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Disposability
We know U.S. corporations have no compunction about firing workers in order to further enrich their execs, and apparently they are the same way about their products, too. One of my computer printers is dying. A competent repair shop diagnosed it and informed me a certain part needed replacing. The printer is a couple of years old and parts are available, but the manufacturer will not sell the part in question, even to its authorized service depots. So I called the printer company Friday, and, after brushing off its first line of defense, a barely English-speaking clown in India (I asked, he told me where he was*), I got connected to a series of U.S.-based service/technical folks. At the end, the best deal I was offered was to buy a new printer from the company at a "special price," which was *only* $50 more than anyone could buy it for from any of at least 100 retailers. The company I was dealing with used to have a stellar reputation. No more. Anyway, this leads me to wonder if anyone is maintaining a list of those U.S. companies that still provide good products and good service. * I have nothing against India or people from that area, but when these people are hired as the first line of service for U.S. corporations to deal with U.S. customers, they ought to have decent facility with...English. |
Disposability
"Harry " wrote in message ... We know U.S. corporations have no compunction about firing workers in order to further enrich their execs, and apparently they are the same way about their products, too. One of my computer printers is dying. A competent repair shop diagnosed it and informed me a certain part needed replacing. The printer is a couple of years old and parts are available, but the manufacturer will not sell the part in question, even to its authorized service depots. So I called the printer company Friday, and, after brushing off its first line of defense, a barely English-speaking clown in India (I asked, he told me where he was*), I got connected to a series of U.S.-based service/technical folks. At the end, the best deal I was offered was to buy a new printer from the company at a "special price," which was *only* $50 more than anyone could buy it for from any of at least 100 retailers. The company I was dealing with used to have a stellar reputation. No more. Anyway, this leads me to wonder if anyone is maintaining a list of those U.S. companies that still provide good products and good service. * I have nothing against India or people from that area, but when these people are hired as the first line of service for U.S. corporations to deal with U.S. customers, they ought to have decent facility with...English. We were watching Michael Moore's 'Capitalism: A Love Story' last night. Unbelievable what American leaders and CEOs did to the middle class... especially during Ronnie's years. Anyone still around should be tried for treason and shot. |
Disposability
On 8/1/10 8:35 AM, YukonBound wrote:
"Harry " wrote in message ... We know U.S. corporations have no compunction about firing workers in order to further enrich their execs, and apparently they are the same way about their products, too. One of my computer printers is dying. A competent repair shop diagnosed it and informed me a certain part needed replacing. The printer is a couple of years old and parts are available, but the manufacturer will not sell the part in question, even to its authorized service depots. So I called the printer company Friday, and, after brushing off its first line of defense, a barely English-speaking clown in India (I asked, he told me where he was*), I got connected to a series of U.S.-based service/technical folks. At the end, the best deal I was offered was to buy a new printer from the company at a "special price," which was *only* $50 more than anyone could buy it for from any of at least 100 retailers. The company I was dealing with used to have a stellar reputation. No more. Anyway, this leads me to wonder if anyone is maintaining a list of those U.S. companies that still provide good products and good service. * I have nothing against India or people from that area, but when these people are hired as the first line of service for U.S. corporations to deal with U.S. customers, they ought to have decent facility with...English. We were watching Michael Moore's 'Capitalism: A Love Story' last night. Unbelievable what American leaders and CEOs did to the middle class... especially during Ronnie's years. Anyone still around should be tried for treason and shot. We need an emergency and temporary change in the tax laws that says that if your corporation is making a substantial profit now, and you aren't hiring Americans, your tax breaks...all of them...disappear. |
Disposability
"Harry ?" wrote in message
... On 8/1/10 8:35 AM, YukonBound wrote: "Harry ?" wrote in message ... We know U.S. corporations have no compunction about firing workers in order to further enrich their execs, and apparently they are the same way about their products, too. One of my computer printers is dying. A competent repair shop diagnosed it and informed me a certain part needed replacing. The printer is a couple of years old and parts are available, but the manufacturer will not sell the part in question, even to its authorized service depots. So I called the printer company Friday, and, after brushing off its first line of defense, a barely English-speaking clown in India (I asked, he told me where he was*), I got connected to a series of U.S.-based service/technical folks. At the end, the best deal I was offered was to buy a new printer from the company at a "special price," which was *only* $50 more than anyone could buy it for from any of at least 100 retailers. The company I was dealing with used to have a stellar reputation. No more. Anyway, this leads me to wonder if anyone is maintaining a list of those U.S. companies that still provide good products and good service. * I have nothing against India or people from that area, but when these people are hired as the first line of service for U.S. corporations to deal with U.S. customers, they ought to have decent facility with...English. We were watching Michael Moore's 'Capitalism: A Love Story' last night. Unbelievable what American leaders and CEOs did to the middle class... especially during Ronnie's years. Anyone still around should be tried for treason and shot. We need an emergency and temporary change in the tax laws that says that if your corporation is making a substantial profit now, and you aren't hiring Americans, your tax breaks...all of them...disappear. Too bad you aren't a law maker. Why aren't you? |
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On 8/1/10 12:18 PM, jps wrote:
On Sun, 01 Aug 2010 12:08:19 -0400, wrote: On Sun, 01 Aug 2010 08:20:41 -0400, Harry wrote: One of my computer printers is dying. A competent repair shop diagnosed it and informed me a certain part needed replacing. The printer is a couple of years old and parts are available, but the manufacturer will not sell the part in question, even to its authorized service depots. There basically is no such thing as repairing computers. You throw them away and buy a new one. It is cheaper to have an Asian make a new one than it is to maintain parts logistic support and training service people. The writing was actually on the wall in the early 80s in the enterprise business when IBM shifted from "parts" to "FRUs" (Field Replaceable Units, the smallest assembly you could order). In many cases, that was the whole machine. They used the above mentioned logic. We were buying computer monitors from Korea for $39. Why would you ever open one up? "Parts" was IBM's second highest expense, behind salary. By eliminating the whole repair business, they virtually eliminated one expense and cut the other one to the bone. With mass market products, the "lowest cost vendor" model makes parts logistics a nightmare anyway. The same make and model machine may actually be made by several different vendors over it's life span and the parts may not be interchangeable. Even within a single vendor, you have production changes that affect the parts. Add to that the massive number of different models of machines that they sell and you can see why nobody wants to stock parts. Personally I think this is an area where we could bring jobs back to this country. The consumer has to demand that the products they buy are repairable but that would make them more expensive and that seems to be against the way we think. We are a "buy it, use it up and throw it away" society. It sounds like your printer is "used up" and now has become hazardous waste. Makes me sick. Landfills full of Walmart crap that lasts 1/10th the time that a well-made product lasts at 1/3 the price. Most American consumers don't give a ****. Most American consumers no longer know the difference. Remember, this is a country where a significant percentage of the population believes Sarah Palin is qualified intellectually to hold high political office. |
Disposability
On 01/08/2010 6:20 AM, Harry  wrote:
We know U.S. corporations have no compunction about firing workers in order to further enrich their execs, and apparently they are the same way about their products, too. One of my computer printers is dying. A competent repair shop diagnosed it and informed me a certain part needed replacing. The printer is a couple of years old and parts are available, but the manufacturer will not sell the part in question, even to its authorized service depots. So I called the printer company Friday, and, after brushing off its first line of defense, a barely English-speaking clown in India (I asked, he told me where he was*), I got connected to a series of U.S.-based service/technical folks. At the end, the best deal I was offered was to buy a new printer from the company at a "special price," which was *only* $50 more than anyone could buy it for from any of at least 100 retailers. The company I was dealing with used to have a stellar reputation. No more. Anyway, this leads me to wonder if anyone is maintaining a list of those U.S. companies that still provide good products and good service. There is none that I know of except Costco. Buy most of my stuff there too. One of the few retail chains I will deal with. Used to deal with Sams Club but they don't have an aoutlet around here. -- We are all self-made, but only the rich will admit it. |
Disposability
On 01/08/2010 8:08 AM, Harry  wrote:
On 8/1/10 10:03 AM, BAR wrote: In , says... On 8/1/10 8:35 AM, YukonBound wrote: "Harry wrote in message ... We know U.S. corporations have no compunction about firing workers in order to further enrich their execs, and apparently they are the same way about their products, too. One of my computer printers is dying. A competent repair shop diagnosed it and informed me a certain part needed replacing. The printer is a couple of years old and parts are available, but the manufacturer will not sell the part in question, even to its authorized service depots. So I called the printer company Friday, and, after brushing off its first line of defense, a barely English-speaking clown in India (I asked, he told me where he was*), I got connected to a series of U.S.-based service/technical folks. At the end, the best deal I was offered was to buy a new printer from the company at a "special price," which was *only* $50 more than anyone could buy it for from any of at least 100 retailers. The company I was dealing with used to have a stellar reputation. No more. Anyway, this leads me to wonder if anyone is maintaining a list of those U.S. companies that still provide good products and good service. * I have nothing against India or people from that area, but when these people are hired as the first line of service for U.S. corporations to deal with U.S. customers, they ought to have decent facility with...English. We were watching Michael Moore's 'Capitalism: A Love Story' last night. Unbelievable what American leaders and CEOs did to the middle class... especially during Ronnie's years. Anyone still around should be tried for treason and shot. We need an emergency and temporary change in the tax laws that says that if your corporation is making a substantial profit now, and you aren't hiring Americans, your tax breaks...all of them...disappear. Does that mean that corporations that buy fine German screwdrivers should be taxed out of existence too? German-made tools are fine with me *if* they are made by German workers who are members of a trade union. I'd surely buy a set before I bought any products or services that an un-edu-ma-cated moron like you had a hand in producing. I get a kick out of this, as so much fraud goes on. The reality is if you buy a set of tools from say Snap-on, 1/2 or more come from Asia/China and the case says "Made in America". Ditto places like Harley Davidson... die cast in China, assembed in the USA. Toyota - GM, another great example. Toyota has more Amercian content than say a GM Aveo. Engines often made elsewhere... But as a consumer, all I care about is TCO and will it do what I want it to. Make a better, faster, cheaper, widget, I will buy it. Load it up with union rank, government socialism, protectionism I will either cease or certianly buy less of it. -- We are all self-made, but only the rich will admit it. |
Disposability
wrote in message ... On Sun, 01 Aug 2010 08:20:41 -0400, Harry ? wrote: One of my computer printers is dying. A competent repair shop diagnosed it and informed me a certain part needed replacing. The printer is a couple of years old and parts are available, but the manufacturer will not sell the part in question, even to its authorized service depots. There basically is no such thing as repairing computers. You throw them away and buy a new one. It is cheaper to have an Asian make a new one than it is to maintain parts logistic support and training service people. The writing was actually on the wall in the early 80s in the enterprise business when IBM shifted from "parts" to "FRUs" (Field Replaceable Units, the smallest assembly you could order). In many cases, that was the whole machine. They used the above mentioned logic. We were buying computer monitors from Korea for $39. Why would you ever open one up? "Parts" was IBM's second highest expense, behind salary. By eliminating the whole repair business, they virtually eliminated one expense and cut the other one to the bone. With mass market products, the "lowest cost vendor" model makes parts logistics a nightmare anyway. The same make and model machine may actually be made by several different vendors over it's life span and the parts may not be interchangeable. Even within a single vendor, you have production changes that affect the parts. Add to that the massive number of different models of machines that they sell and you can see why nobody wants to stock parts. Personally I think this is an area where we could bring jobs back to this country. The consumer has to demand that the products they buy are repairable but that would make them more expensive and that seems to be against the way we think. We are a "buy it, use it up and throw it away" society. It sounds like your printer is "used up" and now has become hazardous waste. Modern computers (e.g., desktop/workstation systems) are so small that "repairing" them seems impractical most of the time. If a circuit goes, there is no reasonable repair possible. I've had laptop screens replaced, but beyond that and drives, it seems like a waste of time. The newest systems are usually pretty inexpensive and faster/better (notable exception Vista-based). :) |
Disposability
On Sun, 1 Aug 2010 10:41:50 -0700, "nom=de=plume"
wrote: wrote in message .. . On Sun, 01 Aug 2010 08:20:41 -0400, Harry ? wrote: One of my computer printers is dying. A competent repair shop diagnosed it and informed me a certain part needed replacing. The printer is a couple of years old and parts are available, but the manufacturer will not sell the part in question, even to its authorized service depots. There basically is no such thing as repairing computers. You throw them away and buy a new one. It is cheaper to have an Asian make a new one than it is to maintain parts logistic support and training service people. The writing was actually on the wall in the early 80s in the enterprise business when IBM shifted from "parts" to "FRUs" (Field Replaceable Units, the smallest assembly you could order). In many cases, that was the whole machine. They used the above mentioned logic. We were buying computer monitors from Korea for $39. Why would you ever open one up? "Parts" was IBM's second highest expense, behind salary. By eliminating the whole repair business, they virtually eliminated one expense and cut the other one to the bone. With mass market products, the "lowest cost vendor" model makes parts logistics a nightmare anyway. The same make and model machine may actually be made by several different vendors over it's life span and the parts may not be interchangeable. Even within a single vendor, you have production changes that affect the parts. Add to that the massive number of different models of machines that they sell and you can see why nobody wants to stock parts. Personally I think this is an area where we could bring jobs back to this country. The consumer has to demand that the products they buy are repairable but that would make them more expensive and that seems to be against the way we think. We are a "buy it, use it up and throw it away" society. It sounds like your printer is "used up" and now has become hazardous waste. Modern computers (e.g., desktop/workstation systems) are so small that "repairing" them seems impractical most of the time. If a circuit goes, there is no reasonable repair possible. I've had laptop screens replaced, but beyond that and drives, it seems like a waste of time. The newest systems are usually pretty inexpensive and faster/better (notable exception Vista-based). :) I've been using Dell for the past 15 years. Not unusual for a laptop to have the MB replaced and certainly video cards (if add-on) can go bad and be replaced. Most failures have to do with the charging circuit and physical stress on the MB. Laptop keyboards fail and Dell will just send a replacement for the owner to replace. Simple operation. |
Disposability
nom=de=plume wrote:
Modern computers (e.g., desktop/workstation systems) are so small that "repairing" them seems impractical most of the time. If a circuit goes, there is no reasonable repair possible. I've had laptop screens replaced, but beyond that and drives, it seems like a waste of time. The newest systems are usually pretty inexpensive and faster/better (notable exception Vista-based). :) Maybe true for you, but most home systems are easily repaired by a 12-year-old at a tiny fraction of the cost of a new system. Only reason to get a new system is the old is obsolete for your needs. Or to brag "I've got the latest." Jim - Okay. Time to call Jim a moron and a liar. |
Disposability
In article ,
says... On Sun, 01 Aug 2010 12:08:19 -0400, wrote: On Sun, 01 Aug 2010 08:20:41 -0400, Harry ? wrote: One of my computer printers is dying. A competent repair shop diagnosed it and informed me a certain part needed replacing. The printer is a couple of years old and parts are available, but the manufacturer will not sell the part in question, even to its authorized service depots. There basically is no such thing as repairing computers. You throw them away and buy a new one. It is cheaper to have an Asian make a new one than it is to maintain parts logistic support and training service people. The writing was actually on the wall in the early 80s in the enterprise business when IBM shifted from "parts" to "FRUs" (Field Replaceable Units, the smallest assembly you could order). In many cases, that was the whole machine. They used the above mentioned logic. We were buying computer monitors from Korea for $39. Why would you ever open one up? "Parts" was IBM's second highest expense, behind salary. By eliminating the whole repair business, they virtually eliminated one expense and cut the other one to the bone. With mass market products, the "lowest cost vendor" model makes parts logistics a nightmare anyway. The same make and model machine may actually be made by several different vendors over it's life span and the parts may not be interchangeable. Even within a single vendor, you have production changes that affect the parts. Add to that the massive number of different models of machines that they sell and you can see why nobody wants to stock parts. Personally I think this is an area where we could bring jobs back to this country. The consumer has to demand that the products they buy are repairable but that would make them more expensive and that seems to be against the way we think. We are a "buy it, use it up and throw it away" society. It sounds like your printer is "used up" and now has become hazardous waste. Makes me sick. Landfills full of Walmart crap that lasts 1/10th the time that a well-made product lasts at 1/3 the price. Most American consumers don't give a ****. Most Americans do give a **** and that's why they refuse to purchase products that are high dollar and don't last as long as the low dollar products. |
Disposability
On Sun, 1 Aug 2010 15:19:03 -0400, BAR wrote:
In article , says... On Sun, 01 Aug 2010 12:08:19 -0400, wrote: On Sun, 01 Aug 2010 08:20:41 -0400, Harry ? wrote: One of my computer printers is dying. A competent repair shop diagnosed it and informed me a certain part needed replacing. The printer is a couple of years old and parts are available, but the manufacturer will not sell the part in question, even to its authorized service depots. There basically is no such thing as repairing computers. You throw them away and buy a new one. It is cheaper to have an Asian make a new one than it is to maintain parts logistic support and training service people. The writing was actually on the wall in the early 80s in the enterprise business when IBM shifted from "parts" to "FRUs" (Field Replaceable Units, the smallest assembly you could order). In many cases, that was the whole machine. They used the above mentioned logic. We were buying computer monitors from Korea for $39. Why would you ever open one up? "Parts" was IBM's second highest expense, behind salary. By eliminating the whole repair business, they virtually eliminated one expense and cut the other one to the bone. With mass market products, the "lowest cost vendor" model makes parts logistics a nightmare anyway. The same make and model machine may actually be made by several different vendors over it's life span and the parts may not be interchangeable. Even within a single vendor, you have production changes that affect the parts. Add to that the massive number of different models of machines that they sell and you can see why nobody wants to stock parts. Personally I think this is an area where we could bring jobs back to this country. The consumer has to demand that the products they buy are repairable but that would make them more expensive and that seems to be against the way we think. We are a "buy it, use it up and throw it away" society. It sounds like your printer is "used up" and now has become hazardous waste. Makes me sick. Landfills full of Walmart crap that lasts 1/10th the time that a well-made product lasts at 1/3 the price. Most American consumers don't give a ****. Most Americans do give a **** and that's why they refuse to purchase products that are high dollar and don't last as long as the low dollar products. Yeah, that's why they're purchasing Communist Chinese goods at a record pace at Walmart. I have a toaster that was built in the 40's and it works great. Have you seen what they sell nowadays? Most Americans don't give a ****, they just want it to be cheap. When it breaks, they throw it in the trash and buy another. |
Disposability
"Jim" wrote in message ... nom=de=plume wrote: Modern computers (e.g., desktop/workstation systems) are so small that "repairing" them seems impractical most of the time. If a circuit goes, there is no reasonable repair possible. I've had laptop screens replaced, but beyond that and drives, it seems like a waste of time. The newest systems are usually pretty inexpensive and faster/better (notable exception Vista-based). :) Maybe true for you, but most home systems are easily repaired by a 12-year-old at a tiny fraction of the cost of a new system. Only reason to get a new system is the old is obsolete for your needs. Or to brag "I've got the latest." Jim - Okay. Time to call Jim a moron and a liar. I guess. I tend to use a computer until it so obsolete that it's not worth fixing. Just updated everything.. laptop/home system/iPhone, so I should be good to go for a few months. :) |
Disposability
In article ,
says... Most Americans do give a **** and that's why they refuse to purchase products that are high dollar and don't last as long as the low dollar products. Yeah, that's why they're purchasing Communist Chinese goods at a record pace at Walmart. I have a toaster that was built in the 40's and it works great. Have you seen what they sell nowadays? You need to think before you type. How many toasters were made in the USA in the 1940's? Certainly not enough for each current household in the USA to own one. Most Americans don't give a ****, they just want it to be cheap. When it breaks, they throw it in the trash and buy another. When I can go and buy a toaster for $14.99 (http://www.amazon.com/Proctor-2-2dSl...ck-2f-2822608- 29/dp/B000R4HHGO/ref=sr_1_12?ie=UTF8&s=kitchen&qid=1280700140&sr=1-12) why would I want to buy one for twice or three times the cost. Is it going to toast the bread any better? No. Is it cosast effective to get a $14.99 toaster fixed? No. And, I seriously doubt that I could have bought a $14.99 type toaster in 1948 for the $1.56 that it convernts to. |
Disposability
"Harry " wrote in message ... Most American consumers no longer know the difference. Remember, this is a country where a significant percentage of the population believes Sarah Palin is qualified intellectually to hold high political office. Lord help us all. The 'End Times' prophesy must be coming true! |
Disposability
On 8/1/10 6:49 PM, YukonBound wrote:
"Harry " wrote in message ... Most American consumers no longer know the difference. Remember, this is a country where a significant percentage of the population believes Sarah Palin is qualified intellectually to hold high political office. Lord help us all. The 'End Times' prophesy must be coming true! A clear indicator! |
Disposability
On Sun, 1 Aug 2010 18:13:16 -0400, BAR wrote:
In article , says... Most Americans do give a **** and that's why they refuse to purchase products that are high dollar and don't last as long as the low dollar products. Yeah, that's why they're purchasing Communist Chinese goods at a record pace at Walmart. I have a toaster that was built in the 40's and it works great. Have you seen what they sell nowadays? You need to think before you type. How many toasters were made in the USA in the 1940's? Certainly not enough for each current household in the USA to own one. Most Americans don't give a ****, they just want it to be cheap. When it breaks, they throw it in the trash and buy another. When I can go and buy a toaster for $14.99 (http://www.amazon.com/Proctor-2-2dSl...ck-2f-2822608- 29/dp/B000R4HHGO/ref=sr_1_12?ie=UTF8&s=kitchen&qid=1280700140&sr=1-12) why would I want to buy one for twice or three times the cost. Is it going to toast the bread any better? No. Is it cosast effective to get a $14.99 toaster fixed? No. And, I seriously doubt that I could have bought a $14.99 type toaster in 1948 for the $1.56 that it convernts to. Whoosh. How long do you think the 14.99 toaster is going to last? A few years. Then it goes in the land fill and you spend 16.99 for an even ****ier one. Thanks for making my point. |
Disposability
On Sun, 01 Aug 2010 20:00:30 -0400, Harry ?
wrote: On 8/1/10 6:49 PM, YukonBound wrote: "Harry ?" wrote in message ... Most American consumers no longer know the difference. Remember, this is a country where a significant percentage of the population believes Sarah Palin is qualified intellectually to hold high political office. Lord help us all. The 'End Times' prophesy must be coming true! A clear indicator! I agree. She's the second coming... of Anita Bryant!!! |
Disposability
In article ,
says... On Sun, 1 Aug 2010 18:13:16 -0400, BAR wrote: In article , says... Most Americans do give a **** and that's why they refuse to purchase products that are high dollar and don't last as long as the low dollar products. Yeah, that's why they're purchasing Communist Chinese goods at a record pace at Walmart. I have a toaster that was built in the 40's and it works great. Have you seen what they sell nowadays? You need to think before you type. How many toasters were made in the USA in the 1940's? Certainly not enough for each current household in the USA to own one. Most Americans don't give a ****, they just want it to be cheap. When it breaks, they throw it in the trash and buy another. When I can go and buy a toaster for $14.99 (http://www.amazon.com/Proctor-2-2dSl...ck-2f-2822608- 29/dp/B000R4HHGO/ref=sr_1_12?ie=UTF8&s=kitchen&qid=1280700140&sr=1-12) why would I want to buy one for twice or three times the cost. Is it going to toast the bread any better? No. Is it cosast effective to get a $14.99 toaster fixed? No. And, I seriously doubt that I could have bought a $14.99 type toaster in 1948 for the $1.56 that it convernts to. Whoosh. How long do you think the 14.99 toaster is going to last? A few years. Then it goes in the land fill and you spend 16.99 for an even ****ier one. Thanks for making my point. If it last me 15 years than it was a bargain to me. My current toaster is about 12 years old and it was free. |
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On Sun, 01 Aug 2010 10:52:50 -0600, Canuck57 wrote:
On 01/08/2010 6:20 AM, Harry ? wrote: We know U.S. corporations have no compunction about firing workers in order to further enrich their execs, and apparently they are the same way about their products, too. One of my computer printers is dying. A competent repair shop diagnosed it and informed me a certain part needed replacing. The printer is a couple of years old and parts are available, but the manufacturer will not sell the part in question, even to its authorized service depots. So I called the printer company Friday, and, after brushing off its first line of defense, a barely English-speaking clown in India (I asked, he told me where he was*), I got connected to a series of U.S.-based service/technical folks. At the end, the best deal I was offered was to buy a new printer from the company at a "special price," which was *only* $50 more than anyone could buy it for from any of at least 100 retailers. The company I was dealing with used to have a stellar reputation. No more. Anyway, this leads me to wonder if anyone is maintaining a list of those U.S. companies that still provide good products and good service. There is none that I know of except Costco. Buy most of my stuff there too. One of the few retail chains I will deal with. Used to deal with Sams Club but they don't have an aoutlet around here. Besides, Costco has the best hot dogs going. Pizza's not bad either. -- John H |
Disposability
On Aug 2, 11:32*am, John H wrote:
On Sun, 01 Aug 2010 10:52:50 -0600, Canuck57 wrote: On 01/08/2010 6:20 AM, Harry ? wrote: We know U.S. corporations have no compunction about firing workers in order to further enrich their execs, and apparently they are the same way about their products, too. One of my computer printers is dying. A competent repair shop diagnosed it and informed me a certain part needed replacing. The printer is a couple of years old and parts are available, but the manufacturer will not sell the part in question, even to its authorized service depots. So I called the printer company Friday, and, after brushing off its first line of defense, a barely English-speaking clown in India (I asked, he told me where he was*), I got connected to a series of U.S.-based service/technical folks. At the end, the best deal I was offered was to buy a new printer from the company at a "special price," which was *only* $50 more than anyone could buy it for from any of at least 100 retailers. The company I was dealing with used to have a stellar reputation. No more. Anyway, this leads me to wonder if anyone is maintaining a list of those U.S. companies that still provide good products and good service. There is none that I know of except Costco. *Buy most of my stuff there too. *One of the few retail chains I will deal with. *Used to deal with Sams Club but they don't have an aoutlet around here. Besides, Costco has the best hot dogs going. Pizza's not bad either. -- John H All of my office computers were locally "built" with oversized power supplies in oversized cases. This way we can simply replace the mother boards and easily put various cards into them. All of them are about 10 yrs old but all have very new guts. My "Firestorm" rechargeable drill charger just failed. I cannot complain too much because I did use it to build my Tolman Skiff, still, maybe it is a simple fix. Took apart charger, ehhh, burnt out resistors and diodes, not worth my time. If Lowes sells a new charger, I'll buy one, if not, Maybe I will buy another rechargeable drill. At work, a $6000 HV power supply failed (OK, I shorted it at 50 KV). We spent about two weeks trying to fix it because Spellman would not do so. Finally gave up and found Spellman now sells a replacement for $1750, SOLD. At work, I have 3 1981 era JEOL 35C electron microscopes. I bought the first on E-bay for $2500, had it shipped here for $2000, plugged in, pumped down and it works, amazing. Original paperwork from Chevron says they paid $250,000 for it in 1981 and added another $250,000 of bells and whistles (which we got with it). I got the next one from JEOL for free as a favor if I paid shipping of $1500 and the third was also from E-bay. So, we keep the two for spares for the first. Service engineers no longer know how to work on these old machines, everything is computerized these days. |
Disposability
On 8/2/10 12:32 PM, Frogwatch wrote:
On Aug 2, 11:32 am, John wrote: On Sun, 01 Aug 2010 10:52:50 -0600, wrote: On 01/08/2010 6:20 AM, Harry ? wrote: We know U.S. corporations have no compunction about firing workers in order to further enrich their execs, and apparently they are the same way about their products, too. One of my computer printers is dying. A competent repair shop diagnosed it and informed me a certain part needed replacing. The printer is a couple of years old and parts are available, but the manufacturer will not sell the part in question, even to its authorized service depots. So I called the printer company Friday, and, after brushing off its first line of defense, a barely English-speaking clown in India (I asked, he told me where he was*), I got connected to a series of U.S.-based service/technical folks. At the end, the best deal I was offered was to buy a new printer from the company at a "special price," which was *only* $50 more than anyone could buy it for from any of at least 100 retailers. The company I was dealing with used to have a stellar reputation. No more. Anyway, this leads me to wonder if anyone is maintaining a list of those U.S. companies that still provide good products and good service. There is none that I know of except Costco. Buy most of my stuff there too. One of the few retail chains I will deal with. Used to deal with Sams Club but they don't have an aoutlet around here. Besides, Costco has the best hot dogs going. Pizza's not bad either. -- John H All of my office computers were locally "built" with oversized power supplies in oversized cases. This way we can simply replace the mother boards and easily put various cards into them. All of them are about 10 yrs old but all have very new guts. My "Firestorm" rechargeable drill charger just failed. I cannot complain too much because I did use it to build my Tolman Skiff, still, maybe it is a simple fix. Took apart charger, ehhh, burnt out resistors and diodes, not worth my time. If Lowes sells a new charger, I'll buy one, if not, Maybe I will buy another rechargeable drill. At work, a $6000 HV power supply failed (OK, I shorted it at 50 KV). We spent about two weeks trying to fix it because Spellman would not do so. Finally gave up and found Spellman now sells a replacement for $1750, SOLD. At work, I have 3 1981 era JEOL 35C electron microscopes. I bought the first on E-bay for $2500, had it shipped here for $2000, plugged in, pumped down and it works, amazing. Original paperwork from Chevron says they paid $250,000 for it in 1981 and added another $250,000 of bells and whistles (which we got with it). I got the next one from JEOL for free as a favor if I paid shipping of $1500 and the third was also from E-bay. So, we keep the two for spares for the first. Service engineers no longer know how to work on these old machines, everything is computerized these days. At Frogwatch Technologies, we're 30 years behind in technology and proud of it. |
Disposability
On Aug 2, 12:36Â*pm, Harry  wrote:
On 8/2/10 12:32 PM, Frogwatch wrote: On Aug 2, 11:32 am, John Â*wrote: On Sun, 01 Aug 2010 10:52:50 -0600, Â*wrote: On 01/08/2010 6:20 AM, Harry ? wrote: We know U.S. corporations have no compunction about firing workers in order to further enrich their execs, and apparently they are the same way about their products, too. One of my computer printers is dying. A competent repair shop diagnosed it and informed me a certain part needed replacing. The printer is a couple of years old and parts are available, but the manufacturer will not sell the part in question, even to its authorized service depots.. So I called the printer company Friday, and, after brushing off its first line of defense, a barely English-speaking clown in India (I asked, he told me where he was*), I got connected to a series of U.S.-based service/technical folks. At the end, the best deal I was offered was to buy a new printer from the company at a "special price," which was *only* $50 more than anyone could buy it for from any of at least 100 retailers. The company I was dealing with used to have a stellar reputation. No more. Anyway, this leads me to wonder if anyone is maintaining a list of those U.S. companies that still provide good products and good service. There is none that I know of except Costco. Â*Buy most of my stuff there too. Â*One of the few retail chains I will deal with. Â*Used to deal with Sams Club but they don't have an aoutlet around here. Besides, Costco has the best hot dogs going. Pizza's not bad either. -- John H All of my office computers were locally "built" with oversized power supplies in oversized cases. Â*This way we can simply replace the mother boards and easily put various cards into them. Â*All of them are about 10 yrs old but all have very new guts. My "Firestorm" rechargeable drill charger just failed. Â*I cannot complain too much because I did use it to build my Tolman Skiff, still, maybe it is a simple fix. Â*Took apart charger, ehhh, burnt out resistors and diodes, not worth my time. Â*If Lowes sells a new charger, I'll buy one, if not, Maybe I will buy another rechargeable drill. At work, a $6000 HV power supply failed (OK, I shorted it at 50 KV). We spent about two weeks trying to fix it because Spellman would not do so. Â*Finally gave up and found Spellman now sells a replacement for $1750, SOLD. At work, I have 3 1981 era JEOL 35C electron microscopes. Â*I bought the first on E-bay for $2500, had it shipped here for $2000, plugged in, pumped down and it works, amazing. Â*Original paperwork from Chevron says they paid $250,000 for it in 1981 and added another $250,000 of bells and whistles (which we got with it). Â*I got the next one from JEOL for free as a favor if I paid shipping of $1500 and the third was also from E-bay. Â*So, we keep the two for spares for the first. Â*Service engineers no longer know how to work on these old machines, everything is computerized these days. At Frogwatch Technologies, we're 30 years behind in technology and proud of it. When your job is to make machines do stuff they were not intended to do, you buy the old ones cuz you know yer gonna kill one or two. It also causes recent graduates who come by to realize how little they know about how stuff really works. These things are filled with banks of SN7400 series ICs meaning they are easy to figure out. |
Disposability
On Mon, 2 Aug 2010 09:32:49 -0700 (PDT), Frogwatch
wrote: On Aug 2, 11:32*am, John H wrote: On Sun, 01 Aug 2010 10:52:50 -0600, Canuck57 wrote: On 01/08/2010 6:20 AM, Harry ? wrote: We know U.S. corporations have no compunction about firing workers in order to further enrich their execs, and apparently they are the same way about their products, too. One of my computer printers is dying. A competent repair shop diagnosed it and informed me a certain part needed replacing. The printer is a couple of years old and parts are available, but the manufacturer will not sell the part in question, even to its authorized service depots. So I called the printer company Friday, and, after brushing off its first line of defense, a barely English-speaking clown in India (I asked, he told me where he was*), I got connected to a series of U.S.-based service/technical folks. At the end, the best deal I was offered was to buy a new printer from the company at a "special price," which was *only* $50 more than anyone could buy it for from any of at least 100 retailers. The company I was dealing with used to have a stellar reputation. No more. Anyway, this leads me to wonder if anyone is maintaining a list of those U.S. companies that still provide good products and good service. There is none that I know of except Costco. *Buy most of my stuff there too. *One of the few retail chains I will deal with. *Used to deal with Sams Club but they don't have an aoutlet around here. Besides, Costco has the best hot dogs going. Pizza's not bad either. -- John H All of my office computers were locally "built" with oversized power supplies in oversized cases. This way we can simply replace the mother boards and easily put various cards into them. All of them are about 10 yrs old but all have very new guts. My "Firestorm" rechargeable drill charger just failed. I cannot complain too much because I did use it to build my Tolman Skiff, still, maybe it is a simple fix. Took apart charger, ehhh, burnt out resistors and diodes, not worth my time. If Lowes sells a new charger, I'll buy one, if not, Maybe I will buy another rechargeable drill. At work, a $6000 HV power supply failed (OK, I shorted it at 50 KV). We spent about two weeks trying to fix it because Spellman would not do so. Finally gave up and found Spellman now sells a replacement for $1750, SOLD. At work, I have 3 1981 era JEOL 35C electron microscopes. I bought the first on E-bay for $2500, had it shipped here for $2000, plugged in, pumped down and it works, amazing. Original paperwork from Chevron says they paid $250,000 for it in 1981 and added another $250,000 of bells and whistles (which we got with it). I got the next one from JEOL for free as a favor if I paid shipping of $1500 and the third was also from E-bay. So, we keep the two for spares for the first. Service engineers no longer know how to work on these old machines, everything is computerized these days. FWIW, I've had the DeWalt rechargeable stuff for several years now. Never had a charger go bad, but have had batteries go bad. A local place, Batteries Plus, will rebuild the DeWalt battery for less than half the cost of a new one. Don't know if they have them where you are, but they do good work. -- John H |
Disposability
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Disposability
"John H" wrote in message ... On Sun, 01 Aug 2010 10:52:50 -0600, Canuck57 wrote: On 01/08/2010 6:20 AM, Harry ? wrote: We know U.S. corporations have no compunction about firing workers in order to further enrich their execs, and apparently they are the same way about their products, too. One of my computer printers is dying. A competent repair shop diagnosed it and informed me a certain part needed replacing. The printer is a couple of years old and parts are available, but the manufacturer will not sell the part in question, even to its authorized service depots. So I called the printer company Friday, and, after brushing off its first line of defense, a barely English-speaking clown in India (I asked, he told me where he was*), I got connected to a series of U.S.-based service/technical folks. At the end, the best deal I was offered was to buy a new printer from the company at a "special price," which was *only* $50 more than anyone could buy it for from any of at least 100 retailers. The company I was dealing with used to have a stellar reputation. No more. Anyway, this leads me to wonder if anyone is maintaining a list of those U.S. companies that still provide good products and good service. There is none that I know of except Costco. Buy most of my stuff there too. One of the few retail chains I will deal with. Used to deal with Sams Club but they don't have an aoutlet around here. Besides, Costco has the best hot dogs going. Pizza's not bad either. -- John H Eating that stuff is a sure-fire way to end up the ER with a heart "event." |
Disposability
Harry  wrote:
We know U.S. corporations have no compunction about firing workers in order to further enrich their execs, and apparently they are the same way about their products, too. One of my computer printers is dying. A competent repair shop diagnosed it and informed me a certain part needed replacing. The printer is a couple of years old and parts are available, but the manufacturer will not sell the part in question, even to its authorized service depots. So I called the printer company Friday, and, after brushing off its first line of defense, a barely English-speaking clown in India (I asked, he told me where he was*), I got connected to a series of U.S.-based service/technical folks. At the end, the best deal I was offered was to buy a new printer from the company at a "special price," which was *only* $50 more than anyone could buy it for from any of at least 100 retailers. The company I was dealing with used to have a stellar reputation. No more. Anyway, this leads me to wonder if anyone is maintaining a list of those U.S. companies that still provide good products and good service. * I have nothing against India or people from that area, but when these people are hired as the first line of service for U.S. corporations to deal with U.S. customers, they ought to have decent facility with...English. Walmart printers are the best - YOU bought one! At least you got the rebate. |
Disposability
Harry  wrote:
On 8/1/10 8:35 AM, YukonBound wrote: "Harry " wrote in message ... We know U.S. corporations have no compunction about firing workers in order to further enrich their execs, and apparently they are the same way about their products, too. One of my computer printers is dying. A competent repair shop diagnosed it and informed me a certain part needed replacing. The printer is a couple of years old and parts are available, but the manufacturer will not sell the part in question, even to its authorized service depots. So I called the printer company Friday, and, after brushing off its first line of defense, a barely English-speaking clown in India (I asked, he told me where he was*), I got connected to a series of U.S.-based service/technical folks. At the end, the best deal I was offered was to buy a new printer from the company at a "special price," which was *only* $50 more than anyone could buy it for from any of at least 100 retailers. The company I was dealing with used to have a stellar reputation. No more. Anyway, this leads me to wonder if anyone is maintaining a list of those U.S. companies that still provide good products and good service. * I have nothing against India or people from that area, but when these people are hired as the first line of service for U.S. corporations to deal with U.S. customers, they ought to have decent facility with...English. We were watching Michael Moore's 'Capitalism: A Love Story' last night. Unbelievable what American leaders and CEOs did to the middle class... especially during Ronnie's years. Anyone still around should be tried for treason and shot. We need an emergency and temporary change in the tax laws that says that if your corporation is making a substantial profit now, and you aren't hiring Americans, your tax breaks...all of them...disappear. Your Toyota would cost you twice as much. Your Yamaha OB would cost you twice as much. I'm sure you're OK with that. |
Disposability
Harry  wrote:
On 8/1/10 6:49 PM, YukonBound wrote: "Harry " wrote in message ... Most American consumers no longer know the difference. Remember, this is a country where a significant percentage of the population believes Sarah Palin is qualified intellectually to hold high political office. Lord help us all. The 'End Times' prophesy must be coming true! A clear indicator! On Obama's watch? Say what? |
Disposability
John H wrote:
On Mon, 2 Aug 2010 09:32:49 -0700 (PDT), wrote: On Aug 2, 11:32 am, John wrote: On Sun, 01 Aug 2010 10:52:50 -0600, wrote: On 01/08/2010 6:20 AM, Harry ? wrote: We know U.S. corporations have no compunction about firing workers in order to further enrich their execs, and apparently they are the same way about their products, too. One of my computer printers is dying. A competent repair shop diagnosed it and informed me a certain part needed replacing. The printer is a couple of years old and parts are available, but the manufacturer will not sell the part in question, even to its authorized service depots. So I called the printer company Friday, and, after brushing off its first line of defense, a barely English-speaking clown in India (I asked, he told me where he was*), I got connected to a series of U.S.-based service/technical folks. At the end, the best deal I was offered was to buy a new printer from the company at a "special price," which was *only* $50 more than anyone could buy it for from any of at least 100 retailers. The company I was dealing with used to have a stellar reputation. No more. Anyway, this leads me to wonder if anyone is maintaining a list of those U.S. companies that still provide good products and good service. There is none that I know of except Costco. Buy most of my stuff there too. One of the few retail chains I will deal with. Used to deal with Sams Club but they don't have an aoutlet around here. Besides, Costco has the best hot dogs going. Pizza's not bad either. -- John H All of my office computers were locally "built" with oversized power supplies in oversized cases. This way we can simply replace the mother boards and easily put various cards into them. All of them are about 10 yrs old but all have very new guts. My "Firestorm" rechargeable drill charger just failed. I cannot complain too much because I did use it to build my Tolman Skiff, still, maybe it is a simple fix. Took apart charger, ehhh, burnt out resistors and diodes, not worth my time. If Lowes sells a new charger, I'll buy one, if not, Maybe I will buy another rechargeable drill. At work, a $6000 HV power supply failed (OK, I shorted it at 50 KV). We spent about two weeks trying to fix it because Spellman would not do so. Finally gave up and found Spellman now sells a replacement for $1750, SOLD. At work, I have 3 1981 era JEOL 35C electron microscopes. I bought the first on E-bay for $2500, had it shipped here for $2000, plugged in, pumped down and it works, amazing. Original paperwork from Chevron says they paid $250,000 for it in 1981 and added another $250,000 of bells and whistles (which we got with it). I got the next one from JEOL for free as a favor if I paid shipping of $1500 and the third was also from E-bay. So, we keep the two for spares for the first. Service engineers no longer know how to work on these old machines, everything is computerized these days. FWIW, I've had the DeWalt rechargeable stuff for several years now. Never had a charger go bad, but have had batteries go bad. A local place, Batteries Plus, will rebuild the DeWalt battery for less than half the cost of a new one. Don't know if they have them where you are, but they do good work. They can often repack them with larger batteries as a bonus. |
Disposability
On 8/2/10 8:28 PM, Larry wrote:
Harry  wrote: We know U.S. corporations have no compunction about firing workers in order to further enrich their execs, and apparently they are the same way about their products, too. One of my computer printers is dying. A competent repair shop diagnosed it and informed me a certain part needed replacing. The printer is a couple of years old and parts are available, but the manufacturer will not sell the part in question, even to its authorized service depots. So I called the printer company Friday, and, after brushing off its first line of defense, a barely English-speaking clown in India (I asked, he told me where he was*), I got connected to a series of U.S.-based service/technical folks. At the end, the best deal I was offered was to buy a new printer from the company at a "special price," which was *only* $50 more than anyone could buy it for from any of at least 100 retailers. The company I was dealing with used to have a stellar reputation. No more. Anyway, this leads me to wonder if anyone is maintaining a list of those U.S. companies that still provide good products and good service. * I have nothing against India or people from that area, but when these people are hired as the first line of service for U.S. corporations to deal with U.S. customers, they ought to have decent facility with...English. Walmart printers are the best - YOU bought one! At least you got the rebate. Sorry, "krueger"...I didn't buy a printer at wal-mart. Nice try, though. |
Disposability
"Larry" wrote in message ... Harry  wrote: On 8/1/10 8:35 AM, YukonBound wrote: "Harry " wrote in message ... We know U.S. corporations have no compunction about firing workers in order to further enrich their execs, and apparently they are the same way about their products, too. One of my computer printers is dying. A competent repair shop diagnosed it and informed me a certain part needed replacing. The printer is a couple of years old and parts are available, but the manufacturer will not sell the part in question, even to its authorized service depots. So I called the printer company Friday, and, after brushing off its first line of defense, a barely English-speaking clown in India (I asked, he told me where he was*), I got connected to a series of U.S.-based service/technical folks. At the end, the best deal I was offered was to buy a new printer from the company at a "special price," which was *only* $50 more than anyone could buy it for from any of at least 100 retailers. The company I was dealing with used to have a stellar reputation. No more. Anyway, this leads me to wonder if anyone is maintaining a list of those U.S. companies that still provide good products and good service. * I have nothing against India or people from that area, but when these people are hired as the first line of service for U.S. corporations to deal with U.S. customers, they ought to have decent facility with...English. We were watching Michael Moore's 'Capitalism: A Love Story' last night. Unbelievable what American leaders and CEOs did to the middle class... especially during Ronnie's years. Anyone still around should be tried for treason and shot. We need an emergency and temporary change in the tax laws that says that if your corporation is making a substantial profit now, and you aren't hiring Americans, your tax breaks...all of them...disappear. Your Toyota would cost you twice as much. Your Yamaha OB would cost you twice as much. I'm sure you're OK with that. And those "foreign" cars that are made here are built by Indonesians? MORON! |
Disposability
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Disposability
On 8/3/10 8:09 AM, Harry? wrote:
In , says... On 8/2/10 8:28 PM, Larry wrote: Harry ? wrote: We know U.S. corporations have no compunction about firing workers in order to further enrich their execs, and apparently they are the same way about their products, too. One of my computer printers is dying. A competent repair shop diagnosed it and informed me a certain part needed replacing. The printer is a couple of years old and parts are available, but the manufacturer will not sell the part in question, even to its authorized service depots. So I called the printer company Friday, and, after brushing off its first line of defense, a barely English-speaking clown in India (I asked, he told me where he was*), I got connected to a series of U.S.-based service/technical folks. At the end, the best deal I was offered was to buy a new printer from the company at a "special price," which was *only* $50 more than anyone could buy it for from any of at least 100 retailers. The company I was dealing with used to have a stellar reputation. No more. Anyway, this leads me to wonder if anyone is maintaining a list of those U.S. companies that still provide good products and good service. * I have nothing against India or people from that area, but when these people are hired as the first line of service for U.S. corporations to deal with U.S. customers, they ought to have decent facility with...English. Walmart printers are the best - YOU bought one! At least you got the rebate. Sorry, "krueger"...I didn't buy a printer at wal-mart. Nice try, though. Spoofer alert! Everyone here saw the picture I posted of my cat on my printer. My printer had a wal=mart sticker still on it. I tried, as usual, to lie but it didn't work. D'uh. It was a coupon for free Wal-Mart photo processing, which I gave to my nephew. I don't shop at Wal-Mart. No wonder you joined the navy. You were too dumb to go to college. |
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