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Comment by samch | Hacker News Reader

Just from my memories, we didn’t have as much stuff competing for our income. There were no cell phones or ISP bills, and we didn’t have cable TV either. This made it easier to save a little bit every month to afford these more expensive items. It really was a simpler time.

Also, if a sewing machine or microwave broke, you would get it repaired rather than replaced with a new one. It was expected that these big ticket items were long-term purchases. Because of that, people tended to care a bit more about the reputation of the brand and how easily you could get things serviced. Sears, for example, had service centers everywhere.

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I knew of a decent number of people with cable TV in the early 80s, but it was also not uncommon to have a powered antenna on the roof that you would rotate to the ideal orientation to receive a channel via a dial. I do remember a long period of time where it was common to rent the VCR along with the VHS video tape containing the movie you wanted to watch. This was even a thing for the Nintendo 64.

When I was a kid, my mother would take me and my brother to Blockbuster every Friday. We could each rent a game. Every time we'd go, we'd beg her to let us rent whatever the newest console was at the time (mostly Playstation, though we rented GameBoy Color a few times, too).

She'd give in occasionally. After we had finally come to own a PS1 and N64, my brother and I had a paper route and would buy cheap used games instead of renting.

> Also, if a sewing machine or microwave broke, you would get it repaired rather than replaced with a new one

This is a big trade-off. The way things are now, I wouldn't mind swinging back that way a bit. Our houses are filled with electronics that are one failed component away from being trash.

On top of that, it's pretty hard to know if you're buying garbage or not, even from retailers that should be reputable. (I blame Amazon for setting that trend).

On top of all of this, you have the horrific effects on the environment of plastic waste and excessive manufacturing.

When considering "reputable brands" look at the length of warranty on an item. We purchased a countertop oven late last year. The warranty was five years parts & labour. Every major brand was one year warranty. The closet we could get was a single major brand with a three year warranty. That's my litmus test these days; not branding, not marketing, not price, not availability, not "reviews", not Consumer Reports. One number - how long is your warranty and does it cover parts and labour?

> Just from my memories, we didn’t have as much stuff competing for our income. There were no cell phones or ISP bills, and we didn’t have cable TV either.

There were bills back then that people had, that you don't have today.

* Daily newspaper subscription

* Telephone line (plus long distance calls...expensive back then)

* Cigarettes - people used to smoke every day

Cable TV was not as popular but many people had it in the 80's. Premium channels as well. People still rented movies back then, bought VCR's, records, tapes, they bought more magazines and books.

Yeah, we had two telephone bills into the mid 90s. One for the phone line, and one for long distance. And before my time, you used to have to rent the phone from the phone company as well.

You also didn't have the internet hype machine (i.e. people with no experience in whatever you're asking about who feel compelled to answer anyway) telling you that you that your off brand blender with 99% the MBTF of the name brand one is vastly inferior.

The television advertising hype machine was running full force in the 80s, and most people watched hours of television every day. Do not imagine that information was more reliable back then. Despite the internet's imperfections, it is much easier to find good product information now.

The TV commercial was trying to sell you something and you knew it. You don't know whether the moron on HN/Reddit/whatever actually believes what they're saying about a product or is lying to you to justify their own purchase.

You can find product specs much easier these days but subjective product information is no easier to come by. Well, it's easier to come by, but you can't easily pick it out from the sea of BS.

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