Instead of insulting companies that are improving the quality of life for millions that otherwise would go without, why don't you encourage government policies that help small business.

As a custom cabinet maker early in my career, I watched business after business die not for lack of customers, but for lack of a certified tax accountant and lawyer.

Our progressive systems requires any small business owner to be an expert in tax law, or hire an expert. After paying them you have to shop at IKEA or sleep on the floor, all while the lawyer shops at your cherished high-end stores.

Maybe I'm just getting older than I realize...

But, this is NOT news. I read this entire article seeking something new, something to learn, about the global economy of mass produced goods, and the effects of mass production on 'craftsmanship', but nothing, nada, appeared here that hasn't been said, noted, decried, and mourned many a time.

How could someone NOT know that Ikea, WalMart, and all the rest of the big box stores have contributed mightily to the degradation of the global environment, the erosion of worker rights, and disappearance of craftsmanship in construction??

Come on, Salon--get your writers working! Find someone--some book, article, thinker, idea--to review that is fresh, meaningful, and inspiring, and get that on the page (screen)--not this same old, same old.

This was an incredibly thoughtful article! I don't understand why everyone is defending IKEA.

I bought dishes at IKEA 5 years ago and now most of them are gone. Shattered in the dishwasher.

But most of you are just missing the point. We live in a disposable world. That's how people are living! That's how I live! The world is disposable. We'll just toss it once it's broken and get a new one. Except, of course, we can't do that. So I guess we're screwed.

I want to buy stuff that isn't garbage! So vote with your money and stop settling for junk from IKEA! Buy locally. Buy from a craftsman, if you can find one.

I'm going to buy a car this weekend. I'm not going to be buying a Ford, that's for sure.

mmmmmmm lingon berries

As I sit here on my IKEA chair at my IKEA desk with a gentle breeze wafting through my IKEA curtains, I feel compelled to chime in. IKEA sucks. Nah, just kidding. IKEA rules...remember people...,taste is subjective.,

In a word...duh. That was pretty much the point of my original post: not everyone likes new and shiny and some people can live quite well in its absence. My fiance prefers modern design (he actually loves Ikea and Swedish things in general, that's why we drive an 88 Volvo) while I like older things. I'll take a 1926 bungalow or 1890 Victorian anyday and be happier and cozier there than I could ever be in pseudo-Tudor McMansion plopped in a postage stamp sized yard.

As someone much wiser than myself has said,

,,Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful.,

,

William Morris

To those who purchase Ikea products because you like them, more power to you and don't stop for anyone.

ITA on the lignonberries...

People keep posting that they've had their IKEA furniture for 15+ years and it holds up, even after many successive moves. That the quality is good. That the styles are attractive. Read the posts on Deco furniture, or the people who find the furniture holds up very well, and even find it lasts better than supposed "quality" furniture.

Why keep repeating the "it will go into the dumpster in two years" line when so many people have stated this is not true? Where do you get your stats on the longevity of IKEA products?

There is a way to avoid cheap crap and that is to get used furniture, either by buying it, trading for it, or taking it off the hands of friends and family. Most of my furniture consists of cast offs from family and friends, or items purchased at flea markets or thrift stores. This older furniture--most from 20 to 60 years old--is far superior to anything I could buy new. I'm not discussing fine antiques, here, either. For example, my dresser was from the Montgomery Ward's catalog, purchased in the 1960's. It is solid maple and has dovetailed joints, and cost me nothing, as it was being given away by someone moving.

Hear, hear!

{Gareth Harris Letters, now added to iPhone homescreen, favourite Salon commentators page.}

~ a squash growing in the garden

called Capitol Hill, Seattle

Two further essays:

“Thingdom Come,” an essay on glut.

http://www.mnartists.org/article.do?rid=184979

“Meatball-driven Design,” on Ikea.

http://secretsofthecity.com/magazine/commentary/gray-matters/meat-ball-driven-design

ball-driven-design

-Glenn Gordon

The marketing of cheap unrepairable stuff that doesn't last isn't new.

~50 years ago, there was a lot of consumer junk out there. Many items such as TVs and cars were only expected to last a few years, and to require frequent maintenance and repair. It wasn't that better technology didn't exist, nor that the American companies making them didn't know how to make better products. It was design for the lowest cost *and* the idea that you wanted to sell folks a new one with new features a couple of years down the road.

It wasn't until the 1980s that most cars had odometers which went past 99,999 miles. That's because, in the old days, it was a very rare thing for a car to reach 100,000 miles.

Yes, some things still survive today from those days. Here's why:

1) It was quality to begin with.

2) It was carefully used, maintained and repaired.

3) It was in storage most of the time

4) It's at the far end of the longevity bell curve

5) The junk didn't survive, so what you see is the good stuff.

--

Years ago( 1960s-70s), I used to take home old TVs, AM radios and phonographs and dismantle them for the tubes and parts. (A lot of the parts I rescued are still working, 40+ years later).

Most of them were only a few years old, but had been discarded because they were considered to be 'not worth fixing' even though they cost big bucks new. Or the owners had gotten frustrated by the cost of repeated repairs. Or the set was AM only, and the owners wanted FM, or the TV was black-and-white and the owners wanted color. Far more went into the landfills and incinerators than I brought home. The same thing is happening with electronics today.

And it wasn't just complicated electronics and appliances; furniture was a common trash item because it fell apart or styles changed. (I know because I moved enough of it to get to the TVs and radios).