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Originally Posted by daro
My most prized item is a Zenith T/O 3000-1 made over 40 years ago & it still has all its original electros & resistors.
That radio will still be working when it turns 50 & it will still be as goo as the day it was made.
Kids today want the latest & greatest that will only last a short time after the warrenty comes to an end.
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The clock radio next to my bed is an old Zenith...I'd guess the year to be maybe 1961 through about 63...not much later than 65. Still works great and I've never even had to take the back off. (Not to say that I haven't anyway.)
As for the latest&greatest, substitute kids for virtually everyone. It's a shame really that everyone thinks three years is a good run...if they even use something that long. I'll bet 50% or more of the new electronics tossed out work great. I don't know how many computers I've gotten for free when I've set up new ones for people. "Oh here, let's just take this one out to the trash." Usually I say they're "hazardous" and I'll take them to the recycling center for free!
Their loss.
I heard an interesting quote when referring specifically to Mexico (but can be expanded to all of the third world) "...they use the cars we throw away..." Fact is, they use EVERYTHING we throw away. Radios, TVs, VCRs, cars, furnature.
If you think about it, what happens to all the old american gear kept clean and well serviced from depression era homes after they get crapped out the bottom of eBay and the thrift stores? They get shipped to Argentina, Mexico, The Bahamas, Costa Rica, etc., where new equipment is often scarse and too expensive.
Next time you see an old lady driving a Kia Rio, just imagine her old 78 Grand Marquis with a 351 Cleaveland and stereo 8 track player that languished out back of a used car lot for 18 months with a $3000 price tag is now the prized possession of a Nicaraguan who works 12 hours a day, 6 days a week picking sugarcane whose life just got a lot eaiser because he doesn't have to walk 11 miles to and from work every day!
I could go on...but I won't.
I'm an old grouch at 21.