When did Maytag start to go bad?

[whirlpool862]

I’m actually a parent, but all my kids are grown, my youngest is in the late 20s but I do have siblings with teens or younger kids. For example, my brother is 49 and his kids are 14, 17, and 20.

I can agree, some of the kids/young adults can be problematic, and parents often now wash their teenager’s laundry for them.

As for magic chef, I don’t think they should've made laundry appliances anyways. They should’ve stuck with kitchen appliances which I think was the case until it was bought out by Maytag, correct me if I’m wrong.

Maytag makes cheese in Newton, Iowa still I think, although I don’t think they’ve ever been a division of Maytag Appliances plus the logo is different.

 

[qsd-dan]

I think the biggest problem with youth today is that they don't have much curiosity. Without curiosity, there's no drive to learn and grow. I was an insanely curious kid and drove people nuts because of it. I was also extremely hard driven, no one had to push me or light a fire under my ass in to pursue my interests, I did it myself.

I was doing laundry at 9 years old because I was very curious about the operation and machinery. Most of my friends had their mom or dad (who were single dads) doing their laundry up until college. They were completely ignorant about laundry, cooking, cleaning, auto repair and maintenance, small engine repair and maintenance, maintenance of appliances and HVAC equipment, diagnosing and fixing problems with all of the above. I was well versed in all of that before I graduated high school out of extreme curiosity and drive. Spent countless hours at the library before the internet existed.

 

[vacerator]

In addition to violence in video games, and films maybe. Sean, or too much curiosity? The type of curiosity we had as kids is different than the type which puts kids in dangerous predicaments., other than electrocution perhaps. Maybe it's a different type of inquisitive intellect from genetic and personality development, if you catch my drift. We knew, but didn't know how or why we were different yet. Maybe that makes us less of a follower looking to others for curious discoveries. Of course that also went poorly un the 1980's and beyond once many hit puberty and began exploring for s e x in the wrong ways and places. None knew yet they were infected.

 

[phillymatt53]

Back when I went to High School, we had shop classes, - print shop, metal shop, electric/electronic shop, wood shop, drafting shop.
I took ALL those courses, and got high marks for them.
It allowed us guys to use our brains, our hands, and excersize our skills.
Since then, schools dropped such courses, concentrating on such things as computer cources.

I knew back then what I wanted to do as far as working, once I graduated in 1971.
I wanted to get right into a job that I liked, and start earning money, partly because I wanted to buy things, be self-sufficient, and also not having to deal with paying back some dumb tuition payback for years and years.
That was my firm focus that never wavered.
To me, that college crap was just one way of being on a merry-go-round of debt and misery.

It's funny, but tv shows like "Leave it to Beaver", etc., those "wholesome" American shows which led people to believe that it's the way you're "supposed" to live always mentioned college as some healthy thing to join.
Granted, the show taught good values to have - politeness, honesty, morals, being responsible and helpful to others, I'll give them that much.

But if you look at the college life, and have dreams of wealth, living the "high life", it's all benefitting those colleges, making you pay back tons of tuition money, in effect, working for them for a good part of your life.
They make it attractive to join of course, with Fraternities and Sororities, dorm life away from parents, etc.
Of course, young minds are attracted to those "exciting" things.
Just like any Marketing ploy would do.

I like my independency. my freedom, and not being bound or led to "follow the crowd".
Unlike my shoolmates who were led by the nose by their parents to join a college, and once finished, struggled to pay back tuitions by working at some shoe store or McDonalds flipping hamburgers.

 

[vacerator]

Oh how many had lives like the fantasy Clevers? Higher education isn't for everyone, but it was for many. My spouse and son included. 34 years old, a successful I.T. developer, top ten in his tech. university class, A's and B's in Calculus, Physics, etc. Brand ew house, car, already traveled to Italy, and soon to be engaged. He just dropped a down payment on at least a full karat Marquis diamond in an 18k gold setting. He repaid every dollar of his student loans. His scholarship from high school was small.

 

[trainships]

I would say the year was 1997 with the introduction of the Neptune washer. Then things really got bad after Whirlpool gained for control of them in 2006. Once the Whirlpool architecture was fully integrated that was the end of Maytag reliability.

 

[circlew]

I told my neighbor the other day that my generation should have only had half as many kids as they did, and those kids should have only had one fourth as many as they did. She agrees.

That said, there are many good young people. A young lady that has been one of the managers at a Cracker Barrel here is fantastic. She just moved to Virginia though, to run one there. She will be missed. At the same location, there's a 17 year old guy working as a server who is very good, and the sweetest kid imaginable.

 

[phillymatt53]

Oh how many had lives like the fantasy Clevers? Higher education isn't for everyone, but it was for many. My spouse and son included. 34 years old, a successful I.T. developer, top ten in his tech. university class, A's and B's in Calculus, Physics, etc. Brand ew house, car, already traveled to Italy, and soon to be engaged. He just dropped a down payment on at least a full karat Marquis diamond in an 18k gold setting. He repaid every dollar of his student loans. His scholarship from high school was small.

The bottom line about all this is..... buying into, and believing that riches, prominence, and status will lead to the ultimate happiness.
We all know that's a bunch of bullcrap.

If you step back and look at the big picture, it's all farmed by the elites, the CEO's, etc., determined to make society work to keep them rich.
It's about convincing society to believe that it's rewarding, good, to be conditioned, controlled. - And good things can happen for you.
All that studying, struggling, term papers, the crap jobs during the process, the milking of parents savings paying for kid's tuition.... maybe you'd get lucky, maybe not.

I'm content, comforable, and absolutely happy with the choices I've made, no regrets.
While I watch others squirm and continue to live in the world that they have chosen.

 

[johnb300m]

I still don't get why people need wifi to do their laundry. To me, that's just lazy stupid.

WiFi is not the big seller in appliances you may be thinking. That’s mostly on the upper trim levels. And those don’t sell in the high volumes like the mid and lower levels do. The few people buying WiFi appliances are doing it because they like the remote signals that loads are finished. Do you “need” it? No. It’s a convenience factor. The WiFi mostly allows the manufacturer to upload firmware updates and track users. Many people do complain about the WiFi connection and often don’t seem to re-purchase it.

 

[johnb300m]

Exactly!
I've known for a LONG time how society's been "conditioned", controlled, to follow the set of "rules" implanted into their brains since they were toddlers.
We've all been exposed to that, and even I, as a teenager, was prone to believing what I was "supposed" to do, to say, what not to do, etc.
These days, the parents are passing that control on to their kids.
I woke up in my early 20s, and decided that I wasn't going to be a cookie-cutter model of that BS,
Some may call me a rebel, among other choice names.
And I know that living in a world of programmed human "robots" isn't easy.

As for advertizing products - Glorifying something today is far beyond what marketing a product was decades ago.
Back then, features, styling, performance, was all realistic, polite, honest and truthful.
And what a customer wanted and a manufacturer provided.
Because Back THEN, brand names lived up to their slogens, cared about their reputations.

Companies and brands were not as benevolent In the past as you’re “remembering.”

 

[phillymatt53]

WiFi is not the big seller in appliances you may be thinking. That’s mostly on the upper trim levels. And those don’t sell in the high volumes like the mid and lower levels do. The few people buying WiFi appliances are doing it because they like the remote signals that loads are finished. Do you “need” it? No. It’s a convenience factor. The WiFi mostly allows the manufacturer to upload firmware updates and track users. Many people do complain about the WiFi connection and often don’t seem to re-purchase it.

And manufacturers "having control" through WIFI can also control possible hidden features to make the damn thing break down, forcing consumers to purchase another appliance, keep that cash flow going.
I might be speculating, but the way corporate America seems to be these days, greedy, I wouldn't put it past them.
And why "track users"? - As for me, I like my privacy, something else the internet isn't known for.

When they started to bring out those refrigerators with touch screens, automatic food sensors that could add things to your shopping list..... I knew trouble was ahead.
Dumb down society to the point of being a controlled idiot.

 

[phillymatt53]

Companies and brands were not as benevolent In the past as you’re “remembering.”

I'm aware of internal corporate doings, the challenges, and the human bias factors.
But face it, the products of yesteryear were built, designed, with quality and reliability.
That's all the consumer cares about.

 

[johnb300m]

I'm aware of internal corporate doings, the challenges, and the human bias factors.
But face it, the products of yesteryear were built, designed, with quality and reliability.
That's all the consumer cares about.

Only sometimes.
Not everything survived from the 60s-80s.

 

[ea56]

I would agree that a college education is sometimes wasted by folks that have borrowed on student loans that will take them decades to pay off, if they ever do. While they then don’t even use the college degree that they earned, if they ever even attain a degree. But for young people that are focused and have a specific goal in mind for a career that requires a college degree then go for it.

I see the real problem to be that many children aren’t expected to aspire to a goal for the future that will make them able to take care of themselves when they become adults. Back when I went to High School we had counselors that we met with yearly to discuss what our career goals were. And back in the 60’s it was recognized that not every student was college material and vocational training was offered for those that didn’t want to or couldn’t afford to attend college. Somehow today the general opinion is that if you don’t go to college you can’t be a success. This is wrong! ALL work is honorable!

I have believed for decades that by the eight grade all students need to be evaluated on what their future career choices are and what their intellectual abilities are, and then channel them into high school courses that will allow them to graduate with either a solid pre college education or a vocational education that will allow them to employable and ready to be self sufficient adults. Furthermore I strongly believe that a lot of the problems with homelessness is partially due to the fact that kids from as soon as they enter school that when they become adults, they will be expected to take care of themselves. This idea that offspring are the lifelong responsibility of their parents is crippling to their children, birds gotta fly, fish gotta swim and are taught by their parents to be able to do so. It’s a grave disservice to give a child the idea that they can be perpetually dependent upon their parents.

Too many parents allow their kids to live at home indefinitely with no plans or goals for their future as self supporting adults. I also believe that this current attitude that every school student “gets a star” is misguided. By rewarding mediocrity we don’t encourage our youth to strive to be their best. In my school days when you received an award it really meant something, not just showing up and keeping a desk chair warm. When we reward excellence that is what our students will strive to achieve.

All that being said there are lots of very responsible and good kids out there! They aren’t all bad, but the news generally only reports on the troubled kids. Here in the San Francisco Bay Area our CBS affiliate KPIX has a long running program called “Students Rising Above” and every week they have a segment about a kid that has come from a troubled or deprived background and is overcoming the obstacles that life has thrown in their way and they are excelling in their education and in their lives. It is a very inspiring thing to see. In fact I can think of no better charity to leave an inheritance to!

Eddie

 

[neptunebob]

I believe one reason my parents pushed college is because they worked in health care and most health care careers require college with the advanced science classes. I think there is a difference between people who work in health care and people who don't regarding things that are hazardous. For example, my father was a dentist with the veterans administration and consulted on a case where a patient was hit in the mouth with a hockey puck. He did NOT want me to play hockey like my friend "Frankie" did. He never owned a circular saw, not until my brother was older did we have one, because he did not want to lose his fingers and his ability to practice dentistry.

As for my interest in washers, my parents sent me to a child psychiatrist because of it, other things too, because I did not want to play baseball (no good at it and soooooo boring). I think other people here can relate something like this regarding their interest in washers and dryers.