The Lightbulb Conspiracy

[passiveporcupine]

Planned obsolescence and how it affects our ecology today, and our jobs and lives and everything. Really excellent documentary (1 hour). The real kicker is the ink printer that it starts out with and ends with. Now, I will admit that having ink all over your desk could be a problem, but why not make a printer with a replaceable sponge, instead of a short life cycle? Hmmm

Walmart is a supreme example of this process today. They sell cheap goods that are mostly not designed to last. Especially their clothing. Even brand name items are degraded by forcing lower costs on the mfg and getting an inferior product they can sell for less.

This is also part of (I think) the whole idea of reducing wages in this country...so people are forced to buy from places like Walmart, where the planned obsolecense will continue without end. Walmart will always be making huge profits because the poor people think they can't afford to pay more for quality, so they buy as cheap as they can find. They just don't realize how much they are actually paying for good that have to be constantly replaced. And it also is a reflection of our need to shop...buy buy buy...if we aren't buying something, we can't be happy. I call bullshit on that, because I hate shopping and I buy quality whenever I can so I don't have to constantly replace things. I'm happy when I buy something that lasts 20 years. I don't need a newer fancier, more stylish version of something I like the design, function, and quality of.

[Lochloosa]

1. Tools. Buy the best you can afford.

Some of my tools are seventy years old and work better than most replacements made today. Those were bought at garage sales.
The ones I buy new are the best I can afford.
My Skilsaw is thirty years old and works as good as the day I bought it.

Quality counts.

[passiveporcupine]

3. I've got a better Skill saw than yours

It is Skill brand, and was my great uncles, and is 50-70 years old? The only problem is it weighs too much and I'm not really able to use it any more. It's a heavy cast aluminum case. Now I need a new lighter weight one.

It's an old worm drive unit and the blade goes in reverse (I think) but you can still get blades that fit it.

I agree, I have a lot of old tools (many from my great uncle, who was a carpenter) and I always buy the best I can when I have to get one.

[Lochloosa]

17. Maybe we can do a little horse trading for that Skill....

[passiveporcupine]

21. You wouldn't want it

And I couldn't afford to ship it.

I just weighed it for fun. It weights 18 lbs. Can you imagine working with that all day as a carpenter?

[Warpy]

5. Only if you know what to do with them is that a good idea.

I have an electric drill my dad gave me that has to date from the early 60s. Yeah, it runs just fine. I have a sewing machine from the 1920s that's worth a fortune on the antiques circuit. Some things were built well and wear like iron.

I also have a Kitchen Aid mixer that's over 20 years old, has kneaded weekly bread and has seen other hard use, and is purring like a kitten. Some things out there are also well built today and are meant to last a long time.

Good cookware and good knives will pay for themselves because it's so much cheaper to cook your own food and nothing makes you want to stay out of the kitchen like cheap, dull knives and cookware with the Teflon flaking off.

You can get reasonably durable clothing at big box stores, just look at the content label. If it has any plastic in it, it will wear out quickly.

[passiveporcupine]

8. It's not just the quality of the fabric.

My problem with the clothing from Walmart (no place else I can find clothes in this town that fit me) is the way they are put together. Seams that unravel, plastic zippers that break, all kinds of things that break before the fabric is worn enough to even look old. Seams and edges come apart in the wash. It's pathetic. I usually buy mens clothing instead of women's when I can (but am not happy with my choices) because they long outlast the women's clothes. They want women to keep buying the new and latest fashion. Men aren't quite so vain about their clothes.

[Warpy]

10. Plastic tends to pill and sag the first time you wear it

so clothing starts to look worn and shabby within the first 3 washings.

I haven't had trouble with the construction of 100% cotton clothing.

Mostly, I shop online. First, I hate shopping. Second, it's the best place to find natural fiber clothing that lasts.

[passiveporcupine]

11. I would be shopping online too Warpy

If I weren't so "large". It's very frustrating to me to try on clothes, because most of them don't fit or look good on a large body, and you don't know that until they are on.

Buying clothes online (I only tried it once out of desperation and had to return it) would be too frustrating for me.

I'm hoping to get a sewing machine again late this summer (after my Mom's estate is settled) and then I can start making and repairing my own clothes again.

I still look on-line for fashions, because I don't need patters to copy something I like. I really miss being unable to sew, but I've been too poor to buy another sewing machine since my last one broke down. I also need a good cabinet and they are very expensive...I might see if I can find a local woodworker to build me one. I'd build my own, but my tools are stored in a place where I can't use them. I have no place to set up a wood shop here, and I really miss that too.

[passiveporcupine]

22. I like cotton and rayon. Both natural fibers.

Knit clothes all seem to be made of plastic and don't hold up to wear.

I do have two items that are a knit fabric and have worn exceedingly well for years, and they are made of cotton with spandex for elasticity. Apparently as long as the basic fiber is natural the plastics don't mess it up as much. But spandex is a pretty resilient material too.

[awoke_in_2003]

25. Tractor Supply sells Carhartt 16 oz jeans

They are double the cost of the cheap Wranglers at Walmart, and last 5 times longer.

[The Jungle 1]

19. Careful

Be careful with those old tools guys. They are not double insulated or grounded. A short to the aluminum case can electrocute you. The plastic cases used today have a purpose. That third prong on the plug has a purpose. The old tools are built better but not safer.

Seat belts are nice also.

[passiveporcupine]

23. Nice to know, thanks

[Warpy]

24. I know

Rubber soled shoes insulate me from ground and most of the time I use my own drill, plastic case and all. I just think it's amusing that one that old works so well.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

29. Yep. I was having this conversation with my electrician: How do people get electrocuted?

He was recounting a story of a local guy who was killed using an old uninsulated drill while laying on the ground - a very bad combination.

His main gist was he gets shocked from time to time but he is in a position to let go or fall back and not be grounded.

He also mentioned people in bare feet in their basement plugging appliances in to recepticals. He told me about a local case of a guy plugging in his dryer while leaning over the dryer. A bad combination of getting shocked while grounded and being held in place by the metal box.

[Scootaloo]

26. Yup, nothing like old-timer's tools

I've got a set of woodworking tools from the 1870's. Inherited them from a fellow who got them from his family, all the way back to the first Norwegian off the boat. The wood bits have had to be replaced on some of them because nothing lasts forever (especially when it's stuff that actually gets used!) but other than that, they're fine condition.

Bought a wood chisel from the local hardware store, ended up with a saw edge on the blade after a week's use.

[EdwardBernays]

2. yeah but

america is a capitalism country, not a democracy

[BlancheSplanchnik]

4. Thanks, porcupine!

[felix_numinous]

6. They used to use better alloys

Last edited Sun Jun 5, 2016, 05:36 PM - Edit history (1)

and when American steel was going strong, so were our machines. My father took us kids to see Edison's house with his original light bulbs still burning.

Thanks for posting this important video, .

[paleotn]

18. Yep. Verses cheap, Chinese steel

...the Bay Bridge debacle comes to mind and many others.

[NJCher]

28. the one in w orange?

cher

[felix_numinous]

30. I believe so

back in the 60s, I was in grade school but still could understand designed obsolescence

[haikugal]

7. Poor people aren't stupid. Those that can repair old machines those that can't

do their own repairs buy used machines knowing it could break down...those with a little money buy cheap knowing it won't last long but also aware that they don't have the skills to repair and they don't have the up front money to buy better quality. They make do as best they can. Don't sell poor people short.

Thanks

[passiveporcupine]

9. Hey, I'm poor people

I'm not saying they are stupid, but many people (and not just poor...lots of people who can afford better still shop at Walmart) just aren't paying attention. They are so used to this they don't even think about the alternative. I guess they didn't grow up with quality products like older people and don't know how things have changed.

[haikugal]

12. I know you are, just as we are! I just had to say this because my son and I talk about this a

lot. There are a lot of poor people and not poor people that weren't raised with the skills us (me) older folks take for granted. He had to teach his fellow students how to cook and how to fix things at college. No one knew how to do anything and I think that feeds into a lot of this.

We have many, many things here that are very well built from the 30's, 40's on up...he gets them on craigs list from older folk and they're glad to see them go to a home that will use them. Not much money involved but he has skills. He has been putting together a workshop and can now machine parts if needed.

I agree...we older folks remember and taught our kids the difference. However there are a lot of folks that just think we're weird.

[raging moderate]

13. You are right. Poor people just don't replace it.

Not until all their jerryrigging fails to work. And they know a lot of ways to do that. I know. I grew up that way.

Another thing that poster does not understand is that sometimes poor people know that they have little control over how long they will be ALLOWED to have the good quality items if they foolishly spend their money on them. My family once lost all the good furniture in storage. Low wages automatically mean you have NO money in reserve for emergencies. And once you spend the money, it's gone. And then you shiver and go hungry and suffer pain. Poor people know they have to secure food, shelter, and medicine, enough for today and this week. You can't eat good quality objects.

[haikugal]

14. All too true.

[Scootaloo]

27. Yup, right there

I can't count the number of times my family has settled in, started investing in ourselves and our home, only to suddenly have to yank it all up. A lot of stuff gets left behind, and all that work is wasted.

Basically I've grown up with the understanding that if you can't take it with you, it's not really worth throwing your money at it. We're those people who have a fine library, on shelves made of cinder blocks and plywood. Books are portable. Bookshelves are considerably less so.

[Duppers]

15. I know at least two shopaholic women

Who cannot go one week without buying something in a department store. It's a sick lifestyle for them. There are probably millions of others just like them.

All of us females have friends or know of women shopaholics. And I don't know why I've never fallen victim to this compulsion -- guess I don't care about impressing folks enough.

[passiveporcupine]

16. We've all seen those sales

with crowds of people almost strangling each other to get to the table first, to get the best items...like Black Friday now. My first experience with that was my second job as a young person...seamstress for Pendleton Woolen Mills (they make excellent product). A couple of times every year they would bring closeout items to the factory for the employees to buy cheap. The first time I saw the women fighting each other at the table, I was shocked. I'd never seen that kind of behavior before and these were women who worked together. I mean they were ruthless (thankfully not violent). I refuse to shop big sales and Black 'whatever' sales now (they are expanding it to other days)...I just can't abide being in crowds like that.

I don't know why I have such an aversion to shopping either. Put me in a kitchen shop or tool shop and I'm almost a "shopper". I love kitchen stuff and tools. I'm really happy to have Amazon now where I can shop from home for replacement things I need, or new things I sometimes want, the selection is fantastic, and if you organize your purchases right, it's free shipping. I wish I'd had this long ago.

I do wish Amazon wasn't so much like Walmart in it's practices concerning employees though.

I live in a small rural town where it's hard to find things I want or need. And I cant drive 130 miles round trip to get to a big city...and then find the stores and drag myself through them for the things I need. I'm disabled, so on-line shopping is my savior.

[Paka]

20. Bookmarking to watch later.

At 75 yrs., I'm old school and think quality beats out quantity. I'm sitting here typing in a dress that's over 30 yrs. old and still looks good. If you like it and it can be fixed, no need to replace. Why generate waste just to make someone else rich?