What's the cheapest thing you had bought that by the end of its usefulness made you say "wow, this was worth a lot more than what I've paid for!"
Mine... My Xbox 360 slim only costed 129 euro back in 2012 and to this day still work like brand new, you would think that the disc drive would stop working but no. Never had the need of open it or clean it's insides. Still great, I just don't use it anymore since I feel it's outdated and loading speeds are better nowadays.
My old roommate got a window air conditioner for $20. I got about 15 years of use out of it until I had the windows replaced on the house and it didnt fit anymore. I sold it for $50.
I sometimes wonder how much of the “power efficiency” modern appliance manufacturers trumpet is completely annulled by the fact that they have 30% the useful lifetime of their less efficient ancestors.
30%? You're overestimating the lifetime of modern appliances.
The refrigerator my grandfather bought in the 1940s has outlived 7 others purchased later, and the old man himself. It's still chugging along in the basement of their house, 80-some years after it was built.
Yeah, people also say how old cars were better than modern ones, but that's only driven by the fact that all the broken ones are scrapped for a long time now. In fact, modern cars have much longer lifespans than the old rust buckets.
I've warrantied two fridges in their first year for failed VFDs. So, yes, I'll say that quite a few don't last a year. And I'd wager most of those 1940's fridges were still working when they were discarded, just obsolete in 1950's kitchens.
So you had production quality issues, that doesn't mean that modern frisges dont last, not to mention that this is just a personal bad experience. Every frisge I've bought lasted for decades, the last one going 5 years and strong.
If I'd have to venture a guess, is say that most.modern fridges will last about 10-20 years easily. Few moving parts, so makes sense
I sometimes wonder how much of the “power efficiency” modern appliance manufacturers trumpet is completely annulled by the fact that they have 30% the useful lifetime of their less efficient ancestors.