THEY don’t make ‘em like they used to. People say this about everything, and generally it holds true. My Russian babushka-in-law has a ZiL refrigerator from 1961 which dutifully chills all the gherkins and vodka thrown in its path. Its steadfastness stands in marked contrast to her almost brand new Samsung television which, only after a few months, developed a fatal fault. In contrast, the ageing 90s TV hiding in the dacha, while delivering mostly static to the viewer, soldiers reliably on.
Read this on TCW. I share you fondness for things you can trust.
A while back, I had an obsession dreaming about old cars, including the Leyland Princess(*), which was crap by the way, so wouldn’t actually buy one. Rather, I owned two Vauxhall Cavaliers, both of which were trusty.
In many ways, new cars are much more reliable than old ones. However, I dislike all the new wireless gadgets, and prefer simple switches. For example, I have an electric scooter but had to install an app on my phone in order to turn the god-damn thing on. It’s not that I am old and stuck in the past, rather it’s just that I spent most of my career as a programmer, so know where things are going.
If I may, I wrote a fiction piece recently prophesying the future for automobiles:
There is no doubt that today and for some decades, 'quality' is a word not used, let alone understood. We have a 40 year old fridge which still performs as it should and is vastly better made than the newer one which is beginning to fall apart after 14 years of use.
Standards have dropped for a variety of reasons. Quality is not a focus in our throw-away age; endurance means less profits; machinery is made poorly and spare parts no longer exists which means you have to buy a new one and standards on every count have fallen.
In an age when many think we have come so far, the truth is, we have only come a great distance in terms of the inferior, on many counts.
Congratulations on acquiring your new old motor. And welcome to the club.
Read this on TCW. I share you fondness for things you can trust.
A while back, I had an obsession dreaming about old cars, including the Leyland Princess(*), which was crap by the way, so wouldn’t actually buy one. Rather, I owned two Vauxhall Cavaliers, both of which were trusty.
In many ways, new cars are much more reliable than old ones. However, I dislike all the new wireless gadgets, and prefer simple switches. For example, I have an electric scooter but had to install an app on my phone in order to turn the god-damn thing on. It’s not that I am old and stuck in the past, rather it’s just that I spent most of my career as a programmer, so know where things are going.
If I may, I wrote a fiction piece recently prophesying the future for automobiles:
https://kuiperzone.substack.com/p/the-brigadoon-inn?s=w
(*) Today, I am dreaming about owning a Skoda Estelle.
There is no doubt that today and for some decades, 'quality' is a word not used, let alone understood. We have a 40 year old fridge which still performs as it should and is vastly better made than the newer one which is beginning to fall apart after 14 years of use.
Standards have dropped for a variety of reasons. Quality is not a focus in our throw-away age; endurance means less profits; machinery is made poorly and spare parts no longer exists which means you have to buy a new one and standards on every count have fallen.
In an age when many think we have come so far, the truth is, we have only come a great distance in terms of the inferior, on many counts.