TOPIC: THE DISPOSABLE CULTURE

[dean712]

[/quote] In the past, things were proudly designed to give a consumer value for money, and that included electronics. In fact, I'd venture to say, "especially electronics". Cynicism seems to have crept into engineering sometime right after the Second World War (perhaps because of WWII?). The first manufacturing industry it hit was automaking (ref: Vance Packard, "planned obsolescence" was a term he coined), but by the late '60s, it had become endemic. We lost our efficiency and went for the bottom line, assisted by a new generation of Harvard Business School grads in management positions (Robert McNamara, the "Whiz Kids") at the same time. A second generation of same (early '90s) completed a transformation to a consumer society that generally discards quality and the notion of it as anti-progessive and the stuff of fetishists. (Not necessarily you, Alan, just a general statement).

Were we still emphasizing quality over replaceability, no doubt our economy (and those of our Asian business partners and others who changed their songs to follow the US example) would have not experienced the immense growth we've seen over the past 40 years.

Is that a bad thing, I wonder, in hindsight?[/quote]

Probably not!

This thread has been a great read, thanks to all who posted!

I share many of the same frustrations. It seems that the continual "race to the bottom" that may have some benefits in lower prices and disposability has also created a plethora of negative side effects and consequences. I can't believe that people are accepting of such irresponsible and unsustainable practices.

One of the reasons I love Rickenbacker is that they have resisted the trend that so many of the competitors have followed of sacrificing quality for an increment of bottom line (I suspect that is one of the things that many on the Forum appreciate about Ricks). I hope they continue this in good health for many years....

[paologregorio]

I'm not sure I'd place all of the blame squarely on industry. A lot of people always want something new every few years, and innovaters are always thinking up new things. It's a combination of the two. If enough people want something new all the time, the incentive to build things that are long lasting diminishes. Obviously it's not gone entirely, but neither is it present in anywhere near the degree that it has been in the past.

[jingle_jangle]

I'm not sure I'd place all of the blame squarely on industry. A lot of people always want something new every few years, and innovaters are always thinking up new things. It's a combination of the two. If enough people want something new all the time, the incentive to build things that are long lasting diminishes. Obviously it's not gone entirely, but neither is it present in anywhere near the degree that it has been in the past.

This is where a reading of the Vance Packard trilogy: The Hidden Persuaders, The Status Seekers, and especially The Waste Makers would add clarfication to this topic discussion. Beginning in 1957 (a seminal year for American introspection to begin) and ending in 1960, he exposes the marketing/manufacturing behemoth as it's getting implanted into our culture. The books are just as relevant today as they were a half-century ago, because the truths and lies that they discuss have left the province of a few cynical Mad men, and taken root culture-wide. In fact, the excessive variety of products and object fetishism we experience as a "given" in our daily lives, got their beginnings back then.

However, he was off the mark when he wrote, "rock and roll can be described as monotony tinged with hysteria."

Everybody knows it's the other way 'round.

[paologregorio]

I'll have to look that book up. Thanks for the 411.

[jingle_jangle]

I'll have to look that book up. Thanks for the 411.

It's three books, Paul.

[brewingfrog]

Good thread!

I have a number of fine things that have lasted through the years. My trusty True Cold kegbox has lasted for 16 years with only a small amount of maintenance. Blow out the coil, clean off the dust, lube what needs lubing and just continue to stick kegs in it periodcally. It cost more than the newer pot-cooler kegboxes from a host of Chinese manufacturers, but it will last.

Same for my older amps and such. A little TLC keeps them going through spilled beers, inclement weather and outdoor gigs in the Texas Summer. 30 year old amps still going strong.

I have a friend whose band plays quite literally on the beach in South Padre Island. Every other month, he breaks his gear down to clean it out and lube it up if necessary. This has sufficed to keep his gear going (amps, speakers, mixers, etc.) for years in an environment that is just plain awful for modern electronic gear.

The common element is that we simply take the time to do a little maintenance. That and the knowledge of what to do. An example of this would be to walk down the street and ask yourself, "How many of these guys could replace a toilet? Change out their plugs, oil, shocks? Wire in a new plug in the house?" Not many. These skills are not considered to be important by many, and are simply relegated to somebody you can call on to come by and perform them. Entire companies base their business models not on the sales of the product, but the service on said product.

I will add that we few, we happy few, are very much the minority in the consumer world today.

[jingle_jangle]

The common element is that we simply take the time to do a little maintenance. That and the knowledge of what to do. An example of this would be to walk down the street and ask yourself, "How many of these guys could replace a toilet? Change out their plugs, oil, shocks? Wire in a new plug in the house?" Not many. These skills are not considered to be important by many, and are simply relegated to somebody you can call on to come by and perform them. Entire companies base their business models not on the sales of the product, but the service on said product.

I will add that we few, we happy few, are very much the minority in the consumer world today.

Sadly, true...after many years as a homeowner, I find myself as a renter, at the mercy of a very cheap landlord, and often doing things myself and taking them off the rent. Of course, my labor is free.

We have, in our tiny 50-year-old cottage, had more trouble with plumbing than anything else (kind of like a 50-year-old body, but I digress...). The management agent (a single woman) takes our complaints and sometimes elects to send someone out. Case in point: the plumber. Loud-talking, lazy, sloppy, with an eye and chat-up line for the ladies. He's reported to be the agent's boyfriend...

We have a leaky bathroom faucet in one bathroom. In the other, the drain is not draining fast enough; long outdoor pipe runs from the water heater, mean we waste lots of money running cold water, before hot starts coming out of the faucet. He "repaired" the leaky washer by wrapping Teflon packing around it. The faucet would run fine until the water got hot, and then it would shut down of its own volition, no matter how far it was opened, no hot water.

The bathroom sink that would not drain fast enough, he "repaired" by turning the water volume down (the tap leading to the faucet) so that it would fill slower than it would drain. Simple, hey???

I busted him on both counts; my wife was home when he came around; I was here at the office. It took ten days to get him back; in the meantime one of the two kitchen sink faucets began to leak, too. He replaced the left-hand faucet with a right-handed valve, so both faucets turned in the same direction. Confusing, to say the least. We complained, he came back a couple of weeks later and replaced them so they turned as they should--but in opposite directions. Except they now both turn in the reverse direction of standard. ("Standard"= LH faucet turns CW to open, CCW to close, RH turns CCW to open, CW to close.) So far, three useless service calls. Then there was the fourth call to fix all the rest, and to pick up the tools he left on the most recent one, probably as an excuse to chat up my wife once again.

Quality, both in product and service, is generally a lost cause now. It's the exceptions that bring a smile to my face...

[alanz]

An example of this would be to walk down the street and ask yourself, "How many of these guys could replace a toilet? Change out their plugs, oil, shocks? Wire in a new plug in the house?" Not many. These skills are not considered to be important by many, and are simply relegated to somebody you can call on to come by and perform them.

I can do all of those things and many more, but I don't (anymore). I would rather pay someone to do them for me because I don't want to consume my time doing that stuff when I can be doing stuff I want to do and have it be done by people who have done it many more times than I have.

Lawn and yard? Mostly done by my landscaper. Clean the house? Mostly done by my housekeeper. Car maintenance and (especially) repair? Uh, no way am I doing that. And that's coming from a guy who could remove, rebuild and replace small block Fords and Chevys in his sleep when he was 20 years old (and do everything else, too), so it's not like I am ignorant or fearful or incapable at some level, I'm simply uninterested.

Paul, the issue you're having is that you can't choose the "solution-provider." The "solution provider" is being forced upon you since you are not the owner and therefore in theory have no horse in the race (or dog in the hunt or whatever that term is). The quality problem would be solved easily if not for that. I have a great guy with a great team of workers who have done all sorts of good work on my house. Move down here and I'll let you use him.

[jingle_jangle]

Gee, thanks..."down there" is where I moved from. I miss it dearly in memory, but everytime I go back, I'm seeing more and more congestion, bad air.

Of course, I understand that I have no "horse in the race". Just being anecdotal, that's all, although I believe that real crafts and trades are fast disappearing except as anthropological curiosities. And Rick collectors' and players' obsessions, of course...

[brewingfrog]

I would rather pay someone to do them for me because I don't want to consume my time doing that stuff when I can be doing stuff I want to do and have it be done by people who have done it many more times than I have.

Therefore, you are making a choice not based upon ability but upon preference. You can also likely spot very easily when sloppy work was done. I maintain that this is a rapidly shrinking segemnt of society.

Case in point: My lovely wife was hit by a 16 year-old driving a white mini-van. She was not injured, but the impact was fatal to her 5-liter ragtop Mustang. The insurance company of the 16 year-old (*cough*Allstate*cough*) sent us an pathetically low estimate on the car, claiming that the "Oil in the pan was black and gummy, indicating little to no maintenance was performed on the vehicle." I took this letter down to the Oil and Lube joint where I have such work performed (Yeah, I'll let them do that too.) and they went nearly as ballistic as I had. They gladly printed out the 5 years of records of regular maintenance, including an oil and lube two weeks before the accident. We wound up with more than full value on the car.

Now, this episode shows that this particular Insurance Company was counting on the ignorance of the Mustang owner in the area of maintenance to be successful with their bogus estimated value. I would bet that this is a Company wide practice. They can get away with this type of chiseling because so many folks don't have the necessary knowledge to slap them down when they pull it.

[alanz]

Just think, if you had done all the maintenance yourself you wouldn't have been able to prove your case!