The operative term here is "branded." Snapper branded, not Snapper made.
Warren Buffett was one of the first who hit on this and made billions. Buy the brand name (Black & Decker f'rinstance), gut the company, have crap products built in China carrying the brand and promote the hell out of them, selling them at a lower cost than the former genuine article.
Once again, the passive consumer...but I already ran that rant.
Married in 1978 and we were gifted a Mr. Coffee maker. I kept that machine working for decades until one day it broke down again and my wife said honey I know you can fix it but can't we just get a new one with more features.
LeftyStrat wrote:Well that sucks. I understand looking for bargains, but we've become a throw-away society.
I was encouraged that some younger person online asked about products that would last a lifetime or more, and I believe there's a sub-reddit dedicated to that subject.
I've got two items for you. These were given or purchased around eighteen years ago, when my wife and I got married. They stood by and suffered the abuse of kids growing up:
- Waring Blender: Chrome base and real glass pitcher.
- KitchenAid Mixer: This is like the tractor of the kitchen, it has attachments to grind meat, stuff sausage, and repel aliens. Okay, I don't have the alien repelling attachment, but I do have a Slim Whitman CD.
Pretty sure these might outlast my children.
I find all of this very de-humanizing. What great pleasure to build something that someday your grandchildren or great-grandchildren will use. What great connection to an ancestor you've never met to sit at a table they built.
Yes, I understand the concept of impermanence, I've studied my share of Buddhist philosophy. But there is also compassion. What kind of world will our children grow up in where things only last fifteen minutes.
What kind of legacy to have a product you built not only last more than 50 years, but still be treasured? I was born in 1959. Bassman. Stratocaster. Les Paul. The Cadillac with big fins.
I guess I'll stop here. My seventeen year old daughter says new stuff isn't as cool as old stuff, and the other day I heard her blasting out the first Yardbirds album. At least that makes me feel good.
What bothers me is when the big box hardware stores invaded our town, it wasn't long before the smaller hardware stores were forced out of business.
I had a local store where the owner had been in business for over 40 years.
He knew me from the time I could pedal my bicycle down there to when I started driving and beyond.
He could answer any hardware question and beyond and he always had the obscure or seldom asked for items.
Now when I go to Lowes or Home Depot I don't even bother to ask any salespeople if they have something because they will just go looking up and down the isles just like I do.
There is a well stocked True Value store south of town that has a very good selection of parts, so when I really need something I go there.
There's a family run Hardware store here. They had to go the True Value route to stay open but they basically didn't change. There are parts I sometimes need that they have "right over here, sir" whereas if I went to Lowes or HD and asked I'd just get a big deer in the headlights stare.
I'd be leary of any contractor that uses them exclusively.I don' have time for incompetence.I tried to save myself a 100 bucks and totally got screwed.The closet store is over an hour away.
I ordered a bunch of 2'6" doors they sent one 2'6 a bunch of 2'4s and other random sizes.I ordered 5 locks all keyed the same.Everyone is different.I should have known better when the dipshit on the phone didn't know what a 2'6 door is.I had to order a 30" door.Who in the hell orders doors and widows by inches.Its been feet and inches forever.
Oh yea when I order a 2'6" door slab 30" to them.It's for a 2'6" opening the door itself is spposed to be a bout a 1/4" lees.WTF their doors are the same size as the openings so yo have to rip them to fit in standard door jamb.I don't have time togo on bout all the other crap they screwed up.
+1 for stihl they told home depot to sukit when they tried to get them to produce a crap grade to salel in there stores.
All this useless consumer shit gets made in China. I won't have any of it in my household or support US corporations that disemploy our countrymen to make products that they know will fail in an untimely fashion, in turn exporting our wealth, and exploiting a corrupt tax system which keeps them paying far less than the people that they take so much from. This is the hyper-consumption model. Infinite economic expansion is not possible without constant demand. This offends me so much that I will simply do without on principle if I cannot find a US made substitute. Name brands no longer mean anything.
Mark, I brew coffee with an analog Bialleti steamer (Italy) or one cup at a time through an unbleached paper filter and a plastic funnel. Best coffee ever.
Colossal wrote:
Mark, I brew coffee with an analog Bialleti steamer (Italy) or one cup at a time through an unbleached paper filter and a plastic funnel. Best coffee ever.
French press here. Not a lot to break on a french press. And you can use multiple energy sources to boil the water.
BBQ? Heat and meat. Keep the sauce. Spray bottle of white vinegar with a handful of crushed red pepper, black pepper, and a half cup of salt. Sssst ssst ssst every now and then.
I can't stand sugar all over a good piece of animal. This isn't freaking desert. Who's idea was that?
Signatures have a 255 character limit that I could abuse, but I am not Cecil B. DeMille.
