People Were More Ingenious in the Past

by Simon 9 Replies latest social entertainment

• 

  Simon

  OK, you'll have to bear with me with this one.

  I want to talk about toasters. Which is the best one? Would it be:

  a) a toaster you can buy today, any brand

  or

  b) a toaster invented in 1948

  For a bonus, how long do you think a toaster purchased today will keep working? 60 years?

  Just watch the video below and marvel at how ingenious people were in the past and how much better some things used to be. Sure, we have more advanced technology nowadays but honestly, so much of it is clever but shit. I have a Nest thermostat and it can't even keep the house to a nice temperature as well as the 'dumb' one I foolishly replaced it with. Heck, you can even adjust the temperature and it will decide you are "wrong" and .... argh!!!

  This is just simple and genius.

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1OfxlSG6q5Y
  
• 

  cofty

  That is genius! A little bit terrifying but genius.
• 

  Simon

  I forgot to mention that most modern toasters will have a dial (or digital setting) but the usable range is usually small, so small that sometimes getting it to actually make toast is a challenge.

  Our last toaster went from 1-5, but anything above 3.7 was charcoal and anything under 3.6 was bread. Our new one is digital, to get toast you have to do "2" and then another 30 seconds. "3" is incineration mode.

  A toaster that can do it automatically, and magically, with the power of physics instead of electronics ... 'cause computers go wrong all the time but physics tends to keep working reliably.
• 

  Finkelstein

  Some old inventions from the past which I thought was pretty cool in the day.

  An entertainment system complete with TV, record player and radio all put into a nicely designed finished solid wood cabinet.

  Some of the cars in the 60's were like siting in a luxury living room with large plush seats, these care were made solid with metal and chrome everywhere inside and out and rode smooth like a dream..

  Home Telephones that had a warm full tone sound to them, not the electronic sounds from the Cell phones today, everyone's voice sounded so much better on these phones.

  Thats not to say there aren't cool inventions happening today.

  I just purchased some wireless ear buds to listen to music and audio books which are stored on my cell phone. , that's pretty cool invention as well.
  
• 

  road to nowhere

  You are lucky if a modern major appliance lasts longer than the payments
• 

  minimus

  I think TVs are way better now than ever before and cheap!
• 

  Pete Zahut

  Talk about ingenious....when I was growing up we used to have an old toaster like that.

  When we were out of breakfast cereal and if we were hungry enough, why us kids would open the little door on the bottom of the toaster and shake the crumbs into a bowl and pour a little milk on them.

  We called it "Toaster Shakins ".
• 

  LoveUniHateExams

  Here's another thing that has better old versions than new versions: razors.

  Old-style razors (whether cut-throat or changeable) give a much better shave than the crap we have today.

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHAYahPf04s
  
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  tiki

  It's a corporate ploy called planned obsolescence.....we had a toaster from the 70's that lasted until about 2017ish....I bought an expensive good name brand one in hopes it would last a good long time....it went maybe 2 years then the wire stay hook or whatever went and the thing went caput. So much for getting your moneys worth. So next I got an $18 Wal-Mart one. I got about ten toasts out of that one and it went. I have given up on toast.

  We had a dishwasher that lasted from 1971 to sometime in the 2005 range. The one I currently have is maybe ten years old and unless dishes are completely rinsed they come out scabby and filmed and need rewashing. The top shelf doesn't clean at all. Utter wasteful of resources society....cheapen goods, hike prices....keep the hamsters on the money wheel.
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  truth_b_known

  Why pay $100.00 for a Sunbeam Radiant Control Toaster when you can purchase a plastic toaster made in a Chinese sweatshop that will last 12 months for $15.00 at Wal-Mart? Ooooooh....