Why is everything you buy such rubbish!!

[Andrew EvansParticipant @andrewevans67134]

there seems to be lots of nostalgia going on here…..

 

i can think of countless items of manufactured / engineered goods that are ‘better’ today than 20, 30, 40, 50 years ago (better value, more sophisticated, better made) – cars, planes, boats, trains, household goods, anything electronic, computer software – a massively important area of engineering today where Britain is a leader, biological engineering – again vitally important and where britian is a world leader

 

i am struggling to think of any engineering items that were better in the past than they are today  – give some examples if you can?

 

there are loads of very innovative, world leading British engineering companies out there – yes they are not churning out lathes or trains or washing machines as they did 50 years ago  – they are doing software engineering, electronics, molecular and genetic engineering etc. – we should be proud and supportive of these guys  and not carp on about the demise of the traditional british manufacturing industry which after all happened 30-40 years ago now (and started before most readers of this were even born) and is not something that will be reversed anytime soon

[adyParticipant @ady]

 “Good quality tooling and equipment is still out there, but you
have a look/pay for it.  For example, I believe the cheapest brand new
Myford lathe will cost you just shy of £7000, for that price you could
probably equip a full model engineering workshop with far eastern
machinery.”

 

For seven grand you could set  yourself up for life using ebay, and your gear would have been an integral part of the carpet bombing of the far east.

 

I kid you not young man.

[Chris TriceParticipant @christrice43267]

Posted by Andrew Evans on 10/11/2010 22:51:17:

 

 

i am struggling to think of any engineering items that were better in the past than they are today  – give some examples if you can?

 

 

 Screwdrivers, files and chisels.

Edited By Chris Trice on 11/11/2010 01:31:13

[adyParticipant @ady]

Posted by Andrew Evans on 10/11/2010 22:51:17:

i am struggling to think of any engineering items that were better
in the past than they are today  – give some examples if you can?

 —————————————————————–

 

Nope

 

All past tense stuff is rubbish,and you know best.

 

Tell me why I should enlighten you son?

 

What have you got to offer us?

Edited By ady on 11/11/2010 01:47:30

[adyParticipant @ady]

Tell us why you are so much smarter.

 

Or….go away.

[adyParticipant @ady]

I’m happy to be kicked right off the ball park kiddo..

 

If you’re the next Frank Wittle then go for it.

[adyParticipant @ady]

Them more you trash our old gear the cheaper it gets.

 

So tell us all what you have to offer…

[adyParticipant @ady]

I’m being unfair…old guy tactics…what can you offer apart from criticism because anybody can do critisism.

Edited By ady on 11/11/2010 02:02:05

[adyParticipant @ady]

i am struggling to think of any engineering items that were better in
the past than they are today  – give some examples if you can?

 

Why?

 

Why should I enlighten you?

 

 

Give some examples if you can.

 

tell us old fools why you are so smarter.

In a world of ego, it may surprise you to know how happy | am to defer to the next generation.

 

Now beat the living crap out of me, show all us old idiots how easy it is.

Edited By ady on 11/11/2010 02:25:56

[Steve GarnettParticipant @stevegarnett62550]

Posted by Andrew Evans on 10/11/2010 22:51:17:

 

i am struggling to think of any engineering items that were better in the past than they are today  – give some examples if you can?

 

UK manufactured toolroom-quality lathes from a choice of manufacturers… and quite a lot of accessories for them and the like, simply because they don’t exist from UK sources any more.

 

And there are not  “loads of engineering companies” out there compared to what there used to be – there are comparatively few, and they don’t lead to any degree of mass employment. I should know – I work for one of them, and over the last few years, we have picked up analogue design work from all over the place simply because nobody else can be found to do it, either at an industrial level or often affordably. Even the military have turned to us, and quite frankly, that’s ridiculous considering that we’re supposed to have consciences nowadays.

 

But – if we want to carp on about it, I’d say that it’s our prerogative to do so, and I don’t see why we should be stopped; It’s cathartic. And you’ve clearly raised ady’s blood pressure, which is quite uncalled for!

 

Edited By Steve Garnett on 11/11/2010 10:47:03

[adyParticipant @ady]

Had a few too many last nite at ra pub.

Apologies for any offence.

 

…there’s no fool like an old fool….tsk tsk tsk

[David Clark 13Participant @davidclark13]

Hi There

Yes there is, a drunken fool.

regards David

 

[Andrew EvansParticipant @andrewevans67134]

Apologies for any offence caused. My intent was to highlight that in a number of areas modern British Engineering is still world class and deserves support and praise – certainly not to upset other readers

 

i didn’t claim to be smarter than anyone else – my own personal view is that contrary to the title of this thread everything you buy isn’t rubbish – some is, some is OK and some is brilliant

 

[NJHParticipant @njh]

This thread with 86 posts and 3739 views since 7Nov must be classed as popular but it doesn’t have much to do with Model Engineering. It seems to consist largely of  ” How  good it was in ‘olden’ times and how the management / politicians/ EU etc. have messed it all up” Well that may be the case and from the responses many must feel like that and perhaps feel better for getting it off their chests. However…  this site is really good for asking advice which always seem to be freely and cheerfully given. In my view the ranting sets a sour tone and detracts from that spirit.

David could there be a separate section created where folk can post these more general feelings of dissatisfaction? 

[wheeltapperParticipant @wheeltapper]

what , like an “off topic” thread.

that’s like asking for the holy grail.

 

I’ve lost count of the forums I’ve been on that scrapped the off topic thread because it caused more trouble than it was worth.

 

it’s a pity but that’s human nature for you.

 

Roy

[Ray LyonsParticipant @raylyons29267]

During the 70’s my pride and joy was a Rover 2000TC in British Racing Green. I felt so proud seeing it standing in the car park outside my office. It was a good car, perhaps one of the best and certainly the most comfortable cars I have ever owned. One day, I had a visitor who had just bought a new Datsun. Rubbish to look at but with all the whistles and bells lacking in the Rover. Heated rear window,tinted glass, fitted radio with built in aerial and shipped half way around the world for a reasonable price.

Although I still felt that mine was the better car, would it not have been nice for Rover to produce what was a high quality car with all the accessories built in and therefore present better value than similar imported cars. I had to pay extra for the radio in my car but even now I still look back those days, maybe with rose tinted specs but what a treat it would be to have another Rover 2000 in the garage

[NilochParticipant @niloch]

Edited By Niloch on 11/11/2010 19:57:36

[TerrydParticipant @terryd72465]

Posted by NJH on 11/11/2010 17:04:15:

This thread with 86 posts and 3739 views since 7Nov must be classed as popular but it doesn’t have much to do with Model Engineering. It seems to consist largely of  ” How  good it was in ‘olden’ times and how the management / politicians/ EU etc. have messed it all up” Well that may be the case and from the responses many must feel like that and perhaps feel better for getting it off their chests. However…  this site is really good for asking advice which always seem to be freely and cheerfully given. In my view the ranting sets a sour tone and detracts from that spirit.

David could there be a separate section created where folk can post these more general feelings of dissatisfaction? 

 

 

NJH,

 

Just don’t look at this thread if it bothers you.  I always thought that these forums were places where folks could air their views about many topics in a semi civilised debate and hear other perspectives, not just about a narrow range of discussion.  There are a huge number of threads about ME on this and many other forums. 

 

The ‘separate section’ you suggest is this thread, surely, so let’s have a lively discussion here without fisticuffs, and if you don’t like it, there is a simple solution.

 

Terry

Edited By Terryd on 11/11/2010 22:02:30

[NJHParticipant @njh]

Hey Terry

 

Purely a suggestion – I quite agree let folk who like this sort of comment enjoy it. My point is that is under the heading of  “Workshop Techniques”  which patently it is not. I felt that a General Discussion folder might be more appropriate but, it seems from Roy’s post above, that this hasn’t worked in other places. It would be a pity if the value of this useful site was degraded in any way.

 

 

[Martin WParticipant @martinw]

Hi

 

In my opinion the premise that this thread is based upon is incorrect! NOT everything you buy today is rubbish. Some of it is and yes I have been on the receiving end as well. A classic was some smart looking TiN coated drills in a nice presentation box, would they bore into anything but soft wood absolutely no chance. On the other hand I bought a bulk buy of drills from a well known DIY seller, which worked out at pence per drill, and they have an appetite for removing metal that is second to none and they run true as well.

 

There has always been the crap on the market since people started to sell things so it is not new and certainly not a unique feature of this age. Oh and by the way I am long retired so know what was about some time ago.

 

If it doesn’t do what it says on the label then raise hell with the supplier ,

 

Have fun.

 

 

Martin

[Steve GarnettParticipant @stevegarnett62550]

Posted by NJH on 11/11/2010 22:26:11:

 

I felt that a General Discussion folder might be more appropriate but, it seems from Roy’s post above, that this hasn’t worked in other places. It would be a pity if the value of this useful site was degraded in any way.

 

 

Oh they ‘work’ – it’s just that by the time you’ve ended up with a set of rules that effectively says no religion, politics or sex, they end up rather being rather boring. I’ve moderated a forum with an OT section for the last 10 years, and unfortunately just about nothing is completely safe – mainly from politics. It’s one reason that I’ve been rather careful to be even-handed about politicians in this thread – I know exactly what happens if one isn’t. The main reason for being even-handed here though is that they are all guilty…

 

On balance though, I’d say that since there doesn’t appear to be likely to be much OT comment, it’s not worth setting it up formally. But in a similar vein, there doesn’t really seem to be much point in having a load of different forums anyway; I’m sure that most people just hit the ‘latest posts’ button when they visit the site, and hardly notice which forum posts are in, if they do at all. And if that’s generally true, you could argue that to all intents and purposes, the general forum already exists!

[David Clark 13Participant @davidclark13]

Hi There

The title of the thread says it all.

If you are not interested in the title, you don’t need to read the post.

regards David

 

[Nicholas FarrParticipant @nicholasfarr14254]

Hi, I agree wth David, you don’t have to read them. There are topics that have a full on connection with moddling that don’t particulary interest myself, I might just skip over them but even if I do, I probaly won’t look at anymore follow ups. As far as I’m aware there are no commercial dead lines to meet here, but if thats what you are looking for, I think your in the wrong place.

 

Regards Nick.

[chris stephensParticipant @chrisstephens63393]

Hi Guys,

I  am with Sir David of M.E. about this thread.

Some of this thread maybe OffTopic as far as Model Engineering is concerned but not OT as far as the THREAD title is concerned. Surely any intelligent reader would get the feeling of a thread in the first few posts and then ignore any further ones, if not to his taste or interests. 

 Can’t old folks reminisce amongst themselves and just what is wrong with rose tinted specs anyway? 

chriStephens 

[David Clark 13Participant @davidclark13]

Hi There

This thread serves a useful purpose.

It keeeps lots of other off topic posts out of other threads.

Go ahead and remenisce (oh for a splee cheker).

regards david

 

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