Once great brands ...... now junk.

sligojoek · 30-11-2017 03:00AM

We had a 2nd hand colour Nordmende in our house all through my teens and after. I bought one two years ago just because of that. A 22 in to hang on the wall in the kitchen instead of the aforementioned Mitsubishi Black Diamond which took over the whole corner. The picture is fine but the sound is crap. I had to go and buy a soundbar .

ceadaoin. · 30-11-2017 03:00AM

DEFTLEFTHAND wrote: »

SEGA were the bees knees when I was a young kid. Everybody I knew had a Megadrive. Then Sony and Microsoft entered the market and took over. SEGA eventually responded with the dreamcast which flopped and we never heard from them again.

I still remember my excitement when I got a second hand megadrive when I was a kid. You can get them now with loads of games preinstalled for about $50. I picked up a handheld one "for my daughter". Still can't finish Sonic though after all these years

Shenmue on the Dreamcast is still the best game I've ever played. Loved it.

JohnBoy26 · 30-11-2017 03:05AM

sligojoek wrote: »

We had a 2nd hand colour Nordmende in our house all through my teens and after. I bought one two years ago just because of that. A 22 in to hang on the wall in the kitchen instead of the aforementioned Mitsubishi Black Diamond which took over the whole corner. The picture is fine but the sound is crap. I had to go and buy a soundbar .

The sound is bad on nearly all modern tvs. Nordmende is only a brand name nowadays. The tvs are vestel.

KKkitty · 30-11-2017 03:09AM

DEFTLEFTHAND wrote: »

SEGA were the bees knees when I was a young kid. Everybody I knew had a Megadrive. Then Sony and Microsoft entered the market and took over. SEGA eventually responded with the dreamcast which flopped and we never heard from them again.

My brother used to work weekends while he was at school and with that money he bought a Sega Dreamcast. They weren't out that long either but he was into chatrooms and other internet sites back then. It was a very innovative console at the time but was overshadowed by Microsoft and Sony consoles I think. My brother also got quite the telling off when our Mam realised being on the internet cost money too so the Dreamcast didn't last long.

Duckworth_Luas · 30-11-2017 03:44AM

Widdershins · 30-11-2017 09:21AM

ohnonotgmail wrote: »

production of DM moved to china about 10 years ago. a company called solovair makes the sames boots on the machines used to make the original DM boots. same quality as the old ones apparently. probably with the same painful breaking in period.

I didn't know that until I read this thread so there you go. Boards can be useful.
The funny thing is, the UK Buy Me Once website is selling Dr Martens, not Solovair.
The Solovair price doesn't look much higher if at all.

You can also buy DM's a bit cheaper directly if you email their EU customer services.
I like a model that went out of stock for a while so I emailed about it.They offered to send me a par for about forty euro less than the standard price. I had to re-think it as the zips have gone in all of the pairs I've owned and I don't have fat legs or anything. I can replace them myself but at that stage the boots tend to look a bit tatty anyway.

DivingDuck · 30-11-2017 09:30AM

Ted Plain wrote: »

Reading through this thread is a real walk down memory lane. I used to work in the brown goods (as consumer electronics were called back then) trade back in the day, so here goes...

You should repost the full text in the "I bet you didn't know that" thread! Very informative and also a bit of a trip down memory lane. Thanks!

cantdecide · 30-11-2017 10:31AM

My mother has a Whirlpool microwave from circa 1995 that won't give up.

She also has a Whirlpool fridge from 2012 which was condemned this week by the local appliance tech.

D9Male · 30-11-2017 10:52AM

The Sunday Independent.

razorblunt · 30-11-2017 10:57AM

Goodwin Smith shoes, relatively new, only really around for the last 5 years or so. They made genuinely decent shoes at, not too outrageous prices. They then seemed to think advertising to teens was the way to sell shoes, their adverts look like the old FHM mags, covers tííts everywhere and generally chauvinistic shíte being peddled. They've been caught out and had campaigns dropped.
They also Callum Best, which tells you all you need to know, were caught out using £5 bottles of prosecco, masquerading as Champagne too.

Their constant sales no indicate the trouble their own.
I've also found their "discount brand" name which has shoes that are very similar (sole being the difference) for, honestly, about 80% of the price.

30-11-2017 11:00AM

Looks like Kellogg’s Coco Pops and Rice Krispies are about be completely RUINED from January as the amount of sugar is cut by 40 and 20% respectively. They say it is for people’s health but it is to sell it to a more health conscious market, which is a very different thing. So that’s another former pleasure that was once available being removed from our lives. Soon you won’t be ALLOWED to eat anything that’s unhealthy anymore in this sterile world.

Avatar MIA · 30-11-2017 11:03AM

Deleted User wrote: »

Looks like Kellogg’s Coco Pops and Rice Krispies are about be completely RUINED from January as the amount of sugar is cut by 40 and 20% respectively. They say it is for people’s health but it is to sell it to a more health conscious market, which is a very different thing. So that’s another former pleasure that was once available being removed from our lives. Soon you won’t be ALLOWED to eat anything that’s unhealthy anymore in this sterile world.

Add sugar to taste?

Widdershins · 30-11-2017 11:14AM

RE: Would people really be prepared to pay more for longevity.

There should be a budget range, and then the rest. Not, as seems to currently be the case, budget quality deceptively branded and priced.

But why should the extra cost of better parts and workmanship be passed on to consumers? Manufacturers are getting away with this for years, they should be expected to product decent quality for a fair price.

Wanderer78 · 30-11-2017 11:19AM

Widdershins wrote:

But why should the extra cost of better parts and workmanship be passed on to consumers? Manufacturers are getting away with this for ears, they should be expected to product decent quality for a fair price.

'Profit maximisation' is the term I believe, but don't worry, it 'trickles down'!

kooga · 30-11-2017 11:22AM

Nordmende
Lemons sweets
MG

Hande hoche! · 30-11-2017 11:28AM

Avatar MIA wrote: »

Add sugar to taste?

That was one of the arguments used for adding sugar in the first place. If the cereal has no sugar, the kids will add too much. Instead leave it to our highly qualified researchers to do it.

road_high · 30-11-2017 11:29AM

Ubbquittious wrote: »

AEG - Sold their consumer goods brand to some cute hoor with a PC who just sits in his office ordering Chinese sh1t from Alibaba and reselling it while he runs said brandname into the ground.

Same for Russel Hobbs - these lads used to have actual real life factories in the UK producing actual physical goods. Now it's just an office some place that orders in tack from various unheard of Chinese manufacturers

This seems to be the way now with so many "brands". It's all generic crap from China/Far east made in the same place with their brand logo/design stuck on. No one seems to have a factory of their own anymore. They are all basically marketing enterprises for the brands.
I'd say companies that are still running their own factories are at a huge competitive disadvantage.

odyssey06 · 30-11-2017 11:35AM

Widdershins wrote: »

RE: Would people really be prepared to pay more for longevity.
There should be a budget range, and then the rest. Not, as seems to currently be the case, budget quality deceptively branded and priced.
But why should the extra cost of better parts and workmanship be passed on to consumers? Manufacturers are getting away with this for ears, they should be expected to product decent quality for a fair price.

It'll come around in cycles... people switched to brands originally because they offered reliability and durability and paid a premium for it. The branded companies have now pulled a bait and switch, charging a premium even though their products are no longer premium.
People are going to split to the non-branded products or the brands that continue to offer premium products, and these 'fake' brands will die. We just need to keep giving them crap reviews on Amazon, etc etc etc and vote with our feet. Might take a few years though!

baylah17 · 30-11-2017 11:39AM

POTUS

30-11-2017 11:45AM

Avatar MIA wrote: »

Add sugar to taste?

Oh I Will!

odyssey06 · 30-11-2017 12:40PM

baylah17 wrote: »

POTUS

Nixon???
Bill and Monica???

We didn't start the fire.

Sin City · 30-11-2017 12:47PM

Casio

Used to be huge in the 80s/90s
not so much now

jmayo · 30-11-2017 01:30PM

road_high wrote: »

This seems to be the way now with so many "brands". It's all generic crap from China/Far east made in the same place with their brand logo/design stuck on. No one seems to have a factory of their own anymore. They are all basically marketing enterprises for the brands.
I'd say companies that are still running their own factories are at a huge competitive disadvantage.

Was it Nike that really started that trend ?
I don't think they ever had a factory.

Heres Johnny · 30-11-2017 01:56PM

The internet. Once a valuable resource for information dubbed the information superhighway. Now dumbed down in the mainstream by social media, bloggers and people saying Hi, I'm over here, pay attention to me!!

5rtytry56 · 30-11-2017 01:58PM

bebo - yes it's still there

a parody of it's former heyday.....

razorblunt · 30-11-2017 02:09PM

Tanora.
Murphy's and Beamish (since Heineken bought them over according to my Old Man).

#justCorkThingsLike

5rtytry56 · 30-11-2017 02:12PM

Corel. Once, the leader in Graphics Design and digital art (up to the mid '90s) - Their adverts were carried on Dublin Bus.

Now Corel has teamed up with PaintShop to make a mediocre art application and poor video program.

30-11-2017 02:16PM

5rtytry56 wrote: »

Corel. Once, the leader in Graphics Design and digital art (up to the mid '90s) - Their adverts were carried on Dublin Bus.

Now Corel has teamed up with PaintShop to make a mediocre art application and poor video program.

Paint Shop Pro itself. Version 7 was excellent but after that they tried to emulate Photoshop and just did it badly.

MarcusP12 · 30-11-2017 02:23PM

theteal wrote: »

Third_Echelon wrote: »

Aiwa stereos... had a great one on the 90s. Fantastic sound...

There's a blast from the past. I remember having a really expensive Aiwa "Walkman" when I was about 15. T'was my pride and joy. I can't believe I completely forgot about that brand.

Yeah I was the same...had one my aunt got me in the UK...was first one I had with the fancy press bottoms instead of the old fashion push down button and would skip to next track which was an awesome feature for cassette tapes at the time....had a lovely glossy gun metal finish and felt really expensive....in the time before cheaper CD players and mini discs it was a brilliant bit of potable music kit For the time....

Widdershins · 30-11-2017 02:27PM

Wanderer78 wrote: »

'Profit maximisation' is the term I believe, but don't worry, it 'trickles down'!

Of course

I'm guessing they'd still profit if they didn't cut quite so many corners. Reputation has a value too. It's got so blatant that nearly everyone is talking about planned obsolescence even if they haven't heard the actual term for it.

Once great brands ...... now junk.

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