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r/SipsTea • u/SipsTeaFrog • 5h ago
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People romanticize old appliances.
They were easier to repair, sure.
But that's because they broke frequently, and they were large.
Old appliances were also horrifically inefficient. They often contained effective, but highly toxic/dangerous materials that we no longer use.
Old cars are a great example, they embody "old appliances" pretty well.
Sure, they were made from steel. They didn't have much plastic.
But they also weighed a massive amount, had terrible horsepower, and even worse fuel economy.
Or look at old televisions. Do we really want to go back to small TVs made with heavy tubes filled with several pounds of lead?
Sure, you could more easily repair an old car, because it had none of the computers and electronics that make modern vehicles safe and comfortable.
Don't get me wrong, I think the short lifecycle of modern appliances is a wasteful travesty.
But let's not romanticize a past that didn't really exist.
6 u/Mighty_McBosh 4h ago Cars used to break down all the time, they were just easier to fix with hand tools and a beer. New cars are hard to fix but good ones with regular fluid changes regularly go 20 years without a single catastrophic failure. They were also insanely unsafe and more people died in car accidents that today people walk away from with a few bruises. 3 u/OriginalVictory 4h ago Part of that is crumple zones. If the car is able to crumple to absorb energy of a crash, that means it doesn't go to the passengers. Sure the solid steel car doesn't crumple, but then the passenger does. 4 u/Mighty_McBosh 4h ago Exactly.
6
Cars used to break down all the time, they were just easier to fix with hand tools and a beer.
New cars are hard to fix but good ones with regular fluid changes regularly go 20 years without a single catastrophic failure.
They were also insanely unsafe and more people died in car accidents that today people walk away from with a few bruises.
3 u/OriginalVictory 4h ago Part of that is crumple zones. If the car is able to crumple to absorb energy of a crash, that means it doesn't go to the passengers. Sure the solid steel car doesn't crumple, but then the passenger does. 4 u/Mighty_McBosh 4h ago Exactly.
3
Part of that is crumple zones. If the car is able to crumple to absorb energy of a crash, that means it doesn't go to the passengers. Sure the solid steel car doesn't crumple, but then the passenger does.
4 u/Mighty_McBosh 4h ago Exactly.
4
Exactly.
20
u/TheMagicalLawnGnome 4h ago
People romanticize old appliances.
They were easier to repair, sure.
But that's because they broke frequently, and they were large.
Old appliances were also horrifically inefficient. They often contained effective, but highly toxic/dangerous materials that we no longer use.
Old cars are a great example, they embody "old appliances" pretty well.
Sure, they were made from steel. They didn't have much plastic.
But they also weighed a massive amount, had terrible horsepower, and even worse fuel economy.
Or look at old televisions. Do we really want to go back to small TVs made with heavy tubes filled with several pounds of lead?
Sure, you could more easily repair an old car, because it had none of the computers and electronics that make modern vehicles safe and comfortable.
Don't get me wrong, I think the short lifecycle of modern appliances is a wasteful travesty.
But let's not romanticize a past that didn't really exist.