
They Used to Last 50 Years – How today's appliances are being built to fail - roseburg
https://medium.com/@ryanfinlay/they-used-to-last-50-years-c3383ff28a8e#.4tv11xajz
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ChuckMcM
Actually not really. The author conflates "marketability" with "reliability."
There is nothing malicious or underhanded about it, your neighbors are
responsible and probably you are too.

All of the items the author mentions (mechanical parts, paint, controls) are
under tremendous price pressure [1] and while they _could_ pass along those
charges to the consumer, it means that the market buys the "cheaper" machine
which operates today, just as well as the "expensive" machine. I coined the
term "Crapitalism" to describe this effect on PC power supplies in the 90's
when you could not find a reliable supply anywhere.

The bottom line is that "reliability" is not something you can "sell" to the
consumer.

[1] [http://www.marketwatch.com/story/whirlpool-profit-margins-
sq...](http://www.marketwatch.com/story/whirlpool-profit-margins-squeezed-by-
raw-costs-2011-04-27)

~~~
roseburg
Hi, author here. I agree that quality and reliability is tougher to sell to
today's consumer. Maytag sure was successful though with their never seeing
the Maytag man ad campaign a long time ago. I have people talking to me about
that ad campaign to this day.

Let me give one specific example of how the cost would not go up for better
quality. Most washing machine lid switches made over the past 20 years or so
have been glued together. Eventually the glue fails, the switch separates and
the washer will not go into the end spin cycle, leaving the washer full of
water and broken. The fix is a small plastic zip tie that costs less than a
penny on the consumer side and reinforces the switch so it doesn't separate.
The cost for the manufacturers to build in any extra support would be almost
nothing. This lack of extra support has probably sent hundreds of thousands of
washing machines to the scrap yard.

I do think reliability is something that could be sold now, in the current
condition of the appliance industry. People are fed up buying brand new
appliances that break within a few years. If a new manufacturer emerged that
made higher quality machines, and people found out about them, they would tell
everyone they know.

Yes people want cheap appliances, but once burned, they are often converted
into wanting quality ones.

~~~
ChuckMcM

       > Yes people want cheap appliances, but once burned,
       > they are often converted into wanting quality ones.
    

Having watched this particular cycle play out _many_ times, I can tell you the
problem is that the cheap ones last 5 - 6 years. And that is longer than a
company like Whirlpool can afford to make "quality" ones. So by the time the
cheap ones start breaking, Whirlpool doesn't make "quality" ones any more, so
there isn't one to buy.

You end up doing what most people do is you buy "commercial grade" appliances.
These are appliances that are designed to go into restaurants or laundrymats
or any other business where they want to depreciate the gear over 26.5 years.
And since those people can put a price, in $, on "down time" they are able to
justify paying what it costs to not have any.

For example Whirlpool top load washer for consumers $499 [1], Whirlpool
commercial grade top load washer $699 [2], so "long term reliability" costs
you 40% more up front. That is the one you buy right? Because if more people
bought that one the volumes would go up and the price could come down. Except
no. People buy the $500 one instead of the $700 one because they don't look at
the cost of a washer capability over time (which is what a business does). A
laundromat will say "It cost me $70/year to have a $700 washer that lasts 10
years and $100/year to have a $500 washer that lasts only 5 years." But 90+%
of consumers don't think like that. They think "Gee same function but $200
more? Screw that!" And here we sit with the double impact that most washers
don't last long, and since the volume has gone down on reliable ones they cost
even more extra than they should.

It sucks.

[1] [http://www.homedepot.com/p/Whirlpool-3-5-cu-ft-High-
Efficien...](http://www.homedepot.com/p/Whirlpool-3-5-cu-ft-High-Efficiency-
Top-Load-Washer-in-White-WTW4815EW/205893571)

[2] [http://www.homedepot.com/p/Whirlpool-Heavy-Duty-
Series-2-9-c...](http://www.homedepot.com/p/Whirlpool-Heavy-Duty-
Series-2-9-cu-ft-Commercial-Top-Load-Washer-in-White-CAE2793BQ/204100254)

~~~
roseburg
I agree with what you are saying, but of those two options there is no quality
option for people to choose. Both those machines are the new vertical modular
style and are one of the worst designed washers ever. On an average trip to
the scrap yard there are several sitting there even though these just came out
a few years ago.

There is Speed Queen though, and I'm doing a bit more research on them now. I
just found out that though Whirlpool made some machines for them, Whirlpool
does not own them, so I updated that in the post. It's very difficult to find
and purchase Speed Queen appliances. So there is an opportunity there.

I'm going to email you in a few.

~~~
toomuchtodo
Speed Queens are incredible. There's a reason they're in every laundromat I've
been into across the US.

~~~
roseburg
I'd always heard that from customers, but I so rarely came across them, that I
never really looked into them for myself. Makes sense though, commercial
laundromats aren't going to mess around with poor quality machines. Speed
Queen could be the ticket.

