Comments on: The Sunbeam Radiant Control Toaster from 1949 is still smarter than any toaster sold today

By: Bill

Bill — Sat, 11 Dec 2021 21:20:24 +0000

Effing toasters. Our toaster oven (which is a crappy excuse for a toaster, btw) broke and I went looking for toasters. It doesn’t matter if you spend fifteen dollars or two hundred dollars, they’re all crap. Every toaster has a variety of one star reviews on Amazon. They toast unevenly. They break and can’t be repaired. They take up ungodly amounts of space. They take too long to warm up.

Our level of civilization has fallen steadily in the last several generations. Unreliable internet is nothing compared to unreliable toast.

By: Jim

Jim — Wed, 08 Dec 2021 02:09:58 +0000

As to be expected. 1949 was before the bloodsucking vampire squid had fully attached itself to the face. Additionally, the Anglo-German Protestant element had not yet been exhausted and ceased to be.

By: Slovenian Guest

Slovenian Guest — Tue, 07 Dec 2021 17:02:04 +0000

They made much better instructional videos back then as well: Spinning Levers – How A Transmission Works (1936).

To quote a commenter from the video, “I wonder if these guys knew in 1936 that over the next 100 years, no one would beat them in their explanation of how a manual transmission works.”

Exactly what I was thinking, too.

By: Chris J.

Chris J. — Tue, 07 Dec 2021 05:34:25 +0000

My mother grew up with a T-20, as did I, as did my daughter. My grandmother accumulated them, she liked them so much. Nothing produced today even comes close and I won’t give mine up til I’m dead.

I wish that kind of quality and durability were still available.

By: Chedolf

Chedolf — Mon, 06 Dec 2021 18:16:57 +0000

The absolute polar opposite of Sunbeam Radiant Control Toaster design elegance: In 2010 Fisher Price re-released their Music Box Record Player (50-50 I saw this on Twitter because Isegoria retweeted it. Can't remember for sure.)

By: Sasha Melnik

Sasha Melnik — Mon, 06 Dec 2021 14:55:28 +0000

A most based tech channel. His take on the state of microwave ovens is also like this. They just got cheaper to make but never got better.

I recall microwave ovens that could produce a constant heating level, rather than the on/off dance of modern ones. Obviously far more expensive to produce.