Modern Technology

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Cost about £50 to set up, blades cost about a tenner for 50 (decent Gillette), shaving soap £5.

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I don't think I spent that much, I think the razor was about £20 and you can get a stick of Erasmic soap for about 70p, which lasts me absolutely ages; I only shave two or three times a week.

I guess a good, real badger hair brush is another £20 or £30, but you can get workable synthetic or boar hair brush for a fair bit less. I've had the same brush, I think it's boar hair, since I was about 16, over 30 years now, so they last a fair while.

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Without meaning to, you guys make my point perfectly.

In the past, you bought a cut throat once and if you kept it sharp and in good condition it would last a lifetime, but that meant the manufacturer only sold you one razor. Then came the safety razor with its replaceable blades, but Gillette did not get massively rich selling razors, he only managed that when he realised that if he sold the replacement blades cheaply enough he would sell huge numbers of them. Now we have throw away plastic razors, more consumerism where the manufacturer wins.

My previous electric razors have lasted years, only needing an occasional new foil or blade, this is the first one that has stopped working UNTIL I tell it I have spent further money with the manufacturer to keep it doing the job it was bought for. Same with the print carts that you cannot refill, as the chip inside them tells the printer not to work.

How long before the washing machine does not work unless I use the 'manufacturers approved' powder, or the fridge only works when I put food in it from certain supermarkets.... the money making possibilities for large companies are enormous, as was Gillette's fortune once he'd figured out how to get the customer coming back and back and back.

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The 'Man' is conspiring against us?

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xerxes":31gcxaj9 said:

Cost about £50 to set up, blades cost about a tenner for 50 (decent Gillette), shaving soap £5.

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I don't think I spent that much, I think the razor was about £20 and you can get a stick of Erasmic soap for about 70p, which lasts me absolutely ages; I only shave two or three times a week.

I guess a good, real badger hair brush is another £20 or £30, but you can get workable synthetic or boar hair brush for a fair bit less. I've had the same brush, I think it's boar hair, since I was about 16, over 30 years now, so they last a fair while.

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Sacrilege.

I did try boar hair, but nothing compares with best badger (sorry Brian May). Worth a small investment.
I don't use fancy soap. Proraso is £5 a tub and lasts ages. Tried loads and the red tub just works for me.

Once engineers were taught to build stuff that would work as good and last as long as possible. It was part of their professional pride.

A modern engineer would loose his job with that kind of attitude.

Todays industry precision is all about product lifetime and cost efficiency. (and ease of use, for that matter - witch can be a problem, too. Its easy to throw a way stuff and buy new stuff for "cheap")
Some of you would be surprised by the level of science and dedication put into that.
No counters needed, really. Just material ingredients that make plastics inside dish washers getting vulnerable to the washing powder. Electrolytic capacitors placed near hot electronic parts so they dry out and pop within 2 years (typical for flat screen TVs)
I kind of take pride in not buying new stuff but getting old and/or defective and repair it. So I know many of those "tricks". I could go on for ever rambling about that. But honestly: I kind of take advantage of that situation...

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I hate the whole "disposable appliance" mentality. I have no regrets having paid £98 for a stainless steel, well engineered and repairable Dualit toaster... even if it died completely tomorrow and I had to chuck it it'll only have cost me £7.54 per year!

I had a terrible time trying to find a similarly well made kettle when the previous German branded but Chinese plastic rubbish one blew up; in the end I had to settle for a Kenwood one which looked lovely but actually was only slightly less plasticky Chinese rubbish and has started leaking water everywhere. So much for the "British Engineered" label - someone either specced (or more likely, used) unsuitable plastics in the level gauge which have gone brittle in contact with hot water and disintegrated (who'd have guessed a kettle would hold hot water?)

I did eventually find just one company making domestic kettles in Europe; mostly stainless steel with no plastic parts in contact with water. Time will tell how long it lasts, if it does the decade I hope for it'll only have been a tenner a year (though as it's made by a relatively small firm who sell directly to customers I have hopes that I could persuade them to sell me spare parts if necessary.)

As for shaving, I don't bother trying to get a perfectly smooth finish - just a once over every few days with the American-made hair clippers (bought 16 years ago!) keeps things from getting too unruly.

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NeilM":ndj2gekj said:

Without meaning to, you guys make my point perfectly.

In the past, you bought a cut throat once and if you kept it sharp and in good condition it would last a lifetime, but that meant the manufacturer only sold you one razor. Then came the safety razor with its replaceable blades, but Gillette did not get massively rich selling razors, he only managed that when he realised that if he sold the replacement blades cheaply enough he would sell huge numbers of them. Now we have throw away plastic razors, more consumerism where the manufacturer wins.

My previous electric razors have lasted years, only needing an occasional new foil or blade, this is the first one that has stopped working UNTIL I tell it I have spent further money with the manufacturer to keep it doing the job it was bought for. Same with the print carts that you cannot refill, as the chip inside them tells the printer not to work.

How long before the washing machine does not work unless I use the 'manufacturers approved' powder, or the fridge only works when I put food in it from certain supermarkets.... the money making possibilities for large companies are enormous, as was Gillette's fortune once he'd figured out how to get the customer coming back and back and back.

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Bicycles fall into the same category.

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Dualit will repair your toaster, and they make decent kettles too... that's why I have one of each

Don't get me started on Beko tho

Or AO.COM for that matter

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ajm":a5z1upvu said:

I did eventually find just one company making domestic kettles in Europe; mostly stainless steel with no plastic parts in contact with water. Time will tell how long it lasts, if it does the decade I hope for it'll only have been a tenner a year (though as it's made by a relatively small firm who sell directly to customers I have hopes that I could persuade them to sell me spare parts if necessary.

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I'd be interested to know details -name/website.

I hate waste and more than anything is the inability to repair something. Companies obviously hate reliability,longevity and repairablity too.
Worst is todays society just seems to have rolled over and accepted it.

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When I went to college in the late 1970's, studying electronics, to fill out timetable our tutor put us on a City and Guilds 222/1 course, this was a course specifically for TV service and repair, and on day release we had several guys who were TV repair men.

I haven't looked, but I think I can be pretty sure that the qualification no longer exists... As I recall, I got a Credit.