Well..........
philcobendixduo makes an interesting point. Notice the years he posted for the age of his machines. Notice this was before it became the "thing" to cut costs to the bone. I think that alone explains why his equipment still works. Even though it could be argued electronics were not as advanced as what we have today, it seems apparent they were not built to a "price point" to the extent we see today.
This same logic applies to desktop PCs as well. When I started in IT, an IBM model 60 model 56 or model 70 was da bomb so to speak. I installed a great many of these as file servers on a Novell token ring network. Even some Type 1 baseband configurations as well.
Even the value point 425sx line of machines were pretty sturdy. These machines, being network servers, ran 24/7/365. Service calls were rare.
Then with the 300GL series, things started to go awry. The first defect was the PSU. We replaced those by the dozen. Sometimes 3-4 times a year.
Then we got the "stinkcenter" series 8187 8140 8160 and those were five star pieces of crap. Mobo replacement was so common, that our field guys carried them on hand constantly. I can see why IBM sold out to Lenovo.
I open a desktop PC today and see wiring that barely meets spec for current flow and resistance. I see mobos less than 1/4 the thickness of yesteryear mobos. I see the thinnest possible solder and PSU with barely enough output to run the processor. Start plugging in gobs of USB powered peripherals and good luck!
Dell is no better IMHO. I know some people swear by a Dell PC and that is fine, but they too have a rash of failures that makes me wonder. And these are supposed to be "business class" machines. Pardon me while I laugh.
As I see it there are two entities to blame here. First are the beancounters. When Wall Street started demanding that accountants be placed in charge of business decisions, ostensibly to ensure "shareholder value", product quality declined. Sure the price held steady or went down, but jeez, just look at the junk foisted on a gullible public. Lesson here, never put a beancounter in charge. Of anything!
Second, I blame the consumer. I know, I know, everybody and his cousin wants a good deal or the best price, but come on. How cheap does something have to be before a brave soul questions how it was made to be so cheap in the first place?
It is very common to witness someone bitching about the supposed high price of a given product or service, but have you ever noticed no one questions an absurdly cheap price? And despite all this, we STILL run to the nearest BIG BOX to scrounge for the cheapest thing we can get. In other words consumer demand for the cheapest results in well, a pile of cheap (but junk) products on the shelves. More and more each day, it is getting harder to find a quality anything, even for those who can and will pay more.
Which brings to mind VOIP. I signed on with Vonage back in 2003. Compared to what I used to pay Sprint for a landline, it was a godsend. Caller ID, 3 way calling, call forwarding, etc were all included for a flat price. I could call Europe for pennies as opposed to dollars with AT&T. I was and still am very satisfied. All for 29.95/month. I think it went up but I am still under 40 bucks a month and I can call all I want when I want wherever I want.
I used to help moderate some VOIP forums a long time ago. Well as you might imagine, VOIP was like a weed. Every week, there was a new startup company offering something a little cheaper then what was already out there. And the boards were chock full of "Voip hoppers" as we called them. They'd sign with Vonage, stick around, then some other company like Packet 8 or Brightwing would have something for 21.95 a month and they'd jump on that. Then company X would come along for 14.95 a month and you'd see a mass exodus to that company. And so on and so forth. It was crazy, it really was. It was almost like a drug addiction in a weird sort of way. I don't honestly know which, if any, of those early VOIP companies are still around but for a while, it was like an all you can eat buffet.
Which only goes to reinforce the fetish Americans seem to have in going after the cheapest of the cheap.
I'm certainly old enough to remember when appliances were considered "durable goods". And I am well aware there are other members here, older than me, that remember it also. Sad thing is, an entire generation of millennials or urban
hipsters are coming of age in this climate of throwaway products and they see absolutely nothing wrong with it.
So yes, electronics, when done right, are a good thing. In of themselves they are no worse than a kitchen knife. The reality is, however, they are NOT being done right and thanks to a wealth of stores of problems with washing machines, are only getting a bad name.
I would have to announce that I got rid of 2 perfectly working appliances because I wanted a different brand, color, or wash tub composition. Then you could take me to task, no ifs ands or buts. 
