Random Thoughts Thread

[marurun]

I've been use to the fact that "they don't make it as good as they use to." But usually I'm referring to something I bought decades ago, or something that was my parent's or grandparent's from many decades ago. It's no secret that things are NOT made as good anymore, but it never dawned on me that we haven't hit rock bottom yet. Apparently a cheap and simple drip pot coffee maker today isn't as good as one that I bought just 5 years ago. And by that I mean, my new drip pot coffee maker almost got a first class trip to my front lawn via a window that wasn't open.

Without dipping too far into the bad and good reasons that's the case, I will say that at least some things ARE made as good as they used to. Believe it or not, modern cars largely last longer than their older counterparts, though due to complexity they are hard to Ship of Theseus beyond a certain point. And at least in the world of kitchen gadgets, some things are still made to the same or better standards, but they can be quite expensive, and that rule doesn't really apply to anything that needs a microchip in it. So you can buy a Kitchenaid mixer that is largely indistinguishable from much older models in terms of durability and longevity, but if it needs anything electronic more complex than a few wires you're probably not going to get that. But in terms of other stuff, I've discovered some really neat things, like a Japanese mandoline slicer for example, that once you buy isn't going anywhere. And then there's stuff like the legendary Le Creuset Dutch ovens.

[Ziggy]

Right. That's not to say that EVERYTHING is made poorly these days. And there definitely are some things that are still made very well, like the KitchenAid mixer. But apparently the same brand (I wont mention them by name) drip pot coffee maker today is super shit compared to the equivalent class one from the same manufacture that I bought just 5 years ago.

[marurun]

Well, they've also gotten a lot cheaper relative to average income. They're disposable. Same for toasters, toaster ovens, hot water kettles... Unless you buy one of the really fancy ones (probably from Japan). Heck, I had a great Zojirushi rice cooker that probably would have lasted forever, except it had a lithium coin cell battery in it that had to be factory replaced, and sending it to the factory to replace it costs the same as a new rice cooker. Attempting a user replacement would have probably destroyed the membrane-style buttons and some of the seals. I ended up giving it away because it still technically worked, but I had moved on to better devices.

It's the same with clothes. Zara introduced the world to fast fashion and now our wardrobes cost a lot less per year than they used to, even though we're buying more items of clothing and tossing more of them away because they've fallen apart. So we're buying a lot of shit for less money, but we're throwing it out and buying it again and again. It's like Boots Theory but for everything, and sometimes ALL the options are shit options. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boots_theory)

[Ziggy]

Well actually, the coffee maker was more expensive this time around.

Just to shed some light... My old coffee maker was fine, it's just that I broke the decanter. The machine itself is fine. Maybe I could blame the fact that the glass was so thin, it was bound to break sooner or later. But occasionally I would accidentally smack the bottom of it on the kitchen counter, and the last time that happened it cracked. I figured a new one would be clean, free of water mineral deposits and whatever else might be lurking in my old machine. But the new machine was not only more money than it was 5 years ago, it turned out to be a really awful experience. Luckily I had not yet thrown out the old machine. So I was able to buy a replacement decanter for it, like I was gonna in the first place, and the new machine has been returned.

What sucks is that I didn't buy the cheapest drip pot coffee maker because I couldn't afford a fancier model that might be built better. I wanted a simple, no frills, no extra features whatsoever coffee maker. And the only ones like that are the cheaply made ones, unfortunately.

I'm a little out of step with some things. Clothing is one of those things. "Cost per year" baffles me. I tend to think of my clothes purchases more as cost per decade. The Boots Theory is interesting though in that there's a whole generation that grew up in this throw away society we have now. They aren't even aware that you can buy a more expensive boot that will last longer.

But yeah, it totally sucks when ALL of the options are shit options. This seems to be happening more and more.

[Ack]

But the mineral buildup in a coffee machine adds flavor, like seasoning a cast iron pan. Also probably cancer, but everything causes cancer.

[marurun]

That's what the vinegar cleaning cycle is for. And the water filter. Our drip pot works fine except the LCD display, which is so faded and dim we cannot tell what settings we have set. My wife has moved on to pour-over at this point. Hopefully the expensive grinder won't decide to just crap out. Took me 4 blenders to finally commit to one worth owning. And we have a toaster oven with one foot out the door. It's just crazy. At lease our microwave seems pretty nice.

If you need a REAL nice mandoline slicer, let me know. I'll tell you where to go. I can hook you up...

[Key-Glyph]

Oh hey, this thread is still here! I'm gonna bump it, because I'm bumping things all over the place right now.

My random thought today was wondering if kids still bring their own controllers to each other's houses to play games. I was thinking about how, especially in the N64/Dreamcast days, my friends and I we were all responsible for doing this to ensure stuff could be played with a full roster of participants at a time. Even if the max was two players, someone had to bring their own along, because it was relatively rare for anyone I knew to have multiple controllers for themselves beyond the 16-bit era. (But maybe this was more common for PlayStation owners?)

The exception to this was families with multiple siblings who all had their own special controller that no one else was supposed to use -- but in that case, you still technically only had one controller available to you to bring along, unless you borrowed without asking and risked your sibling's wrath.

I'm going to say they probably don't, especially with the Switch having two joycons out of the box. But folks with kids, what's the situation here? Your children carting peripherals around for gaming afternoons with the buds these days? And when you were growing up, did you always have multiple controllers for every system, or did that stop at some point?

EDIT: lol, so I forgot there was also a "random gaming thoughts" thread, and this probably should go there. Oh well! Want to talk about how I've noticed an accent in my area where "skull" is pronounced like "gull" in "seagull" and not like the "al" of "alone" instead?

[Note]

Key's recent post made me think about the number of controllers I had and for which systems. My friends didn't usually bring controllers to each other's place unless we were specifically asked to. On the other hand, my cousins on my father's side of the family didn't get any video games until the PS1 era, so I would sometimes bring my SNES or Genesis console, games, and controllers to their place when we visited.

I did have two controllers for SNES (I believe my console came with two) and Genesis.

For Panasonic 3DO, I only had one controller ... I don't recall why we never bought a second, maybe it was difficult to track down? (I really should get a second one for some two-player Star Control II, which was one of my favorite experiences on the console back then.)

For PS1, we had two controllers and for N64, we had four. While it was just me and my younger sister, at the time, I had a lot of cousins around my age in the area. IIRC, my parents got the extra controllers so we could all enjoy the multiplayer games.

For Dreamcast, I had three controllers ... I originally was gifted two official ones for Christmas, and my uncle also gifted me a third party Astropad, but unfortunately that controller wasn't great quality. It's one of the few gaming related items I misplaced or tossed over the years.

PS2 was the first console I bought with my own money. I got almost a year after launch and got an extra controller with my console. Good times.

[REPO Man]

When I bought my Gamecube in 2002 (the day before school started), I literally bought three additional controllers, which is ironic since iirc I didn't even own a game that supported up to four players for a while. I think that was the only time I made sure to have the maximum number of controllers when getting a console, excluding when I got my Saturn back in '05 since that came with two controllers, a light gun and tons of games for only $70. Good luck getting a deal like that nowadays. Seventy bucks might get a Saturn that at best can be fixed with a few after-market repairs.

If I did buy a new Saturn, all I'd really need is for everything but the CD-ROM drive to work. I'd mod the fuck out of it. I'm talking ODE, HDMI output, built-in Bluetooth for up to ten controllers and so on. Though I'd probably have to settle for buying a pair of multitaps and ten Bluetooth receivers. I'd also like to do the same for the Dreamcast, though I'd have to settle for just up to four controllers for obvious reasons. Also, a modded PS3 for PS3 gaming and PS1/2 emulation, 8/16-bit consoles with similar mods (HDMI output, Bluetooth support and the best possible flash cart for each) and maybe an Xbox One modded to hell and back just for original Xbox and Xbox 360 games.

[Limewater]

If I really stretch my imagination I can sort of picture modding a Playstation Classic...

In all seriousness, this maybe isn't the best place for it, REPO, I've only now become aware of the houses that have collapsed on or near Hatteras island.
I was wondering how far away these are from you.