Once great brands ...... now junk.

I have a Nokia phone and most of my jeans are Levi's. Neither brand might be the height of fashion any more, but still quality.

bonzodog2

Hewlett Packard used to be a highly respected maker of electronic equipment

Heres Johnny

Cars in general. I'm driving 2 generations newer now but I don't think I'll ever beat either of my BMW e39 5 series as drivers cars. Now just a collection of electronics and computers that pretend to keep emissions down.

Man I loved those cars.

Nekarsulm

This thread got me thinking about Grundig. A quick Google reveals that after WW2, the Allies strictly controlled production of radios in Germany.
A guy with a radio shop, Max Grundig, started making sets without valves. As these were not technically considered radio's, he could make and sell all he wanted without censure!

valoren

In terms of a great brand becoming more or less obsolete then for me it's Blackberry.
It's status in the mobile market is junk.

Omackeral

Nostalgia used to be great.

Cookie_Monster

flaneur wrote: »

Mitsubishi moved away from that kind of stuff in this market anyway quite some time ago. They've just changed focus.

yeah, now they build really cheap horrible cars SUVs.
even the Lancer has finally died

dan1895

valoren wrote: »

In terms of a great brand becoming more or less obsolete then for me it's Blackberry.
It's status in the mobile market is junk.

Unless your in Canada where everyone seems to own one.

Rawr

Apparently Burberry used to be regarded as a fancy quality brand...

...I say apparently, because by the time I had learned of the brand the Chavs/Skangers had already done a number on it

loyatemu

whisky_galore wrote: »

Levi's jeans.

Wranglers!

I wore nothing else when I was 15 - now I'd only buy a pair if I was thinking of getting into line dancing, or was forced to go to a Nathan Carter gig.

SuperS54

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

even the Lancer has finally died

Lancer is still very much alive, even comes with an 8 year warranty these days!

blue note

Waterford Crystal. Back in the day this was handcrafted, the best Crystal in the world. Now, machine made and the quality of materials used isn't a patch on what it was.

flaneur

dan1895 wrote: »

Unless your in Canada where everyone seems to own one.

Its a Canadian product.

whisky_galore

USA Assorted, once the only show in town at Xmas. Now just a selection of fairly humdrum biscuits.

Cookie_Monster

SuperS54 wrote: »

Lancer is still very much alive, even comes with an 8 year warranty these days!

it's at the end of it's current production run (ended Aug17) and we just got the first of the Final Edition models in here. It's not being replaced. Stock might last to mid 2018.
We also get 10 year warranty over here

cantdecide

Volkswagen has to be the posterboy for junk that was once great. Overall, I still like much of what they do but the quality issues are just horrific and the bills when they go wrong as just astonishingly unjustifiable.

Oafley Jones

SuperS54 wrote: »

Philips, used to be a good brand, moved pretty much everything to China and outsourcing and are peddling tat these days.

It's not even outsourcing, it's gone from their portfolio. Philips only makes lighting and medical equipment now. Everything else was sold to other companies.

Plopsu

Doc Martens. As a guy I knew once said, it used to be that if you didn't get three years of constant wear from a pair, you asked for a refund. Nowadays, you might get a third of that.
Of course, if you want what they used to be, you can pay the extra and buy Solovairs.

Tell me how

Are Lingus.
Granted, I was a child but flying was such an experience then. My old lad used to work for the as a baggage handler so we flew standby quite a bit They had branded toiletries bags and CD cases with leather trim.
Children on the flight got little packs with jellys, a colouring book and crayons and sometimes little wings lapel pins. This was around the time of the ad with Gabriel's Oboe playing and all together it seemed like the top of the line to me.

Drive to reduce costs and compete with no-frills competitors understandably forced a change. I still use them when I can and prefer the experience to some of the others, but of course, that's not saying much. Sometimes I put on that ad on YouTube and it nearly makes me emotional because of the memories it stirs.

SEPT 23 1989

Levi's feel like knock offs the quality is very poor compared to years ago

dan1895

flaneur wrote: »

Its a Canadian product.

I know. Still sh*te though. Bit like Irish people drinking Guinness I suppose.

Wheety

Tom Mann Centuria wrote: »

Any brand that Sports Direct have got their paws on.

Came in to say this.

Donnay, Slazenger, Firetrap, Everlast, Kangol, Karrimor, Lonsdale.

They also own LA Gear, remember them from childhood? :P

And at one stage owned Dunlop.

Probably all made in the same factory with different labels attached. Ashley has made a habit of buying these companies from receivership.

flaneur

whisky_galore wrote: »

USA Assorted, once the only show in town at Xmas. Now just a selection of fairly humdrum biscuits.

USA generally (not the biscuits), particularly since Trump but the rot started a good while ago .. Bush Jr in particular.

There was a time when the USA, despite all its problems and controversies, still epitomised cool.
Nowadays it's really lost a lot of that shine with everything that's happened and the completely bonkers politics.

I suppose an element of a lot of the world having caught up too and we've a different perspective. Back in the day there was a huge gap between even most Europe and the US.

I mean can you imagine sticking "USA" on a product these days to make them seem 'cool' ... ? Back when those biscuits were made up someone obviously thought it was a great idea, despite the fact that they're about as American as tea and crumpets.

coolisin

B.A._Baracus wrote: »

Sanyo was once a good quality brand name. Not sure if I can even say their new products are bad as they have pretty much disappeared over here.

Bought by Panasonic around 2010 i think, well Panasonic took over their Irish business anyway

MilesMorales1

Cadburys.

Permabear

This post has been deleted.

Hande hoche!

Deleted User wrote: »

I have a Nokia phone and most of my jeans are Levi's. Neither brand might be the height of fashion any more, but still quality.

Yeah still have a Nokia myself. Find the quality of Levis to be hit and miss. The ones in Poland are quite decent in my experience, the ones in Turkey less so.

whisky_galore

flaneur wrote: »

USA generally (not the biscuits), particularly since Trump but the rot started a good while ago .. Bush Jr in particular.

There was a time when the USA, despite all its problems and controversies, still epitomised cool.
Nowadays it's really lost a lot of that shine with everything that's happened and the completely bonkers politics.

I suppose an element of a lot of the world having caught up too and we've a different perspective. Back in the day there was a huge gap between even most Europe and the US.

I mean can you imagine sticking "USA" on a product these days to make them seem 'cool' ... ? Back when those biscuits were made up someone obviously thought it was a great idea.

The name dates back to the time the US entered WW1.

I guess the high-water mark for US 'cool' for this country had to be JFK, wonder what the RCC of the time (or the general population for that matter) would have made of all his bed-hopping?

jacksie66

This post has been deleted.

Permabear

This post has been deleted.

Gravelly

NIMAN wrote: »

If I was to buy a TV now, I wouldn't think about any manufacturer that isn't in this list:

Sony, Samsung, Panasonic, LG.

LG and Samsung are the only TV manufacturers that don't outsource the vast majority of their TV manufacturing. Sony and Panasonic effectively don't make their own product anymore, but outsource it to Taiwan.

shaunr68

Metallica.

Oh, brands!

Nekarsulm

Raleigh bikes.
Once a byword for quality manufacture, they are now just another badge engineered far eastern import.
On a plus note, Taiwan must be world leaders in quality hydro formed alloy frame production and tig welding.

Henry Ford III

Gravelly wrote: »

LG and Samsung are the only TV manufacturers that don't outsource the vast majority of their TV manufacturing. Sony and Panasonic effectively don't make their own product anymore, but outsource it to Taiwan.

They'd never stoop to that level surely?

Gwynplaine

Monster Munch. Used to be delicious, now, not so. Plus you'll be picking at your teeth for half an hour after having a bag.

Cee-Jay-Cee

Raleigh and Claude Butler, both age old bike manufacturers and once the cream of the crop but now they’re budget brands with very little credibility.

BeardySi

Karrimor. Turned to junk once they were bought out by Sports Direct...

Zebra3

flaneur wrote: »

They're pretty much unchanged, they just went out of fashion.

It's amazing how Levi's went from being the essence of cool to something your granddad might wear in a very short space of time.

The Clarkson Effect.

brevity

Some of the Nike/Addias/Reebok stuff I see in the high street stores doesn't feel like a quality product anymore.

Maybe their high price when I was younger fooled me into thinking they were better than they actually are.

Gravelly

Rawr wrote: »

Apparently Burberry used to be regarded as a fancy quality brand...

...I say apparently, because by the time I had learned of the brand the Chavs/Skangers had already done a number on it

I'm old enough to remember Burberry as the favoured brand of well-heeled ladies of a certain age in 70's and 80's London. I think that image of the scumbag throwing a petrol bomb during a NI riot, while wearing a Burberry (presumably knock-off) baseball cap was the final nail in their coffin as a "posh" brand.

Littlehorny wrote: »

You can close the thread now, Merc's are gone to fook

padd b1975 wrote: »

Mercedes Benz.

To be fair to Mercedes, they have come back in a big way quality-wise. I've owned numerous Mercs from 4 different decades (80's 90's 00's and 10's) and there was a steep decline from the late 80's to the mid 2000's, but their more recent offerings (especially the E Class) are among the best you can buy again.

Manach

The EU.

magentis

Apple.

The screen in the iphone x is made by Samsung!

Gravelly

magentis wrote: »

Apple.

The screen in the iphone x is made by Samsung!

If you knew how strongly economics has trumped quality control in recent Apple manufacture, you'd be amazed. They've gone down the same road Mercedes did in the late 90's, going from a design and engineering led company to an accountant led one. The consumer electronics game in China is utterly cutthroat.

SuperS54

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

it's at the end of it's current production run (ended Aug17) and we just got the first of the Final Edition models in here. It's not being replaced. Stock might last to mid 2018.
We also get 10 year warranty over here

Really? You did well on the warranty, only 8 years on their Irish website! http://mitsubishi-motors.ie/car/lancer/

It's the "Grand Lancer" here and apparently an all new model, I'd imagine it will live on in the East for another decade or more!

http://grandlancer.mitsubishi-motors.com.tw/#

jmayo

Badly Drunk Boy wrote: »

Back in the day, we had a Pye telly. And a Ferguson. (Not the tractor).

Kodak would probably be the sort of brand in this category.

The issue is Kodak is basically defunct since the ar** fell out of their primary business, camera film.

jrmb wrote: »

Polaroid, Kodak, Memorex, Praktica, Maxell

The issue with these is that throwaway cameras, camera film, instant cameras, magnetic audio tapes and CDs/DVDs to a certain extent have become obsolete.

BTW Maxell are owned by Hitachi and are still involved in production of consumer stuff like batteries.

Archeron wrote: »

Cadburys.

This is I think one of the brands that has nose dived in recent years.
Unlike the others mentioned here their products still have a market, but since those fooking yanks in Kraft/Mondelez took over they have gone downhill.

I now expect the inventors of cheese in a can to some day foist on us Chocolate in a can.
Either that or fecking Kraft cheese barrel coated in chocolate.

bonzodog2 wrote: »

Hewlett Packard used to be a highly respected maker of electronic equipment

Their printers are now often throwaway cheap plastic shtye.

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

yeah, now they build really cheap horrible cars SUVs.
even the Lancer has finally died

Actually a common misconception that it is the same Mitsubishi company that makes the cars and the electronics like TVs (Mitsubishi Electric).
Mitsubishi was split into different companies by Americans at end of World War 2 thanks to the fact they were majorly involved in Japans war effort.
Remember the Mitsubishi Zeros were the ones attacking Pearl Harbour.

Mitsubishi Motors car division is actually now 1/3 owned by Renault–Nissan and Mitsubishi Motors truck/bus division is not majorly owned by Daimler (Mercedes Benz).

The Mitsubishi companies CEOs/Chairmen meet regularly and they have done joint ventures, but they are separate companies to all other intents and purposes.

jmayo

Manach wrote: »

The EU.

That has always been shyte since the name change.
You mean the EC/EEC.

Hector Bellend

BMW

SuperS54

Oafley Jones wrote: »

It's not even outsourcing, it's gone from their portfolio. Philips only makes lighting and medical equipment now. Everything else was sold to other companies.

Philips, like many corporations, is very complex in terms of what the manufacture, subcontract, licence out etc., however you can still buy a large range of Philips branded consumer products that are basically crap compared to their former models for the most part. For a small selection, https://www.philips.ie/

Caliden

bonzodog2 wrote: »

Hewlett Packard used to be a highly respected maker of electronic equipment

They sold the HP branding for cameras & printers to someone else.

Their main focus now is enterprise/servers/applications.

They've moved away from the hardware side of things but have let others use the HP name.

El Weirdo

Nekarsulm wrote: »

Do Mitsubishi even make TV's now? The Black Diamond was THE set to have 20 years ago.

flaneur wrote: »

Mitsubishi moved away from that kind of stuff in this market anyway quite some time ago. They're a huge conglomerate though and very much still in existence. They've just changed focus.

Their yokes used to be whopper too.