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A comment on Dieter Rams designed products to last, is horrified how we throw things away. Parent comment

Re:Dieter Rams designed products to last, is horrified how w... by solatic on Saturday April 06, 2019 @02:41PM (#19592305)
In a less capital-intensive industry, you'd see small competitors building higher quality goods for a premium price. You see this in, for instance, leather goods (where you can get very high quality leather wallets for under $100), clothing (much better goods available online for only slightly more than mass-market retail), etc. Small competitors don't care about planned obsolesence when they could only dream about capturing enough market share where planned obsolesence becomes necessary to keep profits growing every year.

But the capital barriers to entry for new cars and smartphones are way too high. Elon and Tesla were the last true upstart to even come close to a semi-affordable premium option, and they burned through billions in startup capital to get there.

If the government can't reduce the barriers to entry for Smith's Invisible Hand to naturally produce competitors, then the government needs to regulate the natural oligopoly.

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Re:Dieter Rams designed products to last, is horrified how w... by hedora on Saturday April 06, 2019 @08:39PM (#19594001)
I’m really surprised no one has come up with a reliable appliance brand. The old machines from decades ago are absurdly reliable, and not patented anymore. Also, most appliance technologies stagnated more than 17 years ago (front loader clothes washers are the only counter example that comes to mind).

There is still R&D to be done to update for modern manufacturing techniques, but an upstart that simply built old classic designs and added a 30-year warranty would do well. Bonus points for standardized dimensions (for easy replacement years from now).

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Re:Dieter Rams designed products to last, is horrified how w... by gnopgnip on Saturday April 06, 2019 @10:46PM (#19594466)
You can get a commercial or industrial version of most appliances with relatively few features, and a focus on durability and ease of maintenance. One problem is commercial units are loud. The other is they are often slightly larger. For most users the cost alone means the residential versions are a better option.
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Re:Dieter Rams designed products to last, is horrified how w... by nathan_long on Monday April 08, 2019 @02:25PM (#19607770)
I've wished for this myself. We replaced a refrigerator, and I thought "what a waste - 95% of the mass of that thing was non-moving parts that could've lasted centuries".

> There is still R&D to be done to update for modern manufacturing techniques, but an upstart that simply built old classic designs and added a 30-year warranty would do well. Bonus points for standardized dimensions (for easy replacement years from now).

Extra bonus points for publishing manuals and 3D printing plans for replacement parts and ensuring they remain available long term - eg, creating a web site and funding a foundation to keep it running + seeding torrents with the info.

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Re:Dieter Rams designed products to last, is horrified how w... by pxeboot on Saturday April 06, 2019 @10:33PM (#19594424)
> I’m really surprised no one has come up with a reliable appliance brand

Speed Queen has done this for Washers and Dryers. https://www.speedqueen.com/

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Re:Dieter Rams designed products to last, is horrified how w... by Corrado on Sunday April 07, 2019 @03:46AM (#19595413)
I used to think the same thing, however looking at some recent reviews it appears as if Speed Queen has succumbed to the cost cutting movement. People are complaining that the latest machines no longer clean properly and are not up to the old standards. I don't know about the repair-ability of the machines but if they don't do the job they were built for then it doesn't really matter if you can fix it or not.
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Re:Dieter Rams designed products to last, is horrified how w... by Nasrudith on Saturday April 06, 2019 @10:36PM (#19594434)
If you want reliability generally you want to go with the 'industrial' version - which may or may not be ideal for whatever you want to do.
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Re:Dieter Rams designed products to last, is horrified how w... by rkul on Saturday April 06, 2019 @11:01PM (#19594525)
Do you have any concrete examples of good quality clothing e-stores?
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Re:Dieter Rams designed products to last, is horrified how w... by roberte3 on Sunday April 07, 2019 @12:23AM (#19594807)
https://tripleaughtdesign.com, its tactical clothing that at one point was very similar to the stuff special forces guys were wearing. (They are selling more and more 'urban' friendly stuff these days). Most of it is made in America.
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Re:Dieter Rams designed products to last, is horrified how w... by aikinai on Saturday April 06, 2019 @11:22PM (#19594604)
I haven't tried them yet, but I heard Outlier is this kind of company. Here's an interesting Wired article[0] about them.

[0] https://www.wired.com/story/outlier-tech-clothes/

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Re:Dieter Rams designed products to last, is horrified how w... by sequoia on Saturday April 06, 2019 @11:42PM (#19594688)
At least for me personally, a $125 t-shirt does not tick the "only slightly more than mass-market retail" box. These are expensive clothes.

https://shop.outlier.nyc/shop/retail/shirts

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Re:Dieter Rams designed products to last, is horrified how w... by aikinai on Sunday April 07, 2019 @08:59AM (#19596541)
The t-shirts do seem ridiculous, but they're famous for their pants, which are definitely in the same range as normal pants. A lot more than $20 at Wal-Mart, but less than many mall brands.
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Re:Dieter Rams designed products to last, is horrified how w... by maimeowmeow on Sunday April 07, 2019 @12:35AM (#19594838)
A regular t shirt might last 10 to 20 years, but a $125 might last generations as long as it doesnt get torn or stained.
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Re:Dieter Rams designed products to last, is horrified how w... by pwagland on Sunday April 07, 2019 @02:40AM (#19595178)
In all seriousness though, how many people are really going to consider a t-shirt to be a family heirloom, that you _should_ pass down through the generations?
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Re:Dieter Rams designed products to last, is horrified how w... by maimeowmeow on Sunday April 07, 2019 @01:23PM (#19598318)
The handme downs are passed down through each generation of siblings, but unless you have space, or clothes are adult sized its probably gonna be donated.

Definately not heirlooms even at 125 bucks.

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Re:Dieter Rams designed products to last, is horrified how w... by sequoia on Sunday April 07, 2019 @05:11PM (#19599900)
Do you have t-shirts you've been wearing regularly for 20 years? How old are you if you don't mind me asking?
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Re:Dieter Rams designed products to last, is horrified how w... by distances on Monday April 08, 2019 @12:13PM (#19606508)
Not the parent, but I have many t-shirts that are well over 10 years old. Some of them I wear regularly. A good quality fabric can definitely last decades, we're just getting unused to that and assume everything has to break down.
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Re:Dieter Rams designed products to last, is horrified how w... by maimeowmeow on Tuesday April 09, 2019 @12:15PM (#19616186)
Im mid 20s, and I can still have tshirts from over 10 years ago. Rotate through them everday, in my experience brandname 10-20 dollar shirts, or kirkland 3 dollar shirts have held up.
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Re:Dieter Rams designed products to last, is horrified how w... by loungin on Sunday April 07, 2019 @10:14AM (#19596886)
Gustin makes good looking stuff, but the buying process is different in you fund a piece and when it gets funded they make it. Their fit is for stick figures though :\
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