Sometime the Ordinary Can Be Remarkable

[mbarrick]

I have an old sewing machine. It is in excellent shape and I have all the orignal acessories that came with it - including the receipt from Eaton's, dated 1964 (the machine is older than I am). Last night, while repairing a pair of pants the light bulb that illuminates the needle burnt out. An ordinary event.

What makes it extraordinary is I went into the accessories kit and pulled out the spare bulb that came with the machine. That means that the bulb that was in the machine operated for 41 years before finally burning out. Other than needles, this is the first thing on this machine that has needed replacing.

Comments

[seymour-glass.livejournal.com]

that machine's as old as i am...boy they really used to build them well back in the day...

[agentdanak.livejournal.com]

that's a quality machine!

[mediavictim.livejournal.com]

Mind you - back then that machine probably cost a hefty penny to buy


You really can't compare it to todays plastic and rubber electronics or value priced home depot tools - back then EVERYTHING was industrial strength. There was no such thing as value priced cheap knockoffs

Cheaper materials to produce cheaper products is the modern way... I don't know many people (except kitchens) who shop for industrial stenght $400 toasters when they could get a cheap one at Walmart for $14.99

And before ye go blaming the companies for producing this crap - ask yerself - if the public didn't demand it - would the companies have made it cheap and easy to break.

We are living in a dispoable world and I am a material girl ...(well boy anyway)

[mbarrick.livejournal.com]

Yes, the machine in great and older sewing machines are notoriously sturdy - but older lightbulbs? How many regularly-used circa 1964 lightbulbs are there out there in world? That's what blew me away. The sewing machine is no big deal - my mom has a machine that is nearly three times as old that is still perfectly functional.

But on the point of consumer "demand" for shoddy goods, you are way off - and sewing machines are actually the textbook example. They were one of the first mass-produced and mass-marketed household machines. The early models (like the one of my mother's) were built to last a lifetime as they came from a time where the chief selling point for things was duribility and craftsmanship. What happened, however, it the market soon approached saturaturation and the sewing machine companies realised they were shooting themselves in the foot by making machines that never wore out. The solution was to produce machines with new features and manufacture a market: the good husband should buy his wife the latest model and the husband that failed to keep up with the Jones' was made to feel like an embarrasment. The art of "planned obsolescence" was born. As the machines came to be used for shorter and shorter mechanical lifespans the need to use long-wearing parts decreased. Manufacturers soon learned that not only was there no need to produce parts capable of 100 years of use, but by putting in cheaper parts they could both bring down the cost of the machines and make money selling replacement parts. After that they discovered that even cheaper parts, specifically designed to last not much longer than the warranty period would force users to buy the latest models regularly. Over time people have come to expect things not to last more than a few years before a new one is needed. It's the norm now for almost everything and the marketing weasels keep pushing it further and further all the time.

There is no actual demand for crap. It just has a better profit margin. It pays to keep making disposable garbage and fooling people into buying it repeatedly.

[mbarrick.livejournal.com]

Yup, that they did. But the lightbulb? When was the last time you heard of an incandescent lightbulb lasting 5 years, let alone 40?

[mbarrick.livejournal.com]

It's actually the bulb that impressed me. I've seen plenty of 40, 50, 75, even 100 year old sewing machines that work just fine - but it's not often you come across a regularly used light-bulb that lasts 40 years.

[seymour-glass.livejournal.com]

i wouldn't imagine ever...it's a very illuminating story indeed...

[seymour-glass.livejournal.com]

yeh and it's amazing society is oblivious enough to buy into it...but mind you anyone younger than 25 probably doesn't even remember many things that were made to last...in fact anyone under 20 wouldn't even entertain the concept...remember tonka trucks from when we were kids...you really couldn't destroy them, well unless your dad backed over them in the driveway (my dad did that to my crane)...but marketing weasels have been perfecting that disposable mindset for many years now...

[mediavictim.livejournal.com]

"But on the point of consumer "demand" for shoddy goods, you are way off "
"There is no actual demand for crap"

More than you might think... of course they don't call it crap ..they call it "Value Priced" "refurbished" or "Economical"

I worked in a retail electronics store for over seven years of his life. Trust me...when people are offered the more durable one for a few bucks more - rarely do they go for it. When they are offered the choice from a $100 inkjet printer or $1000 laser printer - they go with the inkjet(even if their use clearly needs the laser)

I think it all comes down to the need to save money to get more things... if someone wanted a big screen TV thats one thing - then they can spend to get the best big screen TV... but todays consumers want the TV AND the DVD AND the stero AND the SUV AND the .... and the only way they can afford them all is to get the cheapest version of each... even if it's going to break in 6 months - who cares..they'll use it once to say they have it/have done it..and throw it in the closet.


Now about that lightbulb..would that be 40 years of daily USE or just
storage?

Re: Ha!

[http://users.livejournal.com/_disdain_/]

damn... I just realized I posted that logged in as Wynne. That's the last time I borrow her computer :-P