sets and thumb drives (lots of issues with thumb drives; but they form the new sneaker-net).