geoegress opened this issue on Oct 11, 2010 · 34 posts
lmckenzie posted Fri, 15 October 2010 at 7:00 PM
I used to have a Sony VCR (probably late 80s - early 90s vintage) that I bought used from a pawnshop - not exactly the best provenance. I used the heck out of it and it was a solid machine that lasted roughly a decade with one (approx. $25) repair. I have a much newer model now. It weighs about 30% less and IMO is probably not as well made. I doubt it would last 5 years undel the same load. Of course, the norm has become that when it breaks, simply replace it and get the next disposable generation which may or may not have some new feature that you need or want.
With electronica at least, they go from expensive and well made to mass produced crap, and the interval between the two seems to be getting shorter all the time. It's true that in theory, something like a belt-driven device would be more troublesome, but IMO, an older, quality piece of equipment may often be superior to the "equivalent" new stuff.
It's not that the new technology is inferior, it's the QC and/or the design. Case in point, I have one of those DTV boxes. After a few months, the buttons on the remote started going out one by one and new batteries didn't help. I have a friend with the identical setup and while his still works sort of, the up-down channel buttons never worked on his. It is nothing but a circuit board with a rubber membrane keypad and the IR LED - nothing much to go wrong but it did. That's something that, in my experience, was rare with older remotes, with arguably a more complicated design.
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