You all must live in your vehicles to have that many miles on them! O my aching back ... I mean that literally .... moved too many big old computers in the basement and blew out my back! Anyone looking for a Tandy 1000?

It is popular to see everything about the past through rose-colored glasses. As well, people look at the surviving old stuff and say "see, they built it to last back then", ignoring the fact that 99% of it all is gone now and they're seeing the oddball ones that were in fact built to last (or survived for other reasons).

In my previous post I forgot to mention my sometimes severely awful oil change habits in the past, and that one time that I ignored an oil leak and the "low oil level" message thinking it was the sensor and didn't even check my oil...I drove it with no oil for I don't know how long before my dealer appointment.

No, but a TI-99 or a PET64 would be cool.

Further thoughts: That rant doesn't apply universally. Plenty of stuff is made to be disposable now that used to be made to last (and able to be repaired). Yard equipment comes to mind...

I remember my grandmother's '50s era fridge. It was the only one she owned while I was growing up. It probably still runs. Of course the cost savings of running a newer, larger fridge means you could afford to replace it every 10 to 15 years with one that can be even more efficient and/or larger.