What's something modern you won't miss when it becomes obsolete?

[Matt Crunk]

There are too many "designers" in the world and too few engineers.

Amen. I completely agree.

Although, back in the early '90s I was a partner in a commercial design firm for a few years. One day a client came to us with the idea for an adjustable measuring spoon. I was tasked with designing it. The parameters were it had to be cheap, lightweight plastic, dishwasher-safe, with no more than two moving parts. I'm an artist and graphic designer. Ive never had an engineering course in my life, but this is what I came up with. I must have done OK, because now some 20 years later I find it's still being produced . . .

My contribution to the world of kitchen utensils.

 

[jamespowers]

Comparing a Lincoln Continental to an Austrailian Honda subcompact ain't exactly the height of honesty either, however.

Ok, then you choose one. They are all the same looking anyway. lol lol

 

[jamespowers]

Amen. I completely agree.

Although, back in the early '90s I was a partner in a commercial design firm for a few years. One day a client came to us with the idea for an adjustable measuring spoon. I was tasked with designing it. The parameters were it had to be cheap, lightweight plastic, dishwasher-safe, with no more than two moving parts. I'm an artist and graphic designer. Ive never had an engineering course in my life, but this is what I came up with. I must have done OK, because now some 20 years later I find it's still being produced . . .

I have seen those!

 

[Veronica T]

Ok, then you choose one. They are all the same looking anyway. lol lol

 

[jamespowers]

Well at least they are the same size.

 

[p51]

The following terms. I wish a horrific death upon whoever coined these phrases:
-Snarky
-Play date
-Bromance

The West Coast truly is another planet. When I was out there I was astonished at how fast people drove -- having come from a place where twisty two-lane roads were (and still are) the norm. And yet, it drove me nuts how slow people *walked.* I'd be going along the sidewalk at what I considered a normal pace, and I'd have to shoulder my way past all these shuffling, shambling baby-steppers who drove 90 mph to get into town and then seemed to be slogging their way thru a pot of molasses once they got there.

I agree on the walking part, but I live in WA state, between Seattle and Portland, and NOBODY drives fast anywhere except on motorcycles.
Here, you drive whatever speed you want, in whatever lane you want. It's never fast, though. Left lane for faster drivers and people moving to the right to get out of the way? That's a totally alien concept here. My wife, born and raised in Oregon, wouldn't believe me telling her it's not like this elsewhere (I'm from Florida originally and have been to all 50 states) until she had to admit I was right when we did a cross-country road sightseeing trip in 2012.
The locals refuse to accept this is cause by other people who live here, but you can't ignore the license plates. They blame it on transplants from CA from the 80s when all the tech jobs moved up here. I don't buy that at all.
I've lived here since 1998 and I have yet to come to terms with this phenomenon.

 

[jamespowers]

The following terms. I wish a horrific death upon whoever coined these phrases:
-Snarky
-Play date
-Bromance

I agree on the walking part, but I live in WA state, between Seattle and Portland, and NOBODY drives fast anywhere except on motorcycles.
Here, you drive whatever speed you want, in whatever lane you want. It's never fast, though. Left lane for faster drivers and people moving to the right to get out of the way? That's a totally alien concept here. My wife, born and raised in Oregon, wouldn't believe me telling her it's not like this elsewhere (I'm from Florida originally and have been to all 50 states) until she had to admit I was right when we did a cross-country road sightseeing trip in 2012.
The locals refuse to accept this is cause by other people who live here, but you can't ignore the license plates. They blame it on transplants from CA from the 80s when all the tech jobs moved up here. I don't buy that at all.
I've lived here since 1998 and I have yet to come to terms with this phenomenon.

All that coffee doesn't even help either.

 

[HudsonHawk]

Ok, then you choose one. They are all the same looking anyway. lol lol

 

[p51]

As for cars all looking alike, let's be honest, many of them had similar looks within the same year, in almost any year. Yeah, there are the standout designs, but generally, sedans looked a lot alike in the same year from different car companies.
There's a reason you can tell, say, a car is a 1938 or 1940 even before you know the manufacturer...

 

[jamespowers]

View attachment 14826

Uh yeah, you going to drive that to work every day and park it in the lot? :rofl:

 

[LizzieMaine]

I won't miss those ridiculous "low profile" tires when they become obsolete. Who ever came up with those never outgrew slot-car racing.

 

[jamespowers]

As for cars all looking alike, let's be honest, many of them had similar looks within the same year, in almost any year. Yeah, there are the standout designs, but generally, sedans looked a lot alike in the same year from different car companies.
There's a reason you can tell, say, a car is a 1938 or 1940 even before you know the manufacturer...

You can tell what year it is because the design changed every year---at least a small facelift. Every third year it was entirely new. Nowadays they run the same design for over ten years without change. :doh: It is hard to tell one year from the other because they are practically the same.

 

[jamespowers]

I won't miss those ridiculous "low profile" tires when they become obsolete. Who ever came up with those never outgrew slot-car racing.

Or those HUGE wagon wheels they stick on cars that are WAY too small for them. They have to unfurl a rope ladder to get down from the dang things. :rofl:
Yeah dude that looks REAL nice. :rofl:

 

[HudsonHawk]

Uh yeah, you going to drive that to work every day and park it in the lot? :rofl:

More often than I would a 1940 Lincoln.

 

[jamespowers]

More often than I would a 1940 Lincoln.

I would use that Lincoln every day. The Maserati, not so much. That is too much car for commuting. lol lol

 

[jamespowers]

At the company I worked for in the late 70s my supervisor was a very interesting older gent who enjoyed sharing his life's observations with people. After all of his diatribes he would conclude his comments with, "But don't listen to me, I'm just another [insert seven-letter slang synonym for the human anus] with an opinion. Judge for yourself and see if you think I'm right." Anyway, one of the things he told me was, "The problem with most American-made products is that they're made to sell, not to use. Once they have your money, they don't really care whether or not it works." Sadly, in most cases he was proven right.

You know, I have been thinking about this lately as my old upright freezer in my garage died about a year ago. Well, I neglected it while it was dead and it got pretty rank inside. Well a few weeks ago I found out that a friend of mine whose son goes to school with my son owned an appliance repair company. I asked him about it but he doesn’t do freezers etc. He got a friend of his to come over a fix my freezer.
Now this was actually funny as the guy was there for a while looking at the freezer and figured that the filter was clogged and we would have to replace the R-12 and filter. So we made arrangements to wait until I could get about a pound of R-12. Well, I forgot to turn the freezer off after he had been shaking the filter and stuff to see if it would clear and work again. The next day I went in and found I had left it on. I opened the door to check and yes, it was running perfectly again. I put an ice tray in with water to check----came back and it was frozen solid. Working again and I am happy.
Then I began to think. This upright has been in the family as long as I can remember. I did some research and found out that the old girl was made in about 1971. So it has been of service to three generation of my family now! That is 43 years of service and still going! I can’t ask for much more than that.
Fortunately this isn’t one of the later 70s green, yellow or hideous brown models. It is white and works for me but even if it were another color, it is in the garage----who cares. So to the Sears Coldspot freezers. You were made to last. Maybe by accident but you certainly were. Maybe you were made to sell then but you I got plenty of use out of you so far----more than I paid---which was nothing.

 

[HudsonHawk]

I would use that Lincoln every day. The Maserati, not so much. That is too much car for commuting. lol lol

Depends on the commute. Mine is 30 miles each way.

That's a Ferrari, by the way.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Ferrari, Maserati, they're all the same to the guy stealing the hubcaps.

 

[Zombie_61]

Comparing a Lincoln Continental to an Austrailian Honda subcompact ain't exactly the height of honesty either, however.

I concur. You need to compare apples to...uhh...newer apples. So...

The 1940 model might be a little awkward by today's standards, but the classic lines suggest affluence and class. The 2002 model, on the other hand, looks like something a plainclothes police officer would drive, or a hit man would rent if he found himself in Nebraska.

I won't miss those ridiculous "low profile" tires when they become obsolete. Who ever came up with those never outgrew slot-car racing.

Providing the owner of the vehicle doesn't get a set of those ridiculously oversized wheels (like the ones in the photo in post #2244), in some cases I think the low profile tires look okay on some newer models. But on a car built before, say, 1990? No. Just...no.

That said, when we needed to replace my car in 2007 we paid a visit to a Honda dealer to do a preliminary test drive in a Ridgeline. The truck we drove that day had 24" wheels and low profile tires, but we weren't there to buy that day so we proceeded. We went back a few weeks later to buy one, and we test drove the truck we would buy a few hours later. I was surprised to discover the truck with the low profile tires rode smoother than one with stock wheels and tires. When I mentioned it the salesman, who was (and is) a good friend, told me they had only changed the tires and wheels on the first truck and that it still had the stock suspension. That experience didn't drastically change my opinion of low profile tires, but it did make me reconsider them a little.

 

[HudsonHawk]

That said, when we needed to replace my car in 2007 we paid a visit to a Honda dealer to do a preliminary test drive in a Ridgeline. The truck we drove that day had 24" wheels and low profile tires, but we weren't there to buy that day so we proceeded. We went back a few weeks later to buy one, and we test drove the truck we would buy a few hours later. I was surprised to discover the truck with the low profile tires rode smoother than one with stock wheels and tires. When I mentioned it the salesman, who was (and is) a good friend, told me they had only changed the tires and wheels on the first truck and that it still had the stock suspension. That experience didn't drastically change my opinion of low profile tires, but it did make me reconsider them a little.

My wife's Infiniti M45 Sport has those low profile tires to go along with the sport suspension. At 20 mph, you feel ever bump in the road. At 60, you can't feel a thing, it's smooth as glass.