Some people, especially the older generation don't like change, or cannot cope with it. Old things give us a sense of stabilization, they make us feel at home, we trust them, we have a history with them, we love them and they also love us. Things also has feelings and they do communicate with us through a different level.
The idea is a company which will produce and make available always the same products. No new release, no new design, nothing new. If you buy a car from them you will be sure that after 10 or 20 or 30 years exactly the same car will be in the market, so are the spare parts.
If you buy a computer from them, don't worry that the software you have won't be running with it after a couple years because that same company will have exactly the same old software available too.
As a strict policy and marketing tool the company will make sure nothing will change. It will be a relief for some, won't be?
This idea is not for selling more goods but vice versa. The company is not for making profit but providing more human way of living.-- can1073, Dec 13 2007 Story of Stuff http://www.storyofstuff.com/A critical look to consumption and its effects [can1073, Dec 14 2007] BurgerKing discontinued the whopper : study http://www.whopperfreakout.com/ [sweet, Dec 14 2007] //chance... wory... quarentee// Were you using hand-writing recognition to write this? The errors seem to fit that better than a keyboarding mis-hit.-- neutrinos_shadow, Dec 13 2007 bread?
Zippo lighters?
Sheet glass?
lead-acid batteries?
All these have been manufactured to produce the same exact thing, year after year. I think this idea is baked.-- evilpenguin, Dec 13 2007 I once wrote an idea here for a "Thing Annuity" - this insurance policy would guarantee replacement of, say, a particular brand of soap, for life. So you would never have to change brands even if they stopped making the kind you liked.
The annuity company was actually a warehouse that stored millions of boxes of each product.-- phundug, Dec 13 2007 Isn't this called eBay?-- MaxwellBuchanan, Dec 13 2007 Apparently this was what living in the former Eastern Bloc countries was like.
It did not prove popular.-- 8th of 7, Dec 13 2007 unfortunately, i've only seen this idea prosper by selling non-technological things e.g. candies, clothes [vintage], etc.
if one were to go into this type of business, it would profit not by keeping technology at a standstill but by tweaking the human input. you could create competitive advantage by hiring older people to do knowledge transfer...... more gadgets would be sold to your target market if they had same-age sales associates in stores.
i see my mother liking this, she likes to learn about new things and would feel so much better if someone her age would teach her how to use them.
[+] you addressed a valid problem, a lot of people tap into the older market [babyboomers i think they're called] because of their disposable income.-- pyggy potamus, Dec 13 2007 //It did not prove popular.//
Actually, with the older generation of Russians, it did - and with some of the younger generation, too. That's why so many of them want Putin to take away democracy and bring this stuff back. It's tragic, really, in a number of ways.-- pertinax, Dec 14 2007 Pertinax, have a look at the link (story of stuff) I have provided to think over your comparision of west and Soviet countries. If what "democracy" brings us the ability to consume more and more and ruin the world, I would rather not have it.
In former Soviet countries many still talk about "good old days" when it comes to their consumption habits.-- can1073, Dec 14 2007 Actually, the comparison between "Western democracy" and Soviet Communism is not apt. Both ideologies were equally wedded to mass production deriving from the questionable notion that industrial "roundaboutness" ensures an efficient distribution of resources. I think it was the Soviet states' inability to maintain the consequent requisite profligacy of surplus production that ultimately did them in.
[+] for evincing an inkling of understanding of the complex systemics of consumption. And for the effect the idea would have on men's underwear and socks. Barely have I found underwear and socks that work for me, and they go and change it.
But what is needed is rather things that change slowly, and organically through becoming vernacular technology, well understood by the population, not only in use but in all the various aspects of design and production. This is in sharp contrast with the current situation, where the purpose of innovation is to prevent vernacular technology from becoming established before it's too late.-- Ned_Ludd, Dec 14 2007 //In former Soviet countries many still talk about "good old days" when it comes to their consumption habits.//
[off-topic can1073] It disturbs me to see you use "consumption habits" and "former Soviet Countries" in the same sentence because theoretically, there should be no "consumption habits" as we understand it in their framework. No self-respecting socialist would have a "consumption habit".
Putin and others older than him have been unable to make the transition into democracy and its processes, so they pine for what is familiar, plain and simple. Men who have been in prison for so long actually refuse to be let out of prison because they don't know what to do outside the walls, and it scares them. If you've seen Shawshank Redemption, Morgan Freeman explains this quite beautifully.-- pyggy potamus, Dec 14 2007 alot of high-end products are like that... the pitch is "we got it right the first time", YMMV whether you think they did or not-- FlyingToaster, Dec 14 2007 How do you chose which product gets this kind of attention from its customers? You just go for the majority or will it be some kind of auction?-- sweet, Dec 14 2007 "Roughly what level of quality is that vodka you're drinking?"[custard]: "O God!"-- hippo, Dec 14 2007 I was about to stay neutral on this one, until I accidentaly saw this movie today. (see link) [+]-- sweet, Dec 14 2007 sweet, I really could do without people promoting fast-food company advertisements on this site (unless it's in a thread about fast-food advertisements - you get the idea). Would you mind?-- jutta, Dec 14 2007 I really like Windows 95. Could we go back to that? It didn't have nearly as much optional BS tied into it like the newer OS's do.
And a 1998 aircooled VW Beetle from Mexico would be nice.-- elhigh, Dec 14 2007 I'd like to see retro products, like a cola with all the original ingredients.-- ldischler, Dec 14 2007 Jutta, with due respect to your efforts keeping the site free from advertisement, I think Sweet's link is quite useful and complementary for this treat.-- can1073, Dec 14 2007 //The idea is a company which will produce and make available always the same products. No new release, no new design, nothing new. If you buy a car from them you will be sure that after 10 or 20 or 30 years exactly the same car will be in the market, so are the spare parts. //
Sorry, this is not feasible. Automotive regulations are changing all the time.-- RayfordSteele, Dec 14 2007 //I think Sweet's link is quite useful// I disagree. If it were straightforward advertising that happened to be relevant, then it wouldn't be so bad. But it's actually advertising choreographed to look like a real situation, and for some reason that turns my stomach.-- MaxwellBuchanan, Dec 14 2007 // Sorry, this is not feasible. Automotive regulations are changing all the time //
Not so; once a design has passed type approval under a particular set of regulations, that design can continue to be manufactured without modification as long as it conforms to the approval it was passed under.
Mind you, these rules are slightly different depending on the country.-- 8th of 7, Dec 15 2007 No, I'm afraid it's so. See, for example, the new European spec on the maximum percentage of lead content.-- RayfordSteele, Dec 19 2007 Only external appearence would matter in this case. e.g. A computer can be modern from inside, but it will have nostalgic look from outside. That would serve the purpose.-- VJW, Jul 14 2011 This is going to happen, in a way, when Cuba finally gives up on communism; all of those stockpiled parts and lovingly-maintained cars from the 50's and 60's are going to hit the vintage-automobile market.-- Alterother, Jul 14 2011 random, halfbakery