oh how they have changed

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What would have to change...

if we were not a consumer-driven society? Have you ever really thought about that?  The malls and Wal-Mart would go away. All of those millions of square feet of shelving stocked to the brim with merchandise just in case you want to buy something. AND WE MUST BUY AND BUY AND BUY TO KEEP THE MONSTER FED.  If we bought things that lasted our lifetimes which were passed down, this economy would be much different. To bring an improvement to market, there has to be the incentive of enough sales to pay for the initial investment. Do you honestly think all these stores could stay open, stocked to the brim with truly durable goods at reasonable prices, when people would not need to buy anything (except for clothes) more than once or at most twice in a lifetime?


 


I'm not saying this would be a bad thing, I am just saying it would be different. Shopping as recreation would vanish because money would be scarce and the purchasing power of a dollar very high. It is easy to disparage the throwaway mentality, but what would replace it, and what would the repercussions be? Perhaps there would be unintended and undesired consequences for some. The smart cell phone and notebook could never have developed in a scarce-money, high-value dollar type of economy, certainly not nearly as quickly. Not saying that is a bad thing, but it is what would manifest as a result based on the laws of supply and demand, and the money supply. Be careful what you wish for...
smiley-smile.gif
 
<span style="font-family: verdana,geneva; font-size: medium;">And what would people like the Kardashians do with themselves? What, no shopping as recreation?!</span>
 
Maybe having not very well made products is one thing.....


It is one thing making something cheaper and that will not last very long but even so why do they make these things when they do not do the job properly.
Is it so impossible to make a cheaper cleaner that cleans properly?
Most things on the market today that do a good job are expensive so e.g, Miele, Sebo, Kirby, Dyson.
Even if the other brands that used to have a high reputation for cleaning performance like Hoover, Electrolux and Panasonic do not do the job they would of done about 20 years ago.
All I am saying is even if they have to make the product cheaper why can it not still perform the same.
 
Alex...

In order for new products to sell, they must at least seem to be new and improved.  The old Hoover Citations, the Royal metal uprights, and the Sanitaires all use simple technology that can be tweaked, but not significantly altered, or its effectiveness diminishes.  Why would someone buy something newer if it looks like the old one they already have?


 


The consumer preference for lighter, easier, faster has been discussed to death on this forum. It has to have style and convenience appeal to sell, and sell it must in order to stay in business. The newer vacuums must use smaller high-speed motors to accommodate the trend. These of necessity burn out sooner due to their speed, composition and construction.  Effectiveness depends on a confluence of factors involving design, application of the product, and user competence, again discussed to death here.  Performance is not achieved by good design nowadays, but by the application of brute force. The trend is toward ever shorter life cycles of product. It is what people have been trained, coached, encouraged and even bribed to want. So it is what we have.
 
Gareth...

Thank you.  The older I get, the more I shake my head at the seeming lack of ability to see underlying connecting patterns and resultant consequences in what is happening, not just in vacuums, but in general. I had, what seemed to me a pretty typical education. I am finding out it was very atypical.  I am utterly aghast at the number of people my age who have their eyes glued to a screen of some sort 75% of their waking hours.  It detracts from meaningful communication, analytical thinking, and discerning courses of action free from emotional bias.  Feel free to e-mail me anytime.


 
 
Jamie

I don't know if you have been in Edinburgh lately but Wallace's in Dalry have Junior's, recon all in grey for £90 ......YES £90 for a recon, re badged Junior! YIKES!!
 
Paulc...

When you say Hoover junior, what vintage are you speaking about? When was it manufactured?
 
thekirbylover

All you need now in the collection of Juniors (or Lightweight Uprights, as we Yanks call them) are:
*Model 119 (U.K.) or 115 (U.S.)
*Model 1224 (U.K.) - U.S. version was the Lark 14
*Model 1334 (U.K.)
*Model 1334E (U.K.) or 1330 (U.S.)
*Model 1346 (U.K.) or 1340 (U.S.)
*Model 1346A (U.K.) or 1348 (U.S.)
*Model 1354A (U.K./Canada) - only Canada had the 110-120V version.
*Model U1012 (U.K.) or U1025 (U.S.)

~Ben
 
"i hate it how we are changing into a lazy society that has almost everything disposible"

I agree totally. What irks me is the Winers that do not even spend $20.00 on a repair that is worthwhile. Instead they go and buy a new item that costs $500 +
No common sense there, even in the so called intellects.
 
Trebor

It was a recon Junior from the 70's, similar to the blue and white Junior on the left in the 1st picture. The Junior in the shop has a grey bag and grey front cover, you can sometimes find them on Ebay UK.
 
Wallace's has always been a bit over priced. Used to be be a bit of a hoover museum as they had a lot of old original models on display but had a clear out a few years back. Wonder what happened to them ????
 
Borusa,

Yea, I remember they had "Juniors" through the ages on display. I wonder if they have been consigned to the basement under the shop? At least they were not chopped in half and stuck on the wall like the Hoover Shop in Leith!!!!
 

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