What modern invention/innovation do you wish had *never* been developed?

[Stearmen]

One thing that hasn't been pointed out here is, with the advent of the so called Man Cave, vintage refrigerators have started to climb in price. It's gotten to be so big, there are now modern reproductions available!

 

[dh66]

Two dead refrigerators in my mother's cellar.

There's far worse things than two dead refrigerators to have in the cellar

 

[LizzieMaine]

What do you think is *in* the refrigerators?

 

[dh66]

What do you think is *in* the refrigerators?

 

[LizzieMaine]

One thing that hasn't been pointed out here is, with the advent of the so called Man Cave, vintage refrigerators have started to climb in price. It's gotten to be so big, there are now modern reproductions available!

You can still find them reasonably-priced enough around here -- often for free "if you haul it away". Often kids will inherit their parents or grandparents' house and there'll be an old refrigerator in a garage or cellar, if not in the kitchen, and they can't wait to get rid of it. They're also very common around here in the summer cottages, and can often be gotten cheap when one of those gets sold or remodeled.

Old refrigerators are also very common around here in employee break rooms -- several places I've worked have had prewar GE flat-tops for storing employee lunches. My high school biology lab had a Crosley Shelvador to store the fetal pigs, which, as far as I know, is still there.

 

[sheeplady]

You can still find them reasonably-priced enough around here -- often for free "if you haul it away". Often kids will inherit their parents or grandparents' house and there'll be an old refrigerator in a garage or cellar, if not in the kitchen, and they can't wait to get rid of it. They're also very common around here in the summer cottages, and can often be gotten cheap when one of those gets sold or remodeled.

Old refrigerators are also very common around here in employee break rooms -- several places I've worked have had prewar GE flat-tops for storing employee lunches. My high school biology lab had a Crosley Shelvador to store the fetal pigs, which, as far as I know, is still there.

Around here they tend to be cheap(ish) because of the prevalence of GE plants (and therefore employees) in upstate NY.

 

[Shangas]

I don't remember how old our fridge is. But we've had it since we moved into our house in 1992. That was over 20 years ago now. It's still going strong. Not packing up or passing out or anything.

 

[Horace Debussy Jones]

My sister still has our parent's old Frigidaire in her garage. Probably made in 1955 or so, and still going strong to this day. Old Tech is so much better than today's high tech sometimes.

 

[TimeWarpWife]

We've lived in our home for 23 years and have had to replace our refrigerator twice, the second time being a few months ago. We've also replaced two washers, two dryers, and one dishwasher. We unfortunately now live in a throw away society and things just aren't made to last like they used to. I recently purchased some vintage pillowcases from the 60s and 70s because the ones being sold now are not only expensive, but cheaply made. Yet, I have mixing bowls and iced lipped pitchers from the 1950s that are still in use and look new.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Around here they tend to be cheap(ish) because of the prevalence of GE plants (and therefore employees) in upstate NY.

My best friend's dad was a machinist for GE in Massachusetts in the '30s -- and one of the employee perks was a deep discount on all GE appliances. Their 1939 flat-top is in her cellar to this day, in working order, and the only reason she doesn't use it is because she's no longer physically up to defrosting it. Since it went out of use, she's been thru two modern refrigerators.

 

[vitanola]

Thn we have the millions of JennAir, Whirlpool, Magic Chef, Amana, and Admiral ranges and wall ovens which were sold with that notoriously bad electronic timer control, the one with the faulty electrolytic condensers. They generally fail after between three and four years service. Just out of any extended warranty. The list price of a replacement is $365.00, and the service call to replace the part is generally $125.00. The company knows about the problem, but is still shipping timers with the short-lived parts, about a third of which are now bad out-of-box.

The problem with faulty Chinese (excuse me, Taiwanese, the Chinese were involved but its a long story...) electrolytic condensers made between 1998 and 2007, which was caused by a not terribly successful case of industrial espionage, is well-known in th electronics industry, but this particular appliance manufacturer appears to be treating it as an unexpected revenue source.

Just google "Capacitor Plague".

Many firms ate the cost of replacing these parts. The appliance manufacturers did not, save for Bosch, and even they do not cover repair after seven years, for they claim that that is the design life of the appliance.

Now, the Lorain "Red Knob" gas oven control, which used a carbon rod and was installed on all American Stove Company ranges between 1926 and 1940 was specifically designed to have an unlimited life span. The Robertshaw No. 246 which was ubiquitous in the 1940's, 1950's and into the early 1960's, and which is still used on some more expensive commercial ranges was less robust, with a design life of but thirty years. It can be inexpensively rebuilt, however, although servicable Chinese copies of this simple, reliable and accurate control which serve the purpose for five or ten years are currently flooding the market.

 

[jamespowers]

My household is probably the test case for old appliances. lol lol A stove still working since my grandfather bought it in 1958, a freezer in the garage that my grandfather bought in 1976, various oster blenders, old toasters, toaster oven, 1950s blenders, 1950s waffle irons, 1950s hot plates in the summer house and a host of other things that all I have had to do was keep them clean. My outlay for appliances---absolutely nothing. Everything here just continues to work just fine for over 30 to 50 years. Now THAT is a quality appliance.
wish I could say that for the modern TVs, DVDs, cell phones etc.....:doh:

 

[LizzieMaine]

Meanwhile, there is The Suitsy.

I'm convinced that whoever keeps coming up with this kind of stuff is in fact One Of Us, having some serious passive-aggressive fun.

 

[HudsonHawk]

Meanwhile, there is The Suitsy.

I'm convinced that whoever keeps coming up with this kind of stuff is in fact One Of Us, having some serious passive-aggressive fun.

Some guys are just trendsetters:

 

[Gregg Axley]

Some guys are just trendsetters:

View attachment 18200

That onesie is Il.... Kim Jong Il.

Actually my FIL's neighbor wears coveralls, ALL THE TIME.
Similar look.

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

Some guys are just trendsetters:

View attachment 18200

"I'm so ronery... so ronery"

 

[jamespowers]

"I'm so ronery... so ronery"

:rofl:

 

[Fastuni]

The suitsy... the perfect garment for the post-modern manchild.

 

[Horace Debussy Jones]

Can we get any lazier?! :eusa_doh:

 

[Matt Crunk]

Can we get any lazier?! :eusa_doh:

Uh, yes, I believe we can . . .