There's an 80 year old HVAC system in a section of the hospital I used to work at. This thing is just a giant radiator with big clunky fans that blow the heat from it into the unit. To power it on in winter you have to use all those cool old dials and crank it up. That thing I don't think has ever needed any major repairs and will last forever because it's so simple.

I now work in a newer condo building and the boilers and heating system is all digitally controlled and regulated. That thing goes down every other week and needs constant work

[–] noughtnaut@lemmy.world 4 points 11 months ago

There's a bit from Clarkson where he compares an old school aluminium-bodied Land Rover to the newfangled SUV things of the same brand. Used to be, switching to 4WD involved pulling a lever connected to a ferry-sized piece of metal going ka-chunk. Nowadays, you press a button and a red light comes on. How is that going to get you out of a ditch?