One thing to keep in mind here is back when things were made with such high
quality, the cost of labor versus materials was different. Labor was quite
cheap and materials were more expensive. The opposite is true now. I
recall in the computer industry when a floppy disk drive cost $150 dollars
and labor rates to repair and align heads was $25/hours. Now a new drive
costs $10 and labor is $100/hr. That type of problem drives us towards a
throw away mentality. The cost of disposal hasn't been noticed yet. I
believe that corporations are looking mostly at cost and competition when
they build and design products.
There is a whole separate discussion on repeat sales and business growth as
it related to durable good (cameras included). Too good and your customer
base quits buying and you slowly die on the vine.
Just some rambling thoughts.
Bruce Dayton
Sacramento, CA
----- Original Message -----
From: "Gary L. Murphy" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Sunday, July 22, 2001 9:56 AM
Subject: Re: Mz-S: Two Thumbs Up!
> On Sun, 22 Jul 2001 09:29:42 -0700, Shel Belinkoff wrote:
>
> >I believe that preservation of the past, through buildings,
> >and the objects we use on a daily basis, whether currently
> >useful or obsolete, are an important part of our culture and
> >heritage. By making everything disposable, and planning on
> >obsolescence, what will remain of our culture, history, and
> >heritage in 100 or 200 years?
>
> I agree with you 200%, Shel.
>
> It's a shame that we continually design and build things with "built-in
obsolescence." We, it seems, have lost
> the pride that once was our "trademark" of making items that would
withstand the test of time. Like a recent
> advertisement I heard states, "a device that's made to keep track of time,
should also be able to withstand
> it's affects." (It was a Rolex advertisement)
>
> I ran across the below Wirgin Gewirette camera listed on eBay. It's
obvious that the designers had longevity
> in mind when they built it. That concept has been replaced by "throw it
away and buy another one when it
> breaks", and that's sad. IMHO.
>
> http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1257213035
>
>
>
>
> Later,
> Gary
>
>
> -
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