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Comment by cogman10 | Hacker News Reader

The target, though, is particularly bad.

My parents literally have a toaster from the 70s that they still use. I have a toaster I bought 20 years ago. Toasters (usually) don't have e-waste. They are incredibly simple machines that are easy to buy without so much as a single diode. That's because they are really simply just a box with heating elements.

If you want to battle e-waste like the article suggests, maybe pick a product that doesn't already have a 50-year service life without the need for repairs.

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Modern toasters are generally way less reliable than older toasters. I think it is very difficult to buy a new toaster today that you can be confident will have a 50-year lifespan.

Also true, but how many people are buying toasters in 2025? I would bet that air fryers and toaster ovens outsell toasters 10:1.

Still, I think this is a great portfolio piece. The designer should keep going, and amass a little collection of simple repairable appliances.

Me! I bought one last year.

Ours died and I just bought a new 4 slice toaster to replace it.

I haven't seen a toaster oven big enough for my family, and we otherwise have an excellent oven with convection features.

How big is your family? A normal Breville toaster oven can hold 4 slices. And there are bigger ones.

Not everyone has a big American kitchen where you can try new appliances and not worry about space. I've been thinking about getting an air fryer but it's not an easy decision because I'd have to remove something else that I use; and I know others in the same position.

It wouldn't replace the toaster, because that fits on the windowsill and an air fryer would not.

yeah, our toast is toasted in a frying pan.

Tiny kitchen here. I'd like to try an air-fryer, but for now my one table-top appliance is a instant pot. It is used daily.

I hear you—I also have a tiny kitchen, but there happened to be a carveout for a microwave, which we replaced with a toaster oven. But I grill all my bread on the frying pan, because it this is the objectively superior method. :)

Isn't an air fryer already the poster child of a "can't have a regular oven because I have no space in the kitchen, I'm renting the apartment, or both" appliance?

I'm lucky enough to have space for both. They do different jobs - there's overlap, obviously, but I don't bake bread in the airfryer and I don't cook chicken wings in the oven.

>Isn't an air fryer already the poster child of a "can't have a regular oven because I have no space in the kitchen, I'm renting the apartment, or both" appliance?

I suppose it's that for some people but everyone I know with one also has a fullsized oven. They are used for different purposes and often you don't want to heat up your whole oven to warm up some fries for 10 minutes.

But that's the whole point.

A toaster does only one thing and takes up space.

An air fryer or toaster oven does lots of things, and also makes toast.

That's why toaster oven makes very little sense for anyone except if they have a "big American kitchen" and want to fill their countertop.

I just bought one today, heh.

I bought one in 2017, lasted 2 years before 1 of the heating elements died. We struggled along with 2/4 slices until we replaced it during covid with a 2 slice toaster. I dont really trust its going to last 50 years or whatever.

Depends where you're from. Lots of people use toasters in the UK.

I'm due to buy a new one, because the supposedly decent one I bought less than 5 years ago isn't toasting properly, and either burns the toast or does nothing despite adjusting the dial.

Every single kitchen I've ever visited in the UK has a toaster and a kettle. Just because things aren't popular in the US...

Are air fryers and toaster ovens not popular in the UK?

If you have one of those, they (can) replace your toaster.

>Also true, but how many people are buying toasters in 2025? I would bet that air fryers and toaster ovens outsell toasters 10:1.

More houses probably have toasters than all the others combined, but toasters don't really wear out all that often. You buy one for $10 when you setup your household and it lasts a decade or more.

>Modern toasters are generally way less reliable than older toasters. I think it is very difficult to buy a new toaster today that you can be confident will have a 50-year lifespan.

On the flip side, modern toasters cost $10 and last nearly as long. Not everything needs to last forever, but I've never had a modern toaster wear out. You only think the old ones were reliable because they cost enough that people would pay to have them repaired. That and a huge helping of survivorship bias.

> On the flip side, modern toasters cost $10 and last nearly as long.

This claim can only be meaningfully examined in like 60 years, minimum, and I have my doubts. I've yet to see a 70s era toaster die, and have personally watched four modern toasters go into a dumpster in the last 25 years. Old toasters were reliable because consumers of the day wouldn't tolerate disposable crap which informed every aspect of material selection and design.

And I've never seen a modern toaster die, even the cheapest of the cheap ones, but I have seen people replace them for aesthetic or feature related reasons. I can almost guarantee there are more 70s toasters in the landfill than there are 2000s ones. You're falling hard for survivorship bias.

You appear to be confusing first hand experience with some kind of theoretical misunderstanding of why shit gets thrown away. I used a 70s toaster in the 70s, know how their made, etc. Likewise I've closely examined a number of more modern toasters over the decades. Without exception newer models come with noticeably flimsier internal springs and locking components, thinner heating elements and cords, and less durable housing materials. If you're convinced you can engineer a product out of substandard parts and materials and expect durability to remain unaffected I might have a few questions.

While not discrediting your observation, what would be an example that could be investigated by a small team?

I was thinking about an electronic toothbrush, or a kettle?

Definitely something with parts that fall. I wouldn't do a kettle because those are toaster simple.

An electric toothbrush would be good. There are a few parts that could fall, the battery in particular.

If you want to battle e-waste, buy a used toaster.

Another -often overlooked- benefit of buying used appliances, is that they have proven to be sturdy, and/or repairable.

Cheap temu-junk doesn't end up in thrift stores. Or, if it does, is easily filtered out. If I see a toaster that looks well used and/or aged, I can be certain it has at least proven to last a while and actual use.

It's also why I buy refurbished washing machine, refridgerators, etc: a refurbisher commonly won't refurbish stuff that's hard to repair: their economics prefer stuff that's sturdy, easy and cheap to repair. Win win win.

Have a privileg toploader - happily doing its chores. Its all the years old.

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