For Those Who Hate Montblanc....why? Just Curious...

[Bo Bo Olson]

:D :D :D

 

Cell phones are called Handie's in Germany.....and "What your Handie is two years Old!!

 

You have six followers on what ever .....I don't face nor twit...so I'm not sure which or if both are follower rated. Your YouTube vid, has 18 views in a full year????

 

Levis is a status symbol....made by Chinese slaves exposed to deadly manufacturing. Otherwise Levis wouldn't cost an arm and a leg.

Shoes with labels are status symbols. Boss or Nike.

 

Sigh....cuff links.............somehow I got twenty pair.....finally got the second shirt to use them.

[ParkerDuofold]

Sigh....cuff links.............somehow I got twenty pair.....finally got the second shirt to use them.

Hi BoBo,

 

I still wear monogrammed shirts with French cuffs... silk or linen in summer; cotton in winter. I also wear fedora hats... so rest easy Bo,... there's still a few of us left... the funny thing is, I'm not yet 50.

 

 

- Anthony

[KellyMcJ]

To me, luxury is something that is worthwhile to repair.

 

I have to laugh, just a little- EVERYTHING used to be considered worthwhile to repair, even the most lowly objects. We've become a throw-away culture. It used to be that one wouldn't DREAM of throwing a broken thing away, or a worn thing- it just gets repaired. Things were built better back then too, and not injection molded plastic that's impossible to disassemble. That's not luxury in my opinion, that's how it should be.

[marcelo]

 

depends what you are looking for. If you want something that retains value -> buy Rolex . If you want a beautiful watch -> buy something else (Panerai, Breitling, Omega, Zenith, Junghans, ... )

I didn't say different. I don't care about the "regular" Rolexes, that I find quite boring. The only ones I care about are from the Cellini line.

[DasKaltblut]

 

Cell phones are called Handie's in Germany.....and "What your Handie is two years Old!!

 

You have six followers on what ever .....I don't face nor twit...so I'm not sure which or if both are follower rated. Your YouTube vid, has 18 views in a full year????

 

Levis is a status symbol....made by Chinese slaves exposed to deadly manufacturing. Otherwise Levis wouldn't cost an arm and a leg.

Shoes with labels are status symbols. Boss or Nike.

 

Sigh....cuff links.............somehow I got twenty pair.....finally got the second shirt to use them.

 

Well, it's a Handy, not a Handie, which is important because Handy makes clear the original English origin word that was borrowed with an erroneous meaning into German. And the ensuing confusion of English speakers when they encounter the word. The reasons it became prevalent are not fully known. Theories range from a WWII walkie-talkie that was originally called a handy-talkie, to a shortening of the word Handfunktelefon. Regardless, it makes students of German laugh.

[inkstainedruth]

 

I have to laugh, just a little- EVERYTHING used to be considered worthwhile to repair, even the most lowly objects. We've become a throw-away culture. It used to be that one wouldn't DREAM of throwing a broken thing away, or a worn thing- it just gets repaired. Things were built better back then too, and not injection molded plastic that's impossible to disassemble. That's not luxury in my opinion, that's how it should be.

 

The irony is, it's cheaper to buy a new something than to get it repaired. Our old TV, which I think my husband paid a few hundred dollars for maybe ten-fifteen years ago, started to have issues with the picture; so we broke down and bought a flat screen TV (not a super large one, but a bigger screen than what we'd had before). I think we paid less for the new TV, which is an LED screen. And we will have to pay money to have the old one taken away, because of the cathode ray tube, etc. -- we can't even donate it to Goodwill, I don't think.

My parents grew up in the Depression. We were taught to wear clothes till they wore out (or no longer fit -- as in "outgrown"). Cars? None of this trading in for a new model every couple of years; but also nothing bought used either -- always new and always kept for 10-11 years unless the car got totaled. Which didn't happen very often.... The car I learned to drive on was a '77 Chevy Nova, which replaced the car my grandfather used to drive. My parents finally got rid of it around 1990 or so, after they'd moved to New Jersey when my dad retired; they sold it to a guy who wanted it for driving in demolition derbies....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

ETA: A guy I dated a couple of years in college gave me an expensive-ish Seiko quartz watch for my birthday one year. I said "I HAVE a watch". He said "But this one you don't have to wind!" Well, a couple of years after we'd broken up the battery died. I went to get a new battery, and found out it was going to cost something like NINETY BUCKS to get the battery replaced -- that was more than half the cost of the watch -- *new*! It went into the trash and I bought a $20 Casio sports watch (which is what I'd had before the Seiko).

Edited January 5, 2018 by inkstainedruth

[james3paris]

 

Cell phones are called Handie's in Germany.....and "What your Handie is two years Old!!

 

I am in the dark ages with my 2 plus year old phone-for under $200. I wonder how many people complain on here about Montblanc status symbol and they carry the most expensive cell phone the market provides. The truly really new status symbol. God forbid, they fall behind their friends on the tech front. However, people can do whatever with the money they earn.

 

 

Care for a Montblanc @ $199 case for that $1000 phone???

 

[KellyMcJ]

 

The irony is, it's cheaper to buy a new something than to get it repaired. Our old TV, which I think my husband paid a few hundred dollars for maybe ten-fifteen years ago, started to have issues with the picture; so we broke down and bought a flat screen TV (not a super large one, but a bigger screen than what we'd had before). I think we paid less for the new TV, which is an LED screen. And we will have to pay money to have the old one taken away, because of the cathode ray tube, etc. -- we can't even donate it to Goodwill, I don't think.

My parents grew up in the Depression. We were taught to wear clothes till they wore out (or no longer fit -- as in "outgrown"). Cars? None of this trading in for a new model every couple of years; but also nothing bought used either -- always new and always kept for 10-11 years unless the car got totaled. Which didn't happen very often.... The car I learned to drive on was a '77 Chevy Nova, which replaced the car my grandfather used to drive. My parents finally got rid of it around 1990 or so, after they'd moved to New Jersey when my dad retired; they sold it to a guy who wanted it for driving in demolition derbies....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

I was given a 32" tube TV and found out that it was cheaper to buy a new TV than a stand that could hold the old one. So I did, and gave the big screen to my cousin who is a massive football fan.

 

Find a local geek to donate the old CRT TV too. They're great for parts for science projects.

 

My car was bought new and is still on the road 11 years later. I'm saving up to buy a new one this year. The old one is still good, but it's gotten to the point that I don't want to have to worry about it. I'd rather get a new one on my terms than have to buy a car spur of the moment because something happens.

 

One of my other hobbies is restoring antique electrical equipment, and especially electromedical equipment. I get these devices and most of the time, 100+ years after they're made, they're still good, if they've been well cared for. Batteries need replaced and wires and cords are dry rotted and need replaced, but other than abuse, or damage caused by leaking batteries...most of the time I can have them operational in a few hours. They were built to be serviced. Today's things, you can't even open the case without breaking it.

[james3paris]

 

The irony is, it's cheaper to buy a new something than to get it repaired. Our old TV, which I think my husband paid a few hundred dollars for maybe ten-fifteen years ago, started to have issues with the picture; so we broke down and bought a flat screen TV (not a super large one, but a bigger screen than what we'd had before). I think we paid less for the new TV, which is an LED screen. And we will have to pay money to have the old one taken away, because of the cathode ray tube, etc. -- we can't even donate it to Goodwill, I don't think.

 

 

Depending where you are and current weather...I would put it at the bottom of your driveway--put broken, but I bet that it will be gone by this evening.

[james3paris]

 

The irony is, it's cheaper to buy a new something than to get it repaired. Our old TV, which I think my husband paid a few hundred dollars for maybe ten-fifteen years ago, started to have issues with the picture; so we broke down and bought a flat screen TV (not a super large one, but a bigger screen than what we'd had before). I think we paid less for the new TV, which is an LED screen. And we will have to pay money to have the old one taken away, because of the cathode ray tube, etc. -- we can't even donate it to Goodwill, I don't think.

My parents grew up in the Depression. We were taught to wear clothes till they wore out (or no longer fit -- as in "outgrown"). Cars? None of this trading in for a new model every couple of years; but also nothing bought used either -- always new and always kept for 10-11 years unless the car got totaled. Which didn't happen very often.... The car I learned to drive on was a '77 Chevy Nova, which replaced the car my grandfather used to drive. My parents finally got rid of it around 1990 or so, after they'd moved to New Jersey when my dad retired; they sold it to a guy who wanted it for driving in demolition derbies....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

ETA: A guy I dated a couple of years in college gave me an expensive-ish Seiko quartz watch for my birthday one year. I said "I HAVE a watch". He said "But this one you don't have to wind!" Well, a couple of years after we'd broken up the battery died. I went to get a new battery, and found out it was going to cost something like NINETY BUCKS to get the battery replaced -- that was more than half the cost of the watch -- *new*! It went into the trash and I bought a $20 Casio sports watch (which is what I'd had before the Seiko).

Nice post, I enjoyed reading it. I was brought up the same way.

[james3paris]

 

I have to laugh, just a little- EVERYTHING used to be considered worthwhile to repair, even the most lowly objects. We've become a throw-away culture. It used to be that one wouldn't DREAM of throwing a broken thing away, or a worn thing- it just gets repaired. Things were built better back then too, and not injection molded plastic that's impossible to disassemble. That's not luxury in my opinion, that's how it should be.

+1 How things have changed in a short time.

[inkstainedruth]

 

Depending where you are and current weather...I would put it at the bottom of your driveway--put broken, but I bet that it will be gone by this evening.

 

Except that I can't. Not legally, anyway. And I doubt that in *this* weather anyone would be out dumpster diving for anything.... The high today was supposed to be something like 8°F -- the windchills are making it feel even worse. (I just checked the weather.gov site and the current wind chill is -10°! )

We tried to put the back seats from our old minivan out for the trash a few years ago (you can get away with putting out 1 large thing per week) and nobody would take them either. I had to call a used parts place and their response was "What's wrong with them?" "Nothing -- we just don't own that vehicle anymore...." (The minivan got totaled in bad weather one Thanksgiving, and the back seats hadn't been put back in since we'd gone camping the summer before).

The rules about discarding electronics have gotten a *lot* stricter over the past few years, at least here in PA.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

edited for formatting issues

Edited January 5, 2018 by inkstainedruth

[cat]

Did someone actually give you a hard time about putting it on the driveway? It seems whatever I put out there ends up being taken away.

 

Rolex and others mentioned here I think more universally represent luxury status. I must be naive because I never thought MB was a luxury status symbol in the same way. Quite honestly, if I asked a bunch of casuals about MB, I'm not confident they would even recognize the name.

 

As an aside, the pink MB Princess Grace FP looks nice and I'm thinking of getting it for my sweetheart, but I haven't seen a place that sells.

[praxim]

While we are rambling about off-topic, the Handy in Germany is a mobile in Australia.

[Bo Bo Olson]

I'm coating the rubber of my old no limit laser printer with some rubber fixer..(have to apply rubber fixer every 6-8 weeks)..because new printers have an artificial 'die now' button.............I've read that it's possible to get around it....but the insides are made to 1,500 copy and be worn out.

 

Some time soon I'll need new toner at E70.....and I can get a Brother printer at that price....a better one for E10 better.

The problem or is it....I have some 3,000+ pages that will have to be printed out eventually for final editing of my western saga.......................and the printer I think is only good for 1,500 pages.

That 3,000 would be a minimum in when cutting, I might have to do it again. 4 books in the saga.

 

I really don't want to think about buying three or more printers.

 

I don't know how many thousands of pages I've put through the old one over the last 15 or more years....could be older than that.

If I could get the rubber rollers, I'd do that and keep using the old one that has no limit except for extreme ware. I nor my computer guy can get replacement rubber rollers.

Hell, I even gave him 1/3 of my bottle of rubber renewer in he had the same problem in his shop with his printer.

xxxxxxxxxxxx

We have recycling areas in Germany where long term unemployed are given the joy of getting up too early in the morning to be on time.....to get rid of the TV would cost E3-5....a full loaded car depending on what's in it....well I may have paid E7 once.

The state makes money in selling junk metal, and other stuff is burnt in garbage incinerators. The Germans separate out pretty good, and we have three different garbage trucks.

 

The German problem is they built so many incinerators they have to import train loads of garbage from Naples Italy....

Edited January 5, 2018 by Bo Bo Olson

[ian1964]

:D :D :D

 

 

 

Cell phones are called Handie's in Germany.....and "What your Handie is two years Old!!

 

You have six followers on what ever .....I don't face nor twit...so I'm not sure which or if both are follower rated. Your YouTube vid, has 18 views in a full year????

 

Levis is a status symbol....made by Chinese slaves exposed to deadly manufacturing. Otherwise Levis wouldn't cost an arm and a leg.

Shoes with labels are status symbols. Boss or Nike.

 

Sigh....cuff links.............somehow I got twenty pair.....finally got the second shirt to use them.

 

OK? Not really sure what your saying to me here as I am not on any social media. YouTube or do I have any followers.and a "handle" is something for old CB radio talk.

 

I do wear cuff links though.

[Anne-Sophie]

This would be me. I cant imagine writing with the insulin needles half the board seems to require. My daily writer I havent put down since I acquired it is an OBBB. This is why having the widest available inventory or nibs is a good thing.

Ghost Plane, what is the name of your OBBB daily writer, the one with the blue translucent body and silver overlay?

[Bo Bo Olson]

To get first class cuff links...I'd have to give up pens............ no, I'd have to sell pens. (Not talking about 3rd class MB cuff links.)

One of these days I'll drive some 80 km to Pfortzheim and drool over some real nice ones. That's a lot of gas money just to drool. I'll go again into that jewelry Museum again. Astounding how up to date, some of the rings are that are 3,000, 2,000 and 1,000 years old are.

 

If you look at the huge clunkers from the Elizabethan era.....the bigger the clunker, the higher the status.

[max dog]

I have tried several Montblanc fountain pens, over the years, including late Aunt Kate's model 144, in my stewardship.

Excellence is the rule. I have not, nor do I intend to buy one. The brand name has become a cliché. I do no like the attention that the "snowflake" draws, nor the source of the attention. There are other fountain pens that offer the same excellence, and one does not have to pay the expensive premium of the logo.

 

If you still want one, definitely get one. Montblancs are excellent writing instruments.

 

 

I really could not agree more!

 

What often happens when you have a market leader like Montblanc with unmatched brand recognition, is that if you are brand B, it would not make good strategic sense to sell an on-par product at a higher or equal cost. So naturally brand B,C,D etc...down the line will undercut the market leader. Pelikan M1000, Sailor KOP, all cost less than the mighty 149 as an example. But brands B,C,D.. all down line benefit from Montblancs advertising, and momentum in the market, because they can snatch customer's away from Montblanc by offering a lower cost alternative, even though it was Montblanc that initially interested them in a nice luxury fountain pen from all the advertising, word of mouth etc. A lot of alternate brands and boutique brands hang off the coat tails of Montblancs brand recognition and all the hard work Montblanc does to push the fountain pen image and it's desirability in the market.

 

There is nothing wrong with this, but let's give Montblanc proper due credit for all the benefit they bring the niche fountain pen market.

Edited January 5, 2018 by max dog

[Anne-Sophie]

Hi BoBo,

 

I still wear monogrammed shirts with French cuffs... silk or linen in summer; cotton in winter. I also wear fedora hats... so rest easy Bo,... there's still a few of us left... the funny thing is, I'm not yet 50.

 

 

- Anthony

Antony, what are the fedora brands most widely found in the U.S?

 

(sorry off topic)