tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12171673.post5233943238688933585..comments2024-02-13T01:25:33.947-05:00Comments on The Gods Are Bored: Then vs. NowAnne Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15478513906953607043noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12171673.post-58149049982659166132011-06-01T13:40:38.203-04:002011-06-01T13:40:38.203-04:00I would say "Made in America" meant qual...I would say "Made in America" meant quality (or at least it did at one time) but something happened around the 1960s and quality just became "lip-service" and "inexpensive" (read: cheap and shoddy) became the American marketplace.<br /><br />Walmart doesn't understand the concept of qaulity.Intense Guyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08441598926026727682noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12171673.post-46907809077632592372011-05-31T18:56:10.790-04:002011-05-31T18:56:10.790-04:00Thank you for this post! I can relate to every si...Thank you for this post! I can relate to every single thing you said here. I don't own a cell phone, iPod/i-whatever; we have a computer ONLY because my husband had one when we got together and he can't live without it. I AM the dishwasher, and am still working after 40+ years with few repairs. I still have my records, but can't play them because I can't find a record player that WORKS. Today we're lucky if something lasts until the 3-month or 1-year warranty expires (which it always does JUST BEFORE the whatever-it-is breaks). <br /><br />And trust me, Home Depot is MUCH better than Best Buy!!!BellaDonna Oyanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12171673.post-89086456246401830862011-05-29T19:43:58.364-04:002011-05-29T19:43:58.364-04:00My co-worker calls me the Luddite IT Tech, because...My co-worker calls me the Luddite IT Tech, because I have long started to eschew the newest gadgets. I don't physically own a cell phone (other than the emergency one work gave me for pages, and severely limited to work-only calls in), we just got DISH television as part of a bundle deal that was cheaper than our current land-line phone and DSL internet. I also have loudly and voiciferously pontificated to anyone who mentions that I should get an Ipod or similar MP43 player that records are the way to go. They are "Physical media" after all, and usable even after the power goes out, if you REALLY need to listen to them and hobble together a paper cone and a straight pin. :)Maebiushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15818255129828936381noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12171673.post-9477556862878256512011-05-29T16:41:39.662-04:002011-05-29T16:41:39.662-04:00Thank you! We endeavor to give satisfaction!Thank you! We endeavor to give satisfaction!Anne Johnsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18083739996560380258noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12171673.post-11541924552346903192011-05-29T08:42:24.605-04:002011-05-29T08:42:24.605-04:00Having grown up during the 1960's, I witnessed...Having grown up during the 1960's, I witnessed appliances lasting multiple decades, some with repairs, others completely on their own. The thrill of going to a record store, buying an LP, admiring the cover, and reading the liner notes and lyrics on the sleeve. We've been in our home for 18 years, and have been through 2 dishwashers, with the possibility of a 3rd looming.<br /><br />Unfortunately, our disposables are much more dangerous now. All these computers, cell phones, mp3 players, etc. going into landfills and oozing whatever into the soil....<br /><br />I've read your blog for some time, and enjoy it very much!Patchouli Skyhttps://thebarefootwiccan.wordpress.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12171673.post-81676837274809938182011-05-28T19:20:03.240-04:002011-05-28T19:20:03.240-04:00Thomas is my hero.Thomas is my hero.Anne Johnsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18083739996560380258noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12171673.post-84685267004918979222011-05-28T15:17:36.808-04:002011-05-28T15:17:36.808-04:00As far as gadgets go:
1. Linux, it's free &am...As far as gadgets go:<br /><br />1. Linux, it's free & all of it's attendant software is free. It never breaks down and it's resource-frugal to the point that a much older computer running Linux will out-perform something right off the shelf.<br /><br />2. MP3 players, buy one that's non-proprietary and just keep buying your music on CD. Us your ultra-stable and super-fast Linux computer to rip the tracks to MP3 and stash the disk somewhere so you'll never have to worry about losing your music. <br /><br />3. Dishwasher, eh, I got nothing. Eat out more, maybe. <br /><br /><br />Planned obsolescence is real and it's real annoying but there's usually a way around it.Thomashttp://badassbard.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12171673.post-67538292401778969492011-05-28T15:17:15.873-04:002011-05-28T15:17:15.873-04:00My dishwasher was purchased more than twenty years...My dishwasher was purchased more than twenty years ago, but what I did is, before I purchased it, I asked three different plumbers what dishwasher needed the fewest repairs. All three of them told me to get the bottom of the line Maytag. That may be obsolete information now, but plumbers are the people to ask. They said to get the bottom of the line because there are fewer geegaws to go wrong. <br />My refrigerators tend to die when my sister visits (she has a poltergeist I suspect) but they start again when she leaves. <br />The phones sure don't last like they used to when the phone company owned them....<br />We are set up with an economy that is appropriate for a growing frontier society. That is now an obsolete idea, and we may die of not changing to a stable sustainable economy. Have you read <i>Collapse</i>, by Jared Diamond? I recommend it.kimchttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14020798623317549440noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12171673.post-16381054407459069722011-05-28T11:54:32.832-04:002011-05-28T11:54:32.832-04:00oh my Goddess, what would happen if you squeezed t...oh my Goddess, what would happen if you squeezed the charmin?yellowdoggrannyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14906624317290990109noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12171673.post-714051312294267242011-05-28T11:26:41.614-04:002011-05-28T11:26:41.614-04:00I've come to thank the gods for my iPod -it al...I've come to thank the gods for my iPod -it allows me to work in a noisy office without killing half my colleagues.<br />But I know what you mean about the lack of lasting quality. I've come to the conclusion that part of the built-in obsolescence is the fact that we (read: humanity) is getting stupider by the year. We don't know how to make stuff keep working anymore - and I'm not talking about the end-user so much as the people who design and build the damned things.<br /><br />Love,<br />Terri in JoburgAquila ka Hecatehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00725237187718174157noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12171673.post-51845734915691691232011-05-27T23:44:39.391-04:002011-05-27T23:44:39.391-04:00I'm still buying and listening to CDs. I know....I'm still buying and listening to CDs. I know. I'm insane to be tied to obsolete technology whose days are numbered. But I'm skeered, Anne, skeered of them teeny-tiny things with ear buds. I don't know how to put music on them. You're lucky. You've got teenagers to show you how.Debra She Who Seekshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01845703092794695023noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12171673.post-76635011442610505362011-05-27T21:09:24.862-04:002011-05-27T21:09:24.862-04:00Now Anne, see, this just proves you never listen t...Now Anne, see, this just proves you never listen to me. I TOLD you back when you first posted about this that with subscription services, you can download music and listen to it ONLY SO LONG as your subscription is active, and that it all disappears once you stop paying that monthly fee. That's why I PURCHASE all my music from the iTunes music store, because once I download that album, it's MINE, and stays on my player or computer, and won't disappear on me unless my whole house burns down and takes all my hard drives and computers and back up disks with it. I listen to Radio Paradise, a listener supported internet station, to discover new music, and if I like it enough I go online and buy it just like we did at the music store. Good luck with your music.Alex Pendragonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15877845166621794334noreply@blogger.com