Do toasters commit suicide?

I do believe, for many years now, that my toaster, along with other small appliances have committed suicide. Have they been pre-programmed at the manufacturers with a self-destruct code to reduce their life span?
If not, how is it that small electrical appliances that would last for years, now only last months, regardless of the price you pay?

My last toaster made such a loud bang on its way out, that the postman knocked to see if all was well.
He happened to be posting us a letter at the time.

Re: Do toasters commit suicide?

Jan, Electrical equipment used to last a life time, then it was reduced to 15 years life expectancy, then 8 years, 5 years, now it is guaranteed until you get it home. We do live in a throw away world you know.

Re: Do toasters commit suicide?

Jan I suspect it is a similar case as I was told by the washing machine engineer. He said all companies are sourcing cheaper parts which means appliances don't last anything like as long as they used to.

Re: Do toasters commit suicide?

It's a fact things don't last as long now, and these days small appliances are that cheap in comparison to the past, that we often don't even bother repairing them, we just go and buy another because it's usually cheaper.

Re: Do toasters commit suicide?

It makes me angry when buying goods such as washing machines, cookers and furniture, they try to sell an insurance policy. We buy goods in good faith to be told they won't last beyond a few years.

Re: Do toasters commit suicide?

Jan darlin' - I have a slow cooker which is over 40 years old and still working fine, a toaster 3 years old that is used almost every day which is still ok, an electric kettle 5 years old which I know has worked every day (apart from when I've been away on holiday) every day since I brought it home. Have a coffee filter machine over 8 years old - still going strong, and a food processor which is over 10 years old which also works just fine.

Re: Do toasters commit suicide?

Don't like to worry you Geoff, but your toaster has about six months life left and my coffee machine and microwave are so ancient, they are in feet and inches or is it lbs and ounces?

Re: Do toasters commit suicide?

I received this email yesterday and it seems relevant to this thread. It makes you wonder just how much money we are wasting by 'being green'


Checking out at the supermarket, the young cashier suggested to the older woman
That, she should bring her own grocery bags because plastic bags
Were not good for the environment. The woman apologised and explained,
"We didn't have this green thing back in my earlier days." The
Assistant responded, "That's our problem today. Your generation did
Not care enough to save our environment for future generations."
She was right - our generation didn't have the green thing in our
day. Back then, we returned milk bottles, soft drink bottles and beer
bottles to the shop. The shop sent them back to the plant to be washed,
sterilised and refilled, so it could use the same bottles over and
over. So they really were recycled. We didn't have the green thing
in our day.
We walked up stairs because we didn't have a lift or escalator in
every store an office building. We walked to the grocers and didn't
climb into a 200-horsepower machine every time we had to go two
blocks. But she was right. We didn't have the green thing in our day.
Back then, we washed the baby's nappies because we didn't have the
throw-away kind. We dried clothes on a line, not in an energy-gobbling
machine burning up 2,000 watts - wind and solar power really did dry
our clothes back then.
Kids got hand-me-down clothes from their brothers or sisters, not
always brand-new clothing. We didn't have the green thing in our day.
Back then, we had one TV or radio in the house - not a TV in every
room. And the TV had a small screen the size of a handkerchief, not a
screen the size of Yorkshire. In the kitchen, we blended and stirred
by hand because we didn't have electric machines to do everything for
us. When we packaged a fragile item to send in the post, we used
wadded up old newspapers to cushion it, not Styrofoam or plastic
bubble wrap. Back then, we didn't fire up an engine and burn petrol
just to cut the lawn. We used a push mower that ran on human power.
We exercised by working, so we didn't need to go to a health club to run
on treadmills that operate on electricity. We didn't have the green thing back then.
When we were thirsty, we drank from a tap instead of drinking from a
plastic bottle of water shipped from the other side of the country. We
refilled writing pens with ink instead of buying a new pen, and we
replaced the blades in a razor instead of throwing away the whole razor
when the blade got dull. We didn't have the green thing back then.
Back then, people took the bus and kids rode their bikes to school or
walked instead of turning their mums into a 24-hour taxi service. We
had one electrical socket in a room, not an entire bank of sockets to
power a dozen appliances. And we didn't need a computerized gadget to
receive a signal beamed from satellites 2,000 2,000 miles out in space in
order to find the nearest fish and chip shop.
But isn't it sad that the current generation laments how wasteful we
old folks were just because we didn't have the green thing back then?
Please forward this on to another old person who needs a lesson in
conservation from a smart-arse young person.
Remember: Don't make old people angry. We don't like being old in the
first place, so it doesn't take much to piss us off.

Re: Do toasters commit suicide?

Jan darlin' - I'll let you know next February. In the meantime am about to 'relax' in my kitchen having a bake-up day - making a Banana & Walnut fruit loaf and yet another bread pudding.

Re: Do toasters commit suicide?

Jan, perhaps it just got a bit browned off and was doing it's crust.

To be more serious, when considering the purchase of a new machine, several factors have to be considered.

You could obtain one from a photo copier manfacturer like Olivetti, the functions would allow you to toast one side or both. The only drawback would be that the toast would get lighter and lighter but it would eventually jam your bread for you.

In light of other conversations on here, if say a religious body made toasters, would they would be made just for prophet?

You could always get a web designer to produce a new one as they would for certain include pop-ups.

Sorry.