The Word with Wayne Cox

Canada’s Hottest Live Recording Theatre.

The Word - Vol 19

5/7/2023

Cuts like a knife!

In a world full of planned obsolescence, I am so grateful each time I pull open the cutlery drawer and reach for my old trusty Ginsu knife. Yes, that good old Ginsu knife!

Remember the Ginsu knife? It dices, it slices, it cuts through a tin can. We watched with fascination the seemingly constant parade of TV commercials showing what the sharp blade could cut - well it was almost anything! Not only cut almost anything, but keep on cutting, and this amazing little knife came with a 50-year Guarantee! Yes, 50 years!

I bought my Ginsu knife over 40 years ago, and I’m here to tell you, with apologies to Bryan Adams, it still cuts like a knife! A very sharp knife. I use it as my regular bread knife.

The commercial demonstrated that you could cut through a tin can with the knife and still be able to slice bread so thin you could almost see through it. If that's what you wanted to do.

If I remember correctly, I purchased the knife at the PNE, in the Show Mart building, right next to the Parker Pen sales booth. The salesperson demonstrated all the things the knife could do, and I couldn’t resist. I had to take one home.

Now, this isn’t a commercial for the Ginsu knife, but it brings up the question - why can’t all products perform like my Ginsu knife? How about a 50-year guarantee on light bulbs for instance? Don’t you think they could be made to last much longer with all the modern technology at our disposal? And how about that tech world we live in these days? What number iPhone or Apple Watch are we up to now? I can’t keep track. I suppose it’s great for the manufacturer, it keeps their cash registers full, but what about the consumer, not to mention the environment!

I don’t want to sound like the old guy yelling at the kids to get off his lawn, but man, “they sure don’t make 'em like they used to.”

Case in point, we had an old refrigerator at our summer place at the lake. That old fridge had to date back to the 1950s. It came with the cabin and was old when we got it. I guess you could call it a mid-century modern piece of art! It was peach colour, or maybe Robin’s egg blue, either way, it ran and ran and ran. It never needed a service call and always kept everything nice and cold. Sure, you’d have to defrost the freezer every so often, but that was a small price to pay! I kick myself for selling it along with the cabin. I should have kept it! But I’ll bet it’s still running to this day. It would no doubt make a wonderful beer fridge.

They sure don’t make 'em like they used too. And to prove that, let’s fast forward to today. We bought a brand new refrigerator for the new house. It had all the bells and whistles, ice-maker, the works. Then, just after the warranty ran out, it stopped working! Yes, just after the warranty ran out! Funny how that seems to happen. When a service man arrived he said “Sorry, can’t fix it. The part that needs to be replaced is inside the moulded plastic and can’t be accessed!” So, the new fridge went wherever refrigerators go to be buried. Seems planned obsolescence was hard at work. I’m sure you have your own examples of modern-day products that just don’t seem to last like the good old models.

But wait, there’s more!

They still make Ginsu knives. They used to manufacture them in the USA, but like so many other products, most of the manufacturing has now been moved to China. I’m sure it can still cut through a tree branch, and then slice a tomato, if that’s what you want to do. At least I sure hope it does!
But I won’t be buying one. I have one, it’s 40 years old, and yes it still cuts like a knife!

But wait, there’s even more!
At no extra charge, I’ve included the original Ginsu knife television commercial! Enjoy!

Till next week...
Wayne