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Quote of the Day: Bad Design
“Too much redesign has to do more with fad and fashion than with fitness and function. It is change for the sake of change. Such redesign is not only unnecessary, it is all too often also retrogressive, leading to things that work less effectively than those they were designed to replace.” – Henry Petroski
Like with Thomas Sowell, Milton Friedman, and other great thinkers, the ability to simplify knowledge and explain it to everyone is a major talent. Henry Petroski has written many such books, starting with To Engineer is Human: The Role of Failure in Successful Design. His quote above reminded me of a 1970s digital design textbook with an appendix called “The Engineer as a Dope Pusher,” which stated that just because a new technology exists, it’s usually not the best choice. The main example was the household clothes dryer, which used a spring powered mechanical timer with a dial to control drying time, rather than a fancy digital electronic interface. I still have a 1988 Maytag electric dryer with the mechanical dial, the only maintenance being a $30 heater core, with the matching washing machine needing a belt tightened. So why are simple devices becoming more complicated and less reliable?
The major cause of bad design is government interference. Our cars are more complex, with turbochargers, direct injection, and 8/9 speed transmissions to squeeze another 0.5 mile or so per gallon fleet average. Even though water is plentiful over much of the US, toilets are regulated to 1.6 gallon per flush. San Francisco is saving over 20 million gallons of water per year, but their sewers weren’t designed for such a low flow. The modern gas containers with spring-loaded nozzles actually spill more fuel than the older simple nozzle with a vent. And so on.
Another cause is the herd mentality of people. If rich people are buying expensive front-loading washing machines for the “environment,” then the middle class (and even some of the poor!) follow that example. Modern washing machines, dryers, refrigerators, and other appliances typically last six to 10 years, mostly due to poor quality parts and “Energy Star” designs that stress a smaller motor. A properly sized motor (like in my Maytag) can last 30 years or more. As with low-flush toilets, the extra water and electric costs of a top-loading washing machine are relatively minimal for most of the country.
I could go on, but you get the idea. As Pogo said:
The major cause of bad design is government interference.
Amen to that.
The best type of regulation is the kind that provides employment for as many regulators and their staff assistants as possible, who can in their positions serve as footsoldiers for the deep state.
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We had to replace our refrigerator last week. It lasted 14 years. I have a fridge in my basement that I got for 50 bucks. It was made in 1982 and still runs just fine.
What broke on the newer one? The coolant leaked out through a fractured coolant line. Why did the line fracture? It’s made of aluminum, instead of steel, and aluminum lines in these are prone to stress fractures for a variety of reasons (aluminum is less than ideal, plus the newer coolants allowed are less efficient and have to run at higher pressures). Would have cost a grand to repair, which is nearly the cost of a new one of similar size.
It’s the same with washers and dryers – you might get 10 years out of them, and they cost a boatload. Sure you can still find the old top loaders, but they’re EPA restricted to not fill anywhere near their real capacity. Top loaders finish their cycles more quickly too.
We went through two previous front-load washers before learning you really want one with direct drive. The others wear out belts and come loose and graw away the seals. Two each lasted two years, the latest is on ten years and works great. It cost, maybe $50 more than the crappy ones.
One thing I’ve learned is that the Koreans are the only ones interested in building decent appliances at a reasonable cost. Everyone else is outsourcing everything, usually to China, and to the lowest bidder.
Our refrigerator is at least 30 years old. Still works fine. We have repaired the ice maker a couple of times. When my wife talked to a salesman at Lowe’s about a new one, she was told to keep the one we have as long as it works; new ones won’t last but maybe ten years.
We have a multi-level house with two air conditioning units. We’ve had to replace one, but one is going on 23 years old.
And why does every single thing in life need to be electrified? The stop sign in the parking lot of the building where I work has flashing red lights on it. The buses used by all three local transit entities now have electric signs in the windows with the route numbers. All public restrooms now have electronic-flush toilets, and electronic faucets, and electric air-dryers. In a power outage now, nothing will work. I hate those electronic faucets, since you have NO control over the water temperature anymore. How many more infections happen because you can no longer wash your hands for the recommended time in hot water?
In addition, I’ve read that some front loaders develop mold around the seals and have to be replaced.
Thanks for the tip. I’ll keep my Maytag’s, but I’ll be needing a refrigerator soon.
This is generally what makes my decision for me. It seems silly to shell out as much money over again, and not buy a new one, given that something else is inevitably going to go wrong, and sooner, rather than later.
Unfortunately, this logic seems to apply to everything nowadays, from electric toothbrushes to automobiles.
Hoo boy! Don’t get me started on my micro-chipped toaster or espresso maker or dishwasher. And my super-efficient bedroom air conditioner that has to be routinely serviced every six months and raises the room temp five degrees when it doesn’t detect me walking about the room in my sleep. Or my dryer that shuts down if it doesn’t detect enough humidity in the blankets or pillow.
Masterpieces of digitized logic, which spend more time asking me questions, telling me to do things, and weakly fulfilling their function.
Now I want a rice cooker that does fuzzy math, and a refrigerator that sends a shopping list to my i-phone!
There was a time when a toaster was just an electrical wire and a rheostat. And it could be fixed with a bit of solder and a soldering iron.
(This web site wouldn’t even let me use a lower-case “i” and a hyphen in “i-phone” until nine attempts and some cagey typing key-stroke manipulation.)
You can avoid the mold by not shutting the washer door completely between loads. Those things are watertight, so they can’t dry when they’re shut. It’s actually in the manual, which no one reads.
Things do wear out. No doubt designers and engineers have gotten much better at squeezing out costs. They certainly have the tools, advanced computing power and reams of data on points of failure. And everyone who noted the interference of government mandates is correct.
I for one rue the lack of user serviceable parts on modern cars. I’m no mechanical Svengali, but I like to do minor service and repairs. Changing the spark plugs on a 2004 Taurus required the disassembly of four components and a mastery of archaic yoga postures. At least that’s only required every 100K miles.
The reason nobody reads the manual is because of all the safety warnings in it that teach people not to take the manual seriously.
An old Army saying…
It helps to be smarter than the equipment you are using.
This applies to the digital world, too — maybe even more so.
For example: iTunes.
In 2006, Mrs A & I treated ourselves to matching iPods. These were the first Apple products that we had purchased in over a decade. We were blown away by the slick packaging, the simple instructions, and presto! we were up and running. iTunes was simple to use, and we loved it.
Fastforward a dozen years, and I never (unless I can’t help it) “set foot” in iTunes — they’ve redesigned it to death. Now I use Amazon’s music player – it’s no picnic either (also afflicted with useless redesigns every couple months), but it’s easier than dealing with iTunes.
Still don’t understand the need for an electric toothbrush (he Quipped.)
But I remember cars of the 70s lasted 3 years or 65,000 miles: whichever came first. Cars today are immensely more reliable, safer, and last longer than cars of a few decades ago.
And front loading washers are less damaging to clothes. So, there’s that.
Same here. The iTunes software is ghastly bloatware, designed to push and push and push you to subscribe to things. All I want to do with it is load up songs. That’s it.
There’s something particularly pernicious to consider in the various government mandates driving product designs:
Government regulations not only often conflict with consumer preferences and real-world applications, they often conflict with each other, and even defy the laws the physics.
This was (partly, credit must be given to the auto makers themselves too for being cheapskate fools) what made cars of the 70s and early 80s so awful: government regulations stipulated both improved engine efficiencies and fuel economy, and reduced emissions. With the tech available at that time, these were mutually exclusive targets.
One of the reasons we today are seeing such a high death-rate of appliances and electronics is due to the Reduction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) act in the European Union in the early 2000s. This went into effect in 2006, and now they’re ginning up for Round II. This act banned the use of lead, cadmium, and a host of other heavy metals and other chemicals in most consumer and industrial products, with some temporary waivers for high-reliability applications like automotive, medical, and aerospace. The medical waiver expired years ago, auto and aero keep getting extensions.
The idea was that by banning these substances entirely, then these substances would stay out of landfills and out of homes. Of course, nobody thought to ask what the actual exposure risks were from these substances in their host products (in many cases, you were in no danger unless you ate the products in question – highly unlikely).
The ban on lead has been particularly problematic because lead solder is ductile (lead solder joints don’t get brittle at very low or very high temps, and are not vulnerable to metal fatigue), and lead itself is easy to mine, and easy to recycle. Lead solder joints are also easy to repair. Going to lead-free solders was supposed to reduce pollution. And yet…
Lead-free solder means products fail far far more easily, so they get junked far more rapidly.
Lead-free solder alloys use materials that are far more toxic to mine, and much more difficult to recycle, consuming more energy.
Lead-free solder alloys are difficult to repair.
Lead-free solder alloys take a lot more energy to use both because they require more heat (which damages components, which also bumps up the failure rate), and because they require things like nitrogen atmospheres to process (even more energy and complexity).
In short, mandating lead free to reduce pollution, actually increases pollution and waste while solving a non-existent problem (lead-poisoning from people eating electronics).
But it’s for the children…
I’m thinking we need @oldDanRhody in here to talk about that one…
LG makes good appliances
I’ll pay extra to not get an Energy Star appliance, just as I pay extra to avoid anything labeled “natural” or “organic” or non-gmo.
Thanks. That actually answers a lot of questions of mine.
Oops. Dad, I ate the toaster!
And can be changed by anybody who can, say, change an oil filter. Oh. Wait. A surgeon in the UK is worried because while his med students are great test takers, they have no experience doing things with their hands and hence no gut feeling about the properties of materials.
That mechanical timer on your dryer? It can’t connect via the IOT and report back to your electric utility about which settings you use on your dryer and when you run it. That means that while the utility can use your smart meter to tell when your electricity use is more than it’s supposed to be, the utility can’t turn your dryer down or shut it off. You will be billed extra for that privilege. For now. You are killing people by not conserving properly; this behavior will not be tolerated forever.
The utilities are going to have to get a court order and a police escort before they’re going to install any “smart” meters at my house.
My LG washer has a two-position door latch: Closed, and partially open to allow it to dry out.
I’m the only one of the four of us in the house who uses the “partially open” position.
Two words: Planned Obsolescence. Companies want to sell products that are reliable, but not too reliable. Selling refrigerators that can last 30 years is great, but it’s hard to survive on satisfied customers that only buy from you twice in a lifetime.
Sure, some things get worse from unnecessary changes and redesign, or government mischief, but not every change is a bad one. Even more, the good changes outweigh the bad ones over time.
On a purely economic basis, obselesence may not be bad. In terms of the net present value of dollars, replacing appliances more often may pay if they are cheap enough.
Mrs. Flicker said, Everyone shops at Ikea because it’s cheap. I said, But everything is cheap quality and breaks down after a year or two and you have to buy another one. She said, Riiight.
I guess that’s a win-win: I get a new entertainment console and Ikea gets another sale.
What are you doing to your ikea stuff? I’ve have bookshelves and other items all over the house that are more than ten years old. In fact just last month I moved an Ikea wardrobe upstairs into my youngest sons closet. It was originally purchased for use in the kitchen of a house I moved out of in 2004, and has been arts and crafts storage since then.
I can’t even remember the last time I had to dispose of something from IKEA because it was broken.