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NWO_Eliminator t1_ise4074 wrote

Reply to comment by BoilerButtSlut in Dishwasher keeps going by Atlantic76

No, they were screamed at to cheapen the design or fear going out of business. It had nothing to do with costs.

Over 20 years ago, I wanted to be an engineer to build quality appliances because I already saw the writing on the wall. In the downturn of 2001, I ended up working with some engineers at an electrical company (slave wages and working conditions) that were laid off who did that for a living. They told me how the real world works and set me straight. Thankfully, I dodged that bullet. Before that, I was a big gear head and wanted to work on cars for a living but during the last portion of my college schooling, I talked to a mechanic who owned his own business for 28 years and he sternly warned me not to get into the business. It's hard dirty work, being exposed to horrible chemicals, exhaust fumes, crappy working conditions, and extremely difficult to keep up with newer evolving technologies. The pay also does not even begin to reflect the work unless you own your own business. That's the only way to make in the automotive world without going poor and destroying your body before retirement age. Another dodged bullet.

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BoilerButtSlut t1_isffziz wrote

>No, they were screamed at to cheapen the design or fear going out of business. It had nothing to do with costs.

I'm calling bullshit on that. It all comes back to cost at the end of the day. Longevity isn't free. It costs money. Adding costs can easily kill a program. I've seen a few cents increase in costs completely cancel years-long programs.

Cheapen the design literally means reducing the cost.

I don't know of any engineer ever that was told to reduce a product's lifetime without any gain out of it (lower cost, easier production, better parts availability, etc): unless you own 100% of the marketspace, people can easily just buy your competitor's product and you don't gain from it.

I'm sure there's a handful very niche companies (where there is indeed market capture) where something like this happens, but it's so rare I can't think of any example.

Most of the time I just see people getting what they pay for. I have no trouble finding quality stuff, it just costs more than what most people think is reasonable.

My wife's family think I'm insane for how much I spend on appliances. Years later I've yet to buy another dishwasher/blender/washer/dryer/etc while they are on their 2nd or 3rd set.

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NWO_Eliminator t1_isg58mm wrote

I got this information from the engineer directly. I don't know what else to tell you.

Spending extra money on an appliance use to be a guarantee for a better built, longer lasting design. That is not the case anymore.

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BoilerButtSlut t1_iskscnx wrote

It was never a guarantee. You can buy something expensive and have it still be crap.

However the reverse is patently false: you can't cheap out on cost and end up with quality. It is impossible to buy quality without spending more money for something like this.

We have example of stuff lasting 20+ years in today. This isn't a lost art. There are companies that still make quality stuff, especially since commercial businesses rely on these. Ive designed stuff that is sitting on shelves right now and I know how the business works.

If you don't want to believe that, that's on you, but you're just making things hard on your self for no reason.

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