Old meets new
At our home in Hyderabad, India, this old rotary phone is still in service. It’s atleast 30 years old and has yet to see the lights of service center. This speaks volumes about the quality of engineering and manufacturing in those days. Today most of our electronics have an average life of 3-5 years. While life expectancy of humans goes up, that of technology goes down.
March 15th, 2011 at 23:14
You realize there is something to be said for the difference in complexity of appliances/electronics too right?
I’m not saying it explains everything but it’s definitely a factor. Of course corporations have decided they’d rather sell more units more frequently than make stuff that lasts. And that’s more of a business decision than anything else. So that’s another thing. Am sure there’s more …
March 16th, 2011 at 07:30
@BrownS agreed when you look at it comparatively. However relatively speaking for this day and age, a cordless phone is as complex as a rotary was 30 years ago.
You are bang on for the last point. One of the hallmarks of capitalism is too protect the interest of the self, i.e the organization. If they made longer lasting products who would buy the latest model. Apple, is a prime example. Just look at their most recent launch. Apparently 30% of people buying the iPad2 already own the original iPad.