I agree for most things, they were just built to last a lot longer because product quality was a priority. These days, a company doesn’t want you to buy once, they want to sell you a product that lasts just long enough you’ll buy the same brand after it breaks. I’m a tradesmen and I can attest, the older a tool is, usually the higher quality it is. Same goes for lots of equipment. I once saw a sears model pressure tank from 1972 still in working condition when newer tanks last 5-10 years and the average before that was 15-20. That specific case might be survivorship bias, but every retiree i talk to will claim sears had some high quality stuff when they were yoinger.
Back then, not everyone had a washing machine, a frige, a stove, etc. The untapped market was those without those appliances. The focus was on reducing price while keepijg quality. Later, when most people had a fridge and the sales went down, the execs got the idea to add a shiny new shelf, a built-in freezer, a window, an ice machine, etc. Then they thought up of stuff like energy efficiency, durability, etc for marketing and planned obsolesence for maintaining their bottom line.
Nowadays, I wouldn’t be surprised that more money is spent on researching novel ways of planned obsolesence (while avoiding laws against that in places where it exists), than just using “tried and true” methods would.
I agree for most things, they were just built to last a lot longer because product quality was a priority. These days, a company doesn’t want you to buy once, they want to sell you a product that lasts just long enough you’ll buy the same brand after it breaks. I’m a tradesmen and I can attest, the older a tool is, usually the higher quality it is. Same goes for lots of equipment. I once saw a sears model pressure tank from 1972 still in working condition when newer tanks last 5-10 years and the average before that was 15-20. That specific case might be survivorship bias, but every retiree i talk to will claim sears had some high quality stuff when they were yoinger.
Back then, not everyone had a washing machine, a frige, a stove, etc. The untapped market was those without those appliances. The focus was on reducing price while keepijg quality. Later, when most people had a fridge and the sales went down, the execs got the idea to add a shiny new shelf, a built-in freezer, a window, an ice machine, etc. Then they thought up of stuff like energy efficiency, durability, etc for marketing and planned obsolesence for maintaining their bottom line.
Nowadays, I wouldn’t be surprised that more money is spent on researching novel ways of planned obsolesence (while avoiding laws against that in places where it exists), than just using “tried and true” methods would.
Yes, Craftsman was top of line, across the whole product line. When I worked at Lowes, Craftsman was the shittiest option in the garden center.