The Vent and Rant Thread

[desertgrandma]

So, when we moved here, 5 1/2 yrs ago, Ibought a toaster from Target...$5.99. I REALLY wanted a red Kitchen aid toaster but the $60 price tag was beyond me at the time. I consoled myself with the knowledge that this one would die very soon for that price, so, I would replace it with a 'good' one, explain to my husband that you 'gets what you pay for'.

Well, guess what. That STUPID toaster is still working. Last week I thought I was in luck........the lever wouldn't stay down.

My husband walked up to it, smacked it on the side, and now it works fine. Damn men.

I have no clue what any of this has to do with anything else written here, just wanted to join in........

[pshrynk]

Originally Posted by Diogene

I do not agree.
I do not have a cell phone.
I think by now maybe half of humanity has been raised by television and is deeply under the influence of PR and advertising (also through TV series, blogs,..). The younger generations' deepest desires have been shaped by marketing.
They feel depressed and inferior, as if they and their lives are worthless if they do not own anything new. Their lives have no deep meaning, only products can give them a semblance of meaning.
It is clearly pathological.

Umm... I agree with your disagreement. Your point is actually what I was aiming at in my post. Planned obsolescence is nothing but marketing and shoddy manufacturing aimed at making more and more profits and is severely wasteful. Having or not having a cell phone is not the point, but having a cell phone that is good for more than a year or so or a handset phone that doens't fall apart after minimal use is.

[Patricia]

Originally Posted by Diogene

Their lives have no deep meaning, only products can give them a semblance of meaning.
It is clearly pathological.

Marx called this phenomenon commodity fetishism.

[Mindy]

But new things are so shiny......

[Diogene]

Originally Posted by Patricia

Marx called this phenomenon commodity fetishism.

I imagine you starring in a new Monty Python's episode:
"She said 'commodity fetishism'. She must be a Marxist witch! Let us burn that dreadful creature of Satan! Yeah! Yeah!"

[Diogene]

Originally Posted by pshrynk

Umm... I agree with your disagreement. Your point is actually what I was aiming at in my post. Planned obsolescence is nothing but marketing and shoddy manufacturing aimed at making more and more profits and is severely wasteful. Having or not having a cell phone is not the point, but having a cell phone that is good for more than a year or so or a handset phone that doens't fall apart after minimal use is.

We agree: the planned product's obsolescence now coexists with the planned consumer's desire's obsolescence.

[Patricia]

Originally Posted by Diogene

I imagine you starring in a new Monty Python's episode:
"She said 'commodity fetishism'. She must be a Marxist witch! Let us burn that dreadful creature of Satan! Yeah! Yeah!"

And I suspect that someone would call you a situationist and set fire to you too.

[Diogene]

Originally Posted by Patricia

And I suspect that someone would call you a situationist and set fire to you too.

No way: it is way more hip! I am more likely to get offered a glass of wine...or a cell in jail?

[GeoffC]

Originally Posted by Mindy

But new things are so shiny......

That include you, too - young lady ?

[Johns1NOnly]

I Hate rain!!!!!!! and people who are driving slooooow and/ or dont have there light on.

[Nate the great]

Don't you know that it never rains in VA? That's why people freak out when it rains. They've never seen it before.

[Johns1NOnly]

Originally Posted by Nate the great

Don't you know that it never rains in VA? That's why people freak out when it rains. They've never seen it before.

than you have not been down to Hampton roads area it been rain here more day than it sunny or not raining in the last couple of months.... people freak out more when it SNOWS i hate being on the road when it snows.

[nekokami]

Originally Posted by zelda_pinwheel

2 days ago, one of the plastic beater blades from the inside of the drum BROKE OFF while i was doing some washing. it can be replaced, of course, but since the five-year guarantee expired ONE MONTH ago, i'll have to pay for it myself.

Dave Barry suggests changing the warranty expiration dates on the devices with a permanent marker to avoid this kind of thing-- the devices can be fooled into thinking they're still under warranty, and hence don't break. I suppose you have to do this before they actually do break, though.

[slayda]

Originally Posted by desertgrandma

So, when we moved here, 5 1/2 yrs ago, Ibought a toaster from Target...$5.99. I REALLY wanted a red Kitchen aid toaster but the $60 price tag was beyond me at the time. I consoled myself with the knowledge that this one would die very soon for that price, so, I would replace it with a 'good' one, explain to my husband that you 'gets what you pay for'.

Well, guess what. That STUPID toaster is still working. Last week I thought I was in luck........the lever wouldn't stay down.

My husband walked up to it, smacked it on the side, and now it works fine. Damn men.

I have no clue what any of this has to do with anything else written here, just wanted to join in........

Don't you just love someone who uses the technical approach to problem solving?

[zelda_pinwheel]

Originally Posted by nekokami

Dave Barry suggests changing the warranty expiration dates on the devices with a permanent marker to avoid this kind of thing-- the devices can be fooled into thinking they're still under warranty, and hence don't break. I suppose you have to do this before they actually do break, though.

i will definitely do this on my next washing machine (as you say, it's probably too late for this one). especially since i've since received the replacement piece, and when i put it in i checked the other two plastic beaters (i did not do this before, as they had not actually fallen off, and as i am an idiot). it turns out BOTH of them are only holding by the clips on one side. so they will have to be replaced as well (i'm waiting until next month to do that though and hoping they won't break in the interval).

i think i'll mark a warranty valid through 2099. i thought about making it valid through the 25th century but i don't know, how gullible do you thing these machines are ?