The Ford Barn - View Single Post - Pre-Planned Obsolescence

P.S. · 11-16-2012, 11:38 AM

Yep, you're right.

I'm a broadcast electronics historian of sorts, and it always amazes me the way equipment makers of the 30's thought that the state of technology was as good as it was ever going to be, and equipment and facilities were designed and built with the intention of it being in existence and operation for all eternity. You'd be amazed how reliable broadcast equipment from the 30's really is, especially compared to the fragile junk that passes for "broadcast quality" today.

Earlier this month, had a colleague (engineer) who is a know-it-all telling me over lunch (as he made fun of me for driving an 82 year old car all over the place) that Henry Ford made his cars "to a price" and they were all as cheap as cheap could get. His facts were all wrong, and I asked him, if the Model A was such a "K-Mart car", then why are so many of them still on the road, while almost all the Chevys (that outsold Ford) are gone?

The more I get in to the Model A, the more I realize that the car was truly built to last. In those days, they didn't have the "planned obsolescence" mindset that car makers do today. Even though the Model A wasn't a high-dollar car like the Duesenbergs or Pierce Arrows, etc. of the time, they are still obviously built with the intention that the owner would likely have bought the last car they would ever need.

11-16-2012, 11:38 AM	#3
P.S. Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2012 Location: California Posts: 1,695	Re: Pre-Planned Obsolescence Yep, you're right. I'm a broadcast electronics historian of sorts, and it always amazes me the way equipment makers of the 30's thought that the state of technology was as good as it was ever going to be, and equipment and facilities were designed and built with the intention of it being in existence and operation for all eternity. You'd be amazed how reliable broadcast equipment from the 30's really is, especially compared to the fragile junk that passes for "broadcast quality" today. Earlier this month, had a colleague (engineer) who is a know-it-all telling me over lunch (as he made fun of me for driving an 82 year old car all over the place) that Henry Ford made his cars "to a price" and they were all as cheap as cheap could get. His facts were all wrong, and I asked him, if the Model A was such a "K-Mart car", then why are so many of them still on the road, while almost all the Chevys (that outsold Ford) are gone? The more I get in to the Model A, the more I realize that the car was truly built to last. In those days, they didn't have the "planned obsolescence" mindset that car makers do today. Even though the Model A wasn't a high-dollar car like the Duesenbergs or Pierce Arrows, etc. of the time, they are still obviously built with the intention that the owner would likely have bought the last car they would ever need.