Made in the 60's...

[brxndxn]

My company was looking for a refurbished transformer for some budget project for another company.. The one we could find was an old 'hunk of junk' made in the 1960's..

The head power engineer (and also owner of our company) said, "I tell you one thing. If it was made in the 60's, it is a good one!"

The sad thing is that is very true. Our 60's cars are the classics.. The 60's is when NASA kicked ass.. NASA's 60's probes - many are still going. Today, NASA's sh1t fails or lasts a few years. Tools made in the 60's still work now.. Go buy the nicest drill at Home Depot and it will last 2 years max under heavy use.

Most modern historians say that the 1960's was the height of human progress.. What the fuck has happened to us now?!


My theory:

The 'greatest' generation was all about hard work. They fought wars. They fought communism. They produced some of the best leaders of the 20th century. They were all about the working middle class. Progress ensued..

Then.. the 'baby boomers' came into power.. They had inflation, credit, welfare, and more credit. They had the military-industrial complex, lobbyists, mega-conglomerates, and a new ultra-rich class of billionaires. Progress slowed..

All I can hope is that our generation (the Millennials) will do our best to emulate the greatest generation...

 

[Sluggo]

Originally posted by: brxndxn

All I can hope is that our generation (the Millennials) will do our best to emulate the greatest generation...

Ha, they will all be dead from brain cancer from having cell phones glued to their heads.

 

[bctbct]

Tools from the 60s might still work but a drill weighed 25 lbs so at least credit the new technology.

 

[Soundmanred]

Try posting from a computer made in the 60's.

 

[nakedfrog]

The 80s also brought about the massive spike in wage gap between the workers and the executives. I saw a chart somewhere, and it's pretty disgusting.

 

[IronWing]

Originally posted by: brxndxn
My company was looking for a refurbished transformer for some budget project for another company.. The one we could find was an old 'hunk of junk' made in the 1960's..

The head power engineer (and also owner of our company) said, "I tell you one thing. If it was made in the 60's, it is a good one!"

It was made before deregulation and therefore price wasn't an issue. It is likely packed with PCBs as well. Good stuff while in the transformer. Bad stuff when it leaks.

 

[FeuerFrei]

Because industry back then didn't have plastics and bonding down to an art form. Now, companies have figured out how much money they can save by under-engineering. If it lasts through warranty it's good.

 

[Red Dawn]

Originally posted by: brxndxn
My
All I can hope is that our generation (the Millennials) will do our best to emulate the greatest generation...

Uh yeah, good luck with that.

 

[sandorski]

Some of the problems attributed to "Baby Boomers" was inherited and not produced by them. Military Industry, Inflation, and other issues for eg.

The best part of the 60's was the sense of Style/Design though. Something as simple as a chair was pushed to the limits unlike anytime before or since. It was certainly the peak of Modern Civilization. Alas though, it was also the meeting point of numerous conflicting Ideas/Philosophies whose collision we continue to recover from to this day. Not that everything has gone into the shitter, but we've been kinda dragging our feet since then making some progress here, losing some there.

 

[eldorado99]

Cars from the 60s may be really cool, but they were engineered poorly and often lasted not much more than 100K miles. Most newer cars will easily outlast them

 

[The Boston Dangler]

Originally posted by: ironwing

Originally posted by: brxndxn
My company was looking for a refurbished transformer for some budget project for another company.. The one we could find was an old 'hunk of junk' made in the 1960's..

The head power engineer (and also owner of our company) said, "I tell you one thing. If it was made in the 60's, it is a good one!"

It was made before deregulation and therefore price wasn't an issue. It is likely packed with PCBs as well. Good stuff while in the transformer. Bad stuff when it leaks.

PCBs are a certainty until the 90's. many are still in use today.

 

[techs]

Many of our members here were made in the 60's.
And to quote a former Queen of England:
"We are NOT amused".

 

[Pocatello]

Sex, drug and Rock'n Roll. Good times. Anyway, stuffs today are made like they're disposable, if they break, buy another one.