Cheap TatOneEyedMonster remindes us about the crap you can buy in pound shops: "Batteries that lasted about an hour and then died. A screwdriver with a loose handle so I couldn't turn the damn screw, and a tape measure which wasn't at all accurate."
Similarly, my neighbour bought a lawnmower from Argos that was so cheap the wheels didn't go round, it sort of skidded over the grass whilst gently back-combing it.
What's the cheapest, most useless crap you've bought?
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chthonic, Fri 4 Jan 2008, 7:26)
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Maybe I'm feeling defensiveWorking as I do in the hifi industry but there are two very good reasons why equipment doesn't last as long as it used to.
1) It is comparatively cheap on a level people seem to forget. The HiFi mags had trouser accidents in 1978 when NAD released an amp for £100 that was some cop. 20 years later they make a £170 amp that does much the same as the original but rather better. Thing is though that based on inflation over that period, the original would now be nearer £1000 in price. Unsuprisingly £1000 amps even today are robust long lived devices that are easy to repair and definately not throwaway.
2) In order to make everything safe, we can't use lead, cadmium and other nastiness that makes for tough, long live circuits. The stuff from the 70's is often very robust but is a first order health hazard to scrap.
(, Wed 9 Jan 2008, 12:59, Reply)
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