Is quality a thing of the past?

[ukulele]

http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/09/20/lig...eut/index.html

I just changed a bulb in the bathroom for the second time this week. I love this brave new world.

[Bovon]

Yeah... I can understand, and sympathize with your statement...

But, can you spell cheap? (like in us?...you and me?...)

That is the name of the buying game for everyday stuff, and down deep, we know that it is not quality and will not last very long, but..hey..its only "pocket change"...even though we may buy the same thing again next week.

I - myself have passed up certain items that cost 2 or 3 times as much as a cheaper...foreign made item because of the price, knowing full well that the item costing 3 times as much would last 5 times as long..or longer.

We like to blame foreign workers and their quality control...when we have set up the standards...

[ukulele]

That's true Bovon. They only sell cheap junk because people are stupid enough to buy it in the first place. It's just that something like a light bulb that lists average hours on the package as 1150 hours should go that long on the average. I have yet to see even one bulb in the last 10,000 or so I bought make it even half that long. We need truth in advertising.

[Yoshi]

I had an old HP printer and it worked for 6 years, then i bought a new Lexmark, didn't last for 8 months, and my HP 2410 just failed on me so I had to get a new one

[j.m@talk]

For Sale Lightbulb longevity recorder

$5959.00 ex tax

Ideal for sad gumpy old gits

[j.m@talk]

DALLAS (Reuters) - They sure do not make things anymore like the Texas lightbulb that sold for a few cents and has burned for 96 straight years.
The North Fort Worth Historical Society will have a birthday party on Tuesday for its famous household fixture -- a lightbulb that has burned continuously since Sept. 21, 1908. The bulb was first illuminated when a stagehand at a local opera house flicked a switch and posted a sign that the light over a stage entrance was not be turned off.

"We have no idea why it has lasted so long. That is the wonderful mystery of it," said Sarah Biles, the administrator of the museum where the bulb burns, complete with its own independent power supply.

The Texas bulb is about 40 watts and made of thick glass that houses a sturdy carbon filament.

Despite having lasted 96 years so far, the Texas lightbulb does not hold the record for the longest continuously burning bulb in the world.

According to the Guinness Book of World Records, that honor goes to a some 4 watt bulb that has been burning at a firehouse in Livermore, California, since it was turned on in 1901.

Biles said the keepers of the Texas bulb feel no luminescence envy with the California model because their bulb has had a much more celebrated history.

The Texas bulb was touted -- wrongly -- in the 1930s as the longest burning bulb in the world. The opera house where it burned became a movie house and actors promoting films in Fort Worth would stop to admire the bulb's orange glow.

"Our bulb has a unique past and can hold its own, even if it is number two," Biles said.

[leprechaun_40]

For years my mom would argue with me about why I paid more for a TV, vacuum cleaner, garden hose, whatever. She always bought the cheaper ones. Well, after she'd bought the 4th vacuum cleaner in a few years and I still had my original, she found out I'd spent less in the long run, not to mention, gotten a better cleaning job done, and saved the time and hassels of going and buying another one. The same for the TV, hose, etc. Took her a few years, but she figured out I was saving more than she was, it just took a bit longer to prove it. I don't buy cheap because I hate replacing stuff all the time.

[ukulele]

I guess the technology for a better light bulb died with Edison.

[DozerLYP]

Originally posted by leprechaun_40
For years my mom would argue with me about why I paid more for a TV, vacuum cleaner, garden hose, whatever. She always bought the cheaper ones. Well, after she'd bought the 4th vacuum cleaner in a few years and I still had my original, she found out I'd spent less in the long run, not to mention, gotten a better cleaning job done, and saved the time and hassels of going and buying another one. The same for the TV, hose, etc. Took her a few years, but she figured out I was saving more than she was, it just took a bit longer to prove it. I don't buy cheap because I hate replacing stuff all the time.

i feel the same way. i always buy the most expensive, on every thing. my friends think I'm crazy. but i know mine is better, and will last longer then there's...

[BadDriver]

My wife and I have had this discussion many times. We would be going to buy one of the kids a bike a sled or whatever. I'd pass up the cheapo sleds and go pick up a flexible flyer or a lightning glider.

Look she would say, this one is $20 cheaper. And I would say, yeah and we'll buy the same thing again next year cause the kid will break the cheap piece of junk.

I am like that with everything I buy. I don't want the junk to break and I get stuck with a replacement. Everybody has failures but if you pay for quality it doesn't happen as often and you will get it replaced most times for free.

Cheapo junk comes with a 90 day warranty. Quality stuff comes with at least a 1 year and sometimes more. My mobo and video card still have over 2 and a half years left on them. I think Antec PSUs only have a year though I would have to look.

I buy the best I can possibly afford because it will last.

[ukulele]

Unfortunately they only sell cheap lightbulbs here. It's a plot I tell ya.

[The Jon]

Antec PSUs used to have a 3 year, and now they have a 1 year, if I'm not mistaken. I just had one die on me, and stupid me I gave it away for like $5... then the person I sold it to sent it into Antec and got a new one (450w) and sold it for $35!!!

*sigh*

[leprechaun_40]

Of course shopping at Wal-Mart not only reduces the quality of things you buy, but the average IQ of the entire country goes down too.

[Vampiel]

This only reinforces my bussiness plan that smart customers (the ones you want) place quality over quantity prices as well as service.

That's the key to beating Wal-Mart, alot of businesses dont buy this but it works and the population wants it, all you need is money to expand to other area's pushing this.

Why do you think Target is still around? They have higher prices but sell the same junk, people are given the illusion that they are better because they cost more, but if you actually have better quality products you can beat the competition even if they have lower prices in the long run because they will say hey, I bought this from XXX for a little bit more and it lasted me much longer and they gave good service. It produces lifetime customers.

Wal-Mart will not be top dog forever. History repeat's itself.

Radio Shack sells garbage, but they have good customer service.

[leprechaun_40]

At one time, Radio Shack sold quality and had good service, too bad for that