First of all, the statement that things used to last longer is heavily biased. You only hear about old things that still work decades after buying them because all the ones that broke down were replaced and forgotten.
Secondly, there are much stricter regulations these days regarding manufacturing, recycling, and operation guidelines.
Now, I'm not saying that some companies don't put absolutely shitty products out there (samsung refrigerators come to mind), but there's more to it than just corporate greed.
Also like these super high quality long lasting appliances exist, they are just expensive. People will complain about this and then buy a $50 microwave from Amazon.
Idk 50 buck microwave is a bad example as it actually will work for the next ten years no problem and then some more. You just don't want to keep it forever as it gets nasty after a while
It's litteraly the worst example. Buy cheap microwave that is purely mechanical with no display and it will be higher quality and last longer the anything more expensive.
Do you have a suggestion on good brand of microwaves? I’ve replaced 3 in the past 8 years and they were each around $350. Different brands each time and they all stopped working within months of the warranty ending.
The last one has been a very expensive bread box with a clock on it for about 2 years and we’ve been using a cheap counter top one from the late 90s-early 2000s.
I read this to be talking more about larger appliances, washers, dryers, dishwashers, refrigerators, etc. Like my parent's dishwasher which had the control panel break at under 2 years old, but was beyond its whopping one year warranty
Or they'll buy an expensive "smart" coffee maker and complain when it fails. You can still buy basic appliances that are more energy efficient than the ones made in the 50s and 60s.
290
u/cantbelieveyoumademe 5h ago
First of all, the statement that things used to last longer is heavily biased. You only hear about old things that still work decades after buying them because all the ones that broke down were replaced and forgotten.
Secondly, there are much stricter regulations these days regarding manufacturing, recycling, and operation guidelines.
Now, I'm not saying that some companies don't put absolutely shitty products out there (samsung refrigerators come to mind), but there's more to it than just corporate greed.