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You can buy appliances which will last that long, but they cost a lot of money. The reality isn’t that people forgot how to make things durable, it’s that consumer demand is so conditioned by price, most people “prefer” to spend less on appliances they will replace more often.

The average appliance these days is actually significantly cheaper when adjusted for inflation compared to the 60s and 70s.

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Croquette@sh.itjust.works ⁨6⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
One caveat I would note: lots of people can’t afford expensive, durable appliances.

It’s expensive to be poor.

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- zikzak025@lemmy.world ⁨6⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
  Sam Vimes boots theory
  
  The reason that the rich were so rich, Vimes reasoned, was because they managed to spend less money. Take boots, for example. … A really good pair of leather boots cost fifty dollars. But an affordable pair of boots, which were sort of OK for a season or two and then leaked like hell when the cardboard gave out, cost about ten dollars. … But the thing was that good boots lasted for years and years. A man who could afford fifty dollars had a pair of boots that’d still be keeping his feet dry in ten years’ time, while a poor man who could only afford cheap boots would have spent a hundred dollars on boots in the same time and would still have wet feet.
  
  This was the Captain Samuel Vimes ‘Boots’ theory of socio-economic unfairness.
  
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  - DeadDigger@lemmy.zip ⁨5⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
    Except good working boots are not cheaper just more comfortable. Due to the sole being a raised you need to replace it every 2-3 years which isn’t that cheap either. Speaking from experience
    
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  - Croquette@sh.itjust.works ⁨6⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
    Yes, I’ve heard about that theory. The boot example is good because everyone can relate.
    
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- drdalek@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨6⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
  THIS.
  
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jdr@lemmy.ml ⁨6⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
This sounds great, I’d love to see an example if anyone has one handy for e.g. kitchen appliances.

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- socsa@piefed.social ⁨6⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
  Basically commercial grade equipment. A $10k oven/range which is designed to work 15 hours per day non-stop in a restaurant will last forever in your home. All the commercial manufacturers make “consumer sized” versions of their restaurant stuff for high end home kitchens.
  
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Delphia@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
Especially when it comes to things like Tvs.

“Would you like the extended warranty out to 5 years for an extra $200”

No because that would have made my $600 tv an $800 tv which will be made to look like a piece of crap by a $400 tv in 5 years.

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