V
Vivek
Guest
Yes, it happens all over the globe.
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Thanks, I didn't find your link, but I was able to find it on YouTube easily enough, will view it this weekend.I've posted before about an excellent film about the "Light bulb conspiracy"
Ah, I see. You're making a bad set of headphones into a quasi-philosophic exposé and rant as you worry about the fate of the world at large. ... :clap:It's more of an observation than a complaint, but it's also a worry. It's about attitudes and what influences our attitudes. Back in the day, most people bought the best products they could afford, but even lower priced products were supposed to last for years. The price difference was as much a result of a difference in features and design as it was of a difference in build quality and life expectancy. Not so anymore. You often get more features with cheap products, but the build quality is crap, and if it breaks, it cannot be repaired. So those who can't afford to buy a quality product will have to buy the same thing repeatedly, and in the long run spend more than those who can afford the quality product.
In third world countries, where the number of poor people is enormous compared to western countries, this is even more visible. Take toys for instance. Most people buy toys at the local market or at 7 Eleven (there are 10 or 12,000 7 Eleven shops in Thailand plus numerous similar shops of other brands). They are cheap, like a couple of dollars, and will mostly last half an hour in the hands of a girl and 10 minutes in the hands of a boy. They are made to break, and the next day, there will be a demand for another toy. Since the consumers have little choice, this is what they buy, and the children learn that stuff is not built to last. Expect to buy a new one tomorrow or next week.
So they learn to spend money instead stead of learning how to save or to invest. When they grow older, they will do the same thing, and they will stay poor forever, since the crap they buy will never last and there is always some broken product that needs replacement and they think this is the way it's supposed to be since nobody has told them otherwise.
When we hear about increased buying power in third world countries, this is where much of the buying power goes.
As for me, since I live in a third world country, I'm more or less exposed to the same. I earn more than the average local guy, but just a fraction of what you earn in the west, and stuff is often more expensive here than in Europe and the USA. So I buy a pair of JBL headphones because I remember it as a quality brand from my youth. But somebody bought the brand and printed the logo on low quality products. So I won't buy a JBL product again, and I won't buy a AKG, Harman & Kardon, Infinity, Lexicon, Mark Levinson or Revel product, since they are all part of the Harman Group.
For me, this is easy, since I can afford to choose. But many people can't. For many people in this world, JBL is the best they can afford to buy, and since it's a famous brand with a cool design that scores well in tests, they will buy it. And next year, when it breaks, they will buy another brand, like AKG, because they don't know that it comes from the same source. And if they break as well....
I don't like this.
You are correct of course, except I wasn't very philosophical, quasi or not. I was angry because I'd been fooled, partly by myself, to buy a product that I should have understood was sub-par, and because the supplier confirms in writing that selling overpriced, sub-par products is what they do and that it's part of their business concept.Ah, I see. You're making a bad set of headphones into a quasi-philosophic exposé and rant as you worry about the fate of the world at large. ... :clap:
Seriously, however, I and the people whose opinions I respect have been saying similar things for years. It hasn't changed anything, sadly, because the forces that drive the market and the culture are much larger than a couple of cranky old farts like me who know better.
G
Maybe you can't change the world on your own, but you can change yourself.Seriously, however, I and the people whose opinions I respect have been saying similar things for years. It hasn't changed anything, sadly, because the forces that drive the market and the culture are much larger than a couple of cranky old farts like me who know better.
Ach. So you're angry instead of cranky like me. I get angry too, occasionally. I try not to let it put me off balance.:angel:You are correct of course...
Since yesterday, my one year old Blackberry shows a gray screen for a few seconds every time it wakes up from sleep. Time to buy a new one I guess :angry:
I've been working on that since I was, oh, about 13. I've changed myself many times, and myself keeps changing without my conscious intent as well as I grow and age, learn and reflect.Maybe you can't change the world on your own, but you can change yourself.