Most things nowadays are not built to last. We all know that, but anyone calling it "planned obsolescence" is usually laughed out of the room. I wish that more companies would understand this principle, and forget about the "short term profit" business model. The John Deere Model D tractor was virtually indestructible. They were first built in 1923 and discontinued in 1953, because basically, everyone who wanted one already had one. But John Deere did not suffer from lack of sales; the brand had cemented a reputation for building the best machines in the industry, and that reputation has carried them to the top of the industry today. I believe Toyota adopted a somewhat similar philosophy, because their vehicles have ranked as the most reliable for many years, and they have been the number one automaker in the world more than once. Another example is the PC-6 Porter aircraft, made by the Swiss company, Pilatus. They were made from 1959 to 2022, when they were discontinued. Not because they were obsolete; nearly every one ever built is still flying. But this has not hurt Pilatus at all; they are a very successful company, selling a variety of aircraft, which have an excellent reputation. Pilatus PC-6 Porter
Many farms of the size that the D was suited for got swallowed up by suburbs and larger farms that needed larger equipment. My wife's father sold J D farm equipment in western PA. His farm got bought by the county for a park that has yet to be built 50 years later..
Two brothers near here decided to go into the snow plowing business a few years ago. They got 2 John Deere Ds, because of the low maintenance costs. They made over a million dollars, apparently, and bought a much bigger farm.
Their lawn tractors are the same garbage that everyone else is selling, but the reason that I bought one is that they at least are made in the USA and they do have an extensive parts network. In addition to being the second worse company on the planet for "planned obsolescence" and up-selling, JD is one of the more horrible companies with "right to repair." My company used JD/Kohler generators for some of our smaller offices and they're hot garbage. Like all modern diesels, the engine is moderately decent but the electronics are for crap, which.......shuts down the engine.
I remember when the Maytag repairman nothing to do. Then the effin' MBA business consultants had their way.
I agree with you... But 20 years from now I'll bet you $1K that Gen5 Prius will be the least reliable of all the versions built and Gen2 Prius will still be #1.
It's always privileged wealthy kids that earn an MBA without debt that are most eager to ensure that hard work and innovation is more meaningless than how wealth can be used for greed and exploitation to invalidate substance in anti-social hateful ways.
