On 2015-06-28 10:15 AM, notbob wrote:
> On 2015-06-28, Dave Smith > wrote:
>
>> It's a shame that so many brands once considered to be reliable have
>> dropped their standards. I had bought a number of Maytag appliances
>> based on previous high ratings. I was seriously disappointed in them.
>
> They're all junk, now. It's called planned obsolescence. We were
> playing with it, but the Japanese showed us how to perfect it.


They did? I remember when "made in Japan" was synonymous" to "crap",
cheaply made trinkets usually made is thin, low quality stamped metal
assembled with tabs bent through slots. When Japanese cars first hit
the North American market they were the cheapest models they had to
offer. People were moderately impressed, knowing they had paid rock
bottom prices but got something more reliable and longer lasting than
they had expected. Then the Japanese raised the bar, offering higher
quality cars with luxury accessories.

I have had vehicles from most of the NA auto companies... except
Dodge/Chrysler, but had lots of experience with them in the fleet at
work. I got shafted by all of them. Now I drive buy Japanese cars. I
currently have a Honda and a Toyota. I have also had Mazdas. I might
have bought another Mazda but Ford bought a big share of the company and
I was worried that they would have dropped the Mazda products to the
Ford level.

Cameras, stereos and other electronics.... high quality and reasonable
prices. They tend to last. Of course, with the rapid advances in
technology many of the products become obsolete, but that is only in
comparison to the newer products, unlike the planned obsolescence of NA
cars and appliances which are made with cheap material so they break
down after a few years and it is cheaper to replace than to repair.

The Japanese forced NA auto makers to improve their products and make
them last longer.

FWIW.... one of the guys in my kayak club has a mini van. He was telling
me how much he liked it and how well it has lasted. It is a 1998 model
and has over 400,000. The body looks great and it runs beautifully. I
was amazed because, though I had seen it many times, been in it, loaded
boats on top of it, something told me it was a Dodge. It turned out to
be a Toyota.



>
> Even a simple garden hoe is now junk. Went to my local True Value and
> all their garden hoes used only two itty-bitty spot welds to hold the
> blade to the right-angle arm. Went next door to the Tractor Supply
> and their garden hoes had a full arc weld bead. Granted, it was a
> crappy Chinese weld, but it hadda be better than the wimpy Chinese
> spot welds. I hope.
>

Chinese???? I know there are jokes about them, but they are different
from the Japanese.