Use it Up, Wear it Out, Make Do, or Do Without
An old mantra that could use a little dusting off. I was reminded of this tidbit after a conversation with a coworker today. I sometimes think about how different life was for our parents and grandparents. Money didn't grow on trees. Nowadays you can finance dinner and a movie for 30 years at 14.99%.
When my granparents moved into the nursing home their old wringer washer was still being used. I have no idea how old it was, but it was older than their house. These days our expectations of quality and reliability when it comes to certain consumer goods have really taken a nose dive. My mother still uses the pans she was given as a wedding gift. That was 49 years ago. I've been married almost 12 years and I'm on my third set.
Of course there are examples good quality... my 60GB Western Digital hard drive comes to mind. As of yesterday, it's now attached (by a USB cable) to it's third computer. Apparently people get miffed when their hard drive dies.
In less that a year, through no fault of its own, my TV will go dark... well OK, it'll go staticky. I've been married 12 years and I have yet to pay for a TV. (Yes my tightwadedness goes way back!) The current one is so old/cheap that it doesn't have even a composite video input. Just a F-connector for the antenna. To watch DVDs I had to get a modulator. It didn't have a remote when a friend of mine got rid of it, but I discovered that my VCR remote (same brand) would perform the major functions. The remote doesn't work anymore... or the kids lost it, I don't know which... but when you have 5 children there's always someone around to change the channel.
I don't know of anyone getting rid of a flat panel TV with a digital tuner, so when the last analog TV transmitter is turned off I will probably just do without for a time.