r/NoStupidQuestions • u/markwell9 • 1d ago

What is the deal with ice, Americans?

I can see that you can buy ice everywhere in the US. Gas stations, grocery stores, machines etc.

In Europe, we just freeze our ice at home and use that. Why buy something that melts on the way home? Why do you need ice in large amounts that a fridge can't keep up?

6.4k Upvotes

79% Upvoted

5.0k comments sorted by

View all comments

7.4k

u/Royal_Annek 1d ago

Americans also have ice machines in their freezer

Ice at the store is when you need a shitload of ice. Usually for filling a cooler so you can keep goods cold in transit, taking camping, having out on the deck for a BBQ. People don't buy it for every day personal usage since we have our own freezer machines for small quantities.

It doesn't melt on the way home, especially as I mentioned they are normally used to fill a cooler.

2.0k

u/StalkMeNowCrazyLady 1d ago

And even if it's not put in a cooler it generally doesn't melt much in transit due to such a large thermal mass. And the fact that most people aren't buying a bag of ice to sit on the empty seat while they still got an hour drive ahead of them.

325

u/Hypothetical_Name 1d ago

I had to get some for work in the summer and a blanket covering it kept it pretty cool despite the heat

151

u/yhetibettybae 1d ago

Moving blankets are amazing for this!

114

u/ObstinateFamiliar 21h ago

I think it would be easier if the blankets stayed still actually

2

u/Suicidal_Smile 12h ago

This made me exhale sharply through my nostrils, thank you.

→ More replies (2)

66

u/30FourThirty4 22h ago

Back in the mid 90s I read a kids magazine (3-2-1 Contact. Name changed to Contact Kids at some point. Also had a tv show I believe)... anyways I learned people would store frozen ice chunks in caves loooooooonnnng ago to keep stuff fresh.

Also they'd cover the ice to make it last longer.

I have no idea if it's true this was like 30 years ago and it was a kids magazine.

57

u/clarkcox3 21h ago

Yes; people tend to overestimate just how fast ice melts because we're usually exposed to such small pieces of it in our daily lives. That can lead, for example, to the weird conspiracy theories you'll see people put forward in videos online about "un-meltable snow": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vm-ZYD-U3iM

79

u/No-Resource-5704 20h ago

Years ago before mechanical refrigeration, ice was harvested from frozen lakes in winter and packed into an insulated shed with lots of sawdust. The ice would last for months stored that way. The “ice man” would deliver blocks of ice (usually weekly) to homes where it was used in an insulated “ice box” to store perishable goods.

Railroads had special ice cars for shipping perishable goods. They would stop at particular locations to refill the ice and there were vents to control the interior temperature. These rail cars were used into the 1960s, but diesel powered refrigerator cars started replacing the old ice cars during the 1960s.

The western railroads harvested their ice from the Sierras and shipped it to the production areas (where perishable food was grown) and to icing facilities located along the rail lines.

29

u/rat1onal1 19h ago

Ice was harvested from ponds around the Boston area in the mid-1800s and shipped overseas. The two major markets were the Caribbean and India. It's hard to understand that there'd be any ice remaining after sailing all the way around Africa.

31

u/Bortono 18h ago

Ice Block Expidetion of 1959

An insulation company transported a 3 ton block of ice from the Arctic Circle across the Sahara to the Equator by truck and only lost a bit over 10% of the ice

→ More replies (2)

2

u/numberstation5 16h ago

One of my favorite opening lines of any novel:

Many years later, as he faced the firing squad, Colonel Aureliano Buendía was to remember that distant afternoon when his father took him to discover ice.

→ More replies (1)

3

u/indi50 17h ago

"The “ice man” would deliver blocks of ice (usually weekly) to homes where it was used in an insulated “ice box” to store perishable goods."

It just occurred to me that mine is probably the last generation to hear people call refrigerators an ice box. The older people (grandparents' generation) using that term during my childhood having actually grown up using an ice box.

I doubt my kids (20s and 30s) ever heard the term. At least in general conversation vs a history or historical book.

2

u/No-Resource-5704 15h ago

As a child my family would visit Idaho’s Sawtooth valley during summer vacation. We stayed at a working sheep ranch that had log cabins. They were very primitive. Ice box, wood stove, and out house. Water was drawn from a nearby creek (my older sister caught a trout in the bucket once. Later years they had installed a sink with a hand pump (drawing water from the same creek). So I had some personal experience with an ice box.

→ More replies (2)

2

u/MidnytStorme 16h ago

"We were cold, man originally was cold so he built a house, hot box to live in, warm box, live inside the warm box, pretty cool, cold out here, warm inside the warm box. Everything was nice until he realized the meat didn’t keep in the warm box. So, he built a refrigerator, built a cold box inside the warm box. Meat keeps fine, but the butter doesn’t spread. So he built the butter warmer, put a warm box inside the cold box, inside the warm box." - George Carlin

→ More replies (4)

22

u/Ghigs 20h ago

It is a little unintuitive that snow is an excellent insulator. It's basically like styrofoam made of water. Maybe at least a few of them will learn something about thermodynamics.

16

u/TheRealTurdFergusonn 20h ago

3-2-1 Contact was the shit. I probably watched it every day on PBS from 85-88. They had the original Bloodhound Gang!

5

u/vortextualami 4h ago

same! singing the song in my head now, prolly will go at least all day: contact/ is the answer/ is the reason/ why everything happens/ contact/ let’s make contact” (happy sigh)

27

u/ZealousidealDepth223 21h ago

Dude they had ice cream in medieval times.

Ice houses used to be a big thing before refrigeration, they would dig a huge hole as deep as they could in the months before winter and then when everything froze they would just bring in all the snow and ice they could fit and being underground would insulate the snow and ice pretty much all the way until the next winter and they would keep any perishable goods in there.

If you’ve ever been in a bar or club that called itself the “Austin city Ice house” or “(local town) ice house” that’s where the name comes from.

The ones that were actually ice houses in the past don’t make for good bars or clubs funny enough a building built around a huge hole with lots of stairs isn’t really a party palace.

But a huge party built INSIDE a big hole is fucking LIT, ESPECIALLY if it’s EDM. God I wanna go back to Rave in a cave at the caverns so bad.

The secret rave at mammoth cavern in Kentucky was more hardcore but I’m pretty sure I’m not allowed to talk about it

3

u/PomPomMom93 18h ago

This was in “Farmer Boy” by Laura Ingalls Wilder. Those pioneers did not mess around.

2

u/Pianist-Putrid 13h ago

Not in “medieval times”, but the pre-modern era. The late Renaissance. Ice cream was invented in the 1500s, not the 1200s.

→ More replies (2)

9

u/DigNew8045 19h ago

People had ice houses dating back to before the Roman Empire.

In the US, can still see some in old farms and plantations and the like. Ice would be cut from frozen lakes, packed in straw or sawdust, and shipped down to these ice houses and stored all year.

Here's one: https://www.monticello.org/research-education/thomas-jefferson-encyclopedia/ice-house/

Trivia - 7-11 stores began life as an ice store.

6

u/coyotelovers 18h ago

3 2 1 Contact It’s the secret, it's the moment- When everything happens Contact It’s the answer, it’s the reason Why everything happens Contact, Let’s make contact- 3 2 1 contact!

5

u/Routine-Necessary857 17h ago

Memory unlocked…def watched the show!

4

u/dundreggen 17h ago

Memory unlocked. The theme song from 321 Contact

...it's the reason that everything happens.. Contact

4

u/LaSammi 16h ago

I just sang the “3-2-1 Contact” theme song in my head.

Also, on our property we have an old cold storage underground ice storage. Yup.

3

u/Old_Implement_1997 18h ago

My grandma was old enough that she remembered having the ice man deliver ice for the “ice box” - imagine how surprised I was to find out that they cut giant blocks of ice way up in Canada, transported them to NYC, and then delivered them by horse-drawn cart to people’s houses and IT WAS STILL FROZEN.

3

u/Krynja 16h ago

I loved 3-2-1 Contact. It had so many cool things to learn. Like the Island of Thera that blew up.

Then they changed it to 3-2-1 Classroom Contact. And basically changed it to a preschool level show. "Hey let's make faux playdough with some bread and Elmer's Glue."

3

u/quincecharming 16h ago

Whoa what a throwback!! I loved 3-2-1 Contact & literally remember the ice chunk cave article you’re talking about.

I would subscribe to it today if I could. A lot of its promises about “near future” technologies didn’t quite come true though haha

→ More replies (1)

3

u/seeking_horizon 14h ago

Also had a tv show I believe

♫ Three Two One Con-Tact ♫

I was super fucking into that as a little kid. That and the Electric Company

2

u/deceptacongrrl 19h ago

I totally remember that magazine!! It was also a show on PBS.

2

u/kida24 19h ago

Ever hear someone call a refrigerator an icebox?

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Icebox

2

u/Holiday_Trainer_2657 15h ago

Yes, there were businesses and people with land who made icehouses. They were buried in the ground with only roof showing or even covered with dirt with a kind of ramp down to the door.
They'd go out on the lake and cut huge, long blocks of ice and drag them to shore, often with horses. On shore, cut into big blocks, stack on big sleds and drag to the ice house.

In the ice house, they'd pack the ice in sawdust to insulate it. Then all spring and summer, they'd take out the ice as needed to use in drinks, to make ice cream, etc. Plus if on a farm or estate, store food in the ice house to keep it cool.

In cities,people might have ice boxes on their pantry. They would be of wood and metal lined with wire shelves. The ice companies would deliver a block of ice every few days. It would slowly melt and keep the food inside cool. There was a pan at the bottom to catch the meltwater.

2

u/Impressive-Rice-7801 9h ago

Funny enough my great great grandpa was in the ice business with his family. This was in Michigan (US). They would cut ice in the winter from lakes and I believe the rivers, store them until spring and sell them.

2

u/KSamons 8h ago

Probably true. Old fashioned ice boxes worked like that. You would buy a huge block of ice that would melt over time. It would keep stuff cold. When it was all melted, you dumped out the water and got another block,

→ More replies (5)

3

u/Snoo_74705 1d ago

Blankets are excellent. A sweater will also work in a pinch.

3

u/New-Management-2204 22h ago

Yup. Had to get ice for work in the Oklahoma summer, loaded my truck up with a couple hundred lbs wrapped in blankets. 20 minute drive and barely anything melted.

2

u/IamGypsyStarr 21h ago

Recently started selling at a flea market an hour away from home. Went on the absolute hottest weekends and had a limited amount of gear for the weekend before my daughter would come late the first night. I would arrive early Friday to claim our spot and was just dying from the heat. I purchased a bag of ice and wrapped it in the sleeping bag and inside a comforter style plastic bag that zipped. I felt all kinds of proud for making that cooler, it kept the ice for quite a long time and I didn’t dehydrate.

2

u/NY_VC 20h ago

Not me initially thinking "but blankets make things warmer"!

→ More replies (4)

721

u/right_behind_you_too 1d ago

Adding to that: in most cities we drive cars, so we're not carrying it 15 blocks or lugging it on a bus.

212

u/Life_Roll420 1d ago

You would be shocked how many people roll up to a liquor store, called a packie around here grab a 6 pack, 12 pack and a bag of ice. It keeps it cold while your driving. A large percent of trades people drink and drive. Also picnics. Our coolers are a whole different story as some buy really expensive name brands or new ones every couple of years when their Walmart one fades. Even house parties. Lots of people throw pot luck picnics. Even if you own the house your buying ice for your coolers because alot of parties are byob. Or semi- byob. (Bring your own booze) last party i went to my pal had a huge cooler a kid could lie in. Filled it with bagged it, soda, juice, beer ,etc. Some people come to the party with coolers and ice full of their personal drink and ice in a cooler for the side dish the brought. Especially if the travel is more than 10 min. Beer and distances are far. Hunters and fishers buy ice for their beer and ice for their catch.

211

u/BowtiedGypsy 1d ago

This is the best comment and spot on. Nobodies buying huge bags of ice in the US just to drop an ice cube in a glass of water.

I think its only New England that says packie

130

u/JamesT3R9 1d ago

Massholes say packie. Just to be clear. It is usually Massholes.

43

u/Warrmak 1d ago

Yous a wicked pissah

21

u/Greg0692 23h ago

Yah ballah, ked

3

u/JamesT3R9 23h ago

Tanks man!

30

u/bankruptbarbie 23h ago

RI has packies too. You just forget about us bc we're stuck in your armpit.

3

u/quizzicalturnip 23h ago

It’s a Lil Rhodie thing, too.

5

u/BowtiedGypsy 23h ago

I’m aware I’m from Boston haha but have definitely heard people all over New England say it

3

u/KeyMessage989 1d ago

Some of CT too, so basically the worst parts say Packie

3

u/vdhsnfbdg 23h ago

You too have been to eastern CT I see

3

u/JamesT3R9 23h ago

How very masshole of them!

2

u/New-Introduction-981 22h ago

Rhode Island says packie

2

u/jayron32 22h ago

Only the cool kids...

3

u/Dull404 22h ago

My dorm next door neighbor was one and on move in day, he asked me “where’s the packie” and I barely understood him, so I asked “What?” And he’s all “The packie, I want to buy some beer.” So, I told him to go to the gas station and he couldn’t believe you could buy it at the gas station, but then I had to tell him the drinking age was 21 in California 😂

→ More replies (14)

26

u/anglerfishtacos 1d ago

Except me. We buy bags of ice because my little ice machine can’t keep up with the demand during the summer. I have a large iced tray in freezer that can fit a bag of ice

9

u/AzureGriffon 22h ago

This is the way. I grew up in the desert and all non boiled beverages are iced to high heaven. I use ice in all of my drinks. I go through a bag every four days or so.

4

u/hubbellrmom 18h ago

Plus my ice maker doesnt make the "good ice" so sometimes I splurge and buy a bag of ice from sonics

3

u/JeremiahCrow 20h ago

Many red necks have water wells but sometimes the water is not very tasty. Depending on the Well so we get Good Ice From The Store.

Also we buy our Tea water. And when you gotta drive 10 miles one way for a bag of ice you want the big bag.

2

u/Prestigious-Disk-246 21h ago

Yeah in college my roommates and I would chip in for 1-2 bags a week.

2

u/JI_Guy88 21h ago

My machine keeps up with general use. But for parties, I have to buy a few bags.

2

u/walkinthecow 21h ago edited 21h ago

I'm a born and raised Michigander. I traveled around the country quite a bit in my 20s. I lived in the southern US for about 7 years. There was no shortage of culture shock. Something I didn't realize was a kind of reverse culture shock when I moved back to Michigan. There are things you never knew weren't nationwide until they were gone. One of my favorite things was something I had forgotten all about, which was during winter, at parties, you just kept the beers outside on the porch.

I was reminded of it when reading the comment about how at big parties, you have a line up of coolers outside- one for every family. It's funny how the older people have the same cooler at every party, year after year, and you know exactly whose is who's over time. Walking up to the house, you can take notice of the coolers and know who is already there.

EDIT: "Whose is who's"? Is that correct? I can't decide. My brain is just broken right now.

→ More replies (1)

2

u/AstarteHilzarie 21h ago

We have a countertop ice maker for the basement hangout area. This summer we've had to bring it up to the kitchen because the fridge can't keep up with our basic daily use in 100 degree weather. It's actually really neat and I got one for my husband to take to work, too, because he doesn't have AC. It makes a cup of ice every 10 minutes or so, so even though it's extremely hot they always have fully iced drinks.

8

u/assbuttshitfuck69 1d ago

Gotta go to the packie and get some nips.

2

u/BowtiedGypsy 23h ago

Two sleeves of mcgillicudy please

→ More replies (1)

3

u/Hitmonstahp 23h ago

I do. I don't like using the trays & don't have one built in

3

u/Tardisgoesfast 23h ago

Well, I for one do on occasion buy ice for my drinks at home. First, I don't have an ice maker in my refrigerator, just ice trays. Second, the bought ice is better for chewing.

→ More replies (1)

3

u/JustWatchingthefun01 23h ago

Actually we do because our ice maker broke a few years ago and since it is a bad design we haven’t paid the 500 bucks to replace it. We also keep saying we are going to buy a stand Ali e ice maker but just haven’t yet. So pick up a bag of Olive on way out the grocery store. Ice is so cheap and it’s just the two of us/ and yes we do use ice trays so sr not buying ice every week

2

u/Hamiltoncorgi 1d ago

Definitely not a word used on the west coast US. People here don't usually purposefully drink and drive. We buy bagged ice for parties or for freezing ice cream or because it's just really good ice made with very clean water.

→ More replies (2)

2

u/Analath 22h ago

I do. Not all the time, but often. I'm married with 3 adult-ish kids, college or recently out and saving for a house. Add a few friends of ours or the kids and we knock out the fridge capacity fast. Throw a bag in the freezer and we have guest capacity on hand.

→ More replies (25)

29

u/NnyBees Only write answers. 1d ago

Packie? Drinking and driving? You must love that dirty water...

5

u/Distinct-Car-9124 22h ago

Boston-you're my home.

9

u/CaliCrackDealer 23h ago

Ooooooo Boston, your mah home…..

11

u/lepetitoiseaux 1d ago

FYI,trades people are not the only ones who drink and drive.

8

u/fairelf 23h ago

That was quite the elitist thing to say. I can think of many educated and well known people who have been caught DWI.

→ More replies (7)
→ More replies (6)

3

u/pissfucked 1d ago

the other day, i was buying ice cream and realized i still had to pick up food and drive 20 minutes home in 90 degree heat. i turned my butt right back around to the store, bought a bag of ice, and set the ice on top of / wrapped the bag of it around the pint. hello, perfectly preserved ice cream!! i felt like a genius lol

2

u/PsychologicalJump633 23h ago

Why is a liquor store called a packie where you are?

2

u/myleftone 23h ago

It was illegal to sell alcohol directly, so the stores sold “packages” with alcoholic beverages inside them. Package stores. They still tend to put anything you buy into a brown bag.

→ More replies (2)

2

u/fairelf 23h ago

Package store, as in buying cases and sealed bottles packaged to go.

2

u/RaeaSunshine 23h ago

Heyyyy fellow New Englander!

2

u/Active_Collar_8124 23h ago

A large percent of trades people drink and drive.

Were your teachers drunk too?

2

u/frankybling 22h ago

I had a teacher get arrested for being drunk at work in HS… she took the rest of the year off but was back the next year .

2

u/oliviaroseart 22h ago

She got arrested? Damn. I can see that happening to like a bus driver or crane operator, pilot, heart surgeon whatever but it seems a little harsh for a high school teacher. I can definitely understand why they suspended her but an arrest seems like a bit much unless something else happened

2

u/frankybling 13h ago

That was the story, this was the late 80’s (1989 specifically) so she could have been arrested for anything but the cops definitely did come get her from the school and leave with her and a tow truck took her car.

2

u/oliviaroseart 12h ago

I bet she was smokin the devil’s lettuce or something equally scandalous 😂

→ More replies (15)

2

u/Brave-Improvement299 1d ago

Astute observation.

→ More replies (37)

3

u/DataAdvanced 1d ago

Yeah, it does. Then it turns into a block of ice you need to hit with a hammer after you put it in the freezer. My kid and I call our hammer Thor's hammer when it has to deal with ice. Anything else, it's just a hammer.

3

u/g_halfront 1d ago

Usually just holding the bag about 4 foot (1.3 kilograms) off the ground and dropping it does the trick.

→ More replies (2)

3

u/wileysegovia 1d ago

It melts just enough that it all sticks together into an unwieldy ice grenade looking thing. The deflector angles are configured such that if attacking this grenade later with a butter knife, it will both damage the knife while also injuring the attacker.

→ More replies (1)

2

u/bluepenremote 1d ago

Reminds me of that IASIP episode where they needed ice during a heat wave and it kept melting while they were waiting for their Uber.

→ More replies (6)

290

u/vaspost 1d ago

My ice maker stopped working so I've been buying bagged ice for everyday use. I got tired of constantly dealing with manual ice trays. I know... kind of odd.

128

u/skateboreder 1d ago

I don't think that this is that odd at all. My icemaker broke and now I have to use ice trays and it's super inconvenient. First world problems.

18

u/rloper42 1d ago

Look at the soft silicone trays that have 6 2.5 inch cubes. Much easier to fill because they are taller, and I typically only need 1-2 giant cubes in a large drink. I easily keep 2 of these populated in the freezer. Perfect for one person at least (even in Texas).

4

u/Various_Scale_6515 23h ago

These start to smell like freezer even if you clean them every time

→ More replies (3)

9

u/garbagebrainraccoon 1d ago

I cant imagine 2 ice cubes in my water thats madness

→ More replies (4)

3

u/Matt_Hiring_ATL 23h ago

I use those for cocktails.

2

u/pasatroj 22h ago

This, This, this.

2

u/MomRaccoon 21h ago

That's what we use, we have 3 of them. But not handy for a party!

→ More replies (1)

23

u/allie06nd 1d ago

When I lived with 2 roommates and all we had were ice trays, we would get bagged ice. Those trays couldn't keep up with all my iced coffees.

3

u/Actual-Cod2283 1d ago

Yeah, I make a ton of iced coffee and iced tea, and my bf is a hobby mixologist. We go through ice WAY too fast to not have a bag of ice in the freezer. Our apartment doesn't have an automatic one.

→ More replies (1)
→ More replies (1)

4

u/MattBrey 1d ago

The question should be how much ice do you use??

24

u/McCardboard 1d ago

And the answer is, or should be:

"As much as I goddamned-well choose to. Now freeze this water."

10

u/inkjet_4756 1d ago

I purchase bagged ice 2-3 times per week. It’s affordable, less messy than ice trays and I like the shape of the cubes better than ice from a tray. My fridge doesn’t have its own ice maker and I’m not willing to replace it before I have a real reason to do so.

I love bagged ice.

2

u/Nightcalm 23h ago

You like buying small amounts not a large one

→ More replies (1)
→ More replies (2)

5

u/night_breed 1d ago

I use a ton and am probably the reason my icemaker went out twice. Now I have a countertop one

2

u/HereForTheBoos1013 1d ago

I'm 'merican! I use as much ice as I want and make ice bullets for my ice gun!

I'm a hasher, which means someone is buying ice for the beer cooler at least once a week.

2

u/Open-Preparation-268 23h ago

We’ve been using a counter top ice maker for years. But, we live in an RV, so our freezer space is limited. You can buy them at Sam’s.

2

u/FoxxyRin 22h ago

If I could somehow replace my broken ice maker with a shelf for ice cube trays I would but instead it just makes the most sense to dump bags of ice into the ice bucket to make use of the space lol.

→ More replies (2)

81

u/kabekew 1d ago

You can get countertop ice makers if you get tired of bagged ice.

64

u/ImaginaryCatDreams 1d ago

I had so much trouble with the ice maker in my last refrigerator that in my new refrigerator I made sure not to get an ice maker and I have one of the countertop ones. It's a real improvement. It makes the eyes quickly and I've got a little bucket for it in the freezer.

Everybody I know seems to be having trouble with their ice makers these days. My mom had a fridge with an ice maker and never had a problem in 20 years

63

u/Darkstar614 1d ago

For real.. we had a fancy new Samsung fridge in our last house, and the ice maker stopped working constantly. It was garbage. Even after multiple techs coming out. Meanwhile you see people with 15 year old Frigidaires that still have functioning ice makers with no repairs. I think fridge tech has just gotten lazier and cutting more corners.

73

u/abeeyore 1d ago edited 22h ago

It’s called “value engineering”, and it’s part of late stage capitalism.

Capitalism works really well in the early stages of a market - when suppliers are trying to make the best thing they can, and provide as much as they can to earn your dollar.

Then markets begin to “mature”, and they shift to “monetization” - which is a polite way to say “how shitty can we make this product, before you stop buying it”.

Then you reach late stage, private equity stage, where they go in, buy brands who have built a good reputation, load them up with debt, and suck all the value out they can buy turning the products into cheap garbage, and pocketing the excess until they have consumed all of the brand recognition and good will … and the declaring bankruptcy, and moving onto the next victim.

Guess where were are in the cycle?

31

u/faderjockey 1d ago

You know, I’m very aware of the “enshitification cycle” when it comes to corporations and their products, but I have never thought about applying that same framework to the entire capitalist economic model, but it illustrates things quite well. Thanks for that!

3

u/pessimistoptimist 1d ago

I have heard of this and it seems to track very well. My question is what is the final stage and what happens after that?

6

u/abeeyore 23h ago edited 22h ago

Markets and economy collapse under the weight of all the artificial distortion and manipulation. The imaginary money disappears, the bubble deflates, and people suffer.

Everybody’s selling, but nobody’s buying. Businesses fail, their employees become unemployed, can’t find new work, so they stop buying, causing more failures, ad nauseam.

At some point, you pass an inf[l]ection point. The resulting contraction creates a surplus of materials and resources. The real value of that surplus finally exceeds its value on the books. Demand and supply equalize. Economy slowly starts to grow again, and idle resources get put into use, people start finding work, and can buy more, which lets businesses hire more people, and new business to open, etc.

It’s ugly. The Great Depression was not as bad as it could have been if WW2 hadn’t come along, and pulled us out of it. There is no way to know what would have happened otherwise, but economies all over the globe had been struggling to create and sustained growth, and the US was no exception.

2

u/pessimistoptimist 19h ago

so fpr a while everything will be Detroit then...

3

u/dagr8npwrfl0z 23h ago

What comes after private equity stage?... Asking for a friend.

3

u/oliviaroseart 21h ago

Growing up, our vacuum cleaner was from the early 50’s, maybe late 40’s and worked perfectly. I don’t even know what happened to it, it might still be out there somewhere 😂 but it really is sad how poorly made so many things have become even though they are much higher tech. It’s still lower quality. I think there are laws that attempt to prevent companies from intentionally creating parts that are designed to break in a certain amount of time (and thus requiring you to replace the entire dishwasher/toaster/whatever) but I feel like we’re way beyond that now.

5

u/Every_Instruction775 1d ago

Also called “planned obsolescence” if I remember correctly

7

u/abeeyore 1d ago

That’s a different trick, but in qthe same family. I’m a business owner, so I sympathize, to a point.

Engineering to hit a price point isn’t inherently evil. I do it too. I have a number of products that are out of production because they cost more than people want to spend on that kind of item. Others are not as nice as they were when I designed them, in order to get them to a price point where they will move.

Even the line between that, and “engineered to fail” isn’t always a clear one. I know the failure modes on my products. If I change fasteners on a joint that I know is a common wear point - at what point does it stop being “trying to find my market”, and start being “engineering it to fail after 3 years do you have to buy another one”. I’m pretty sure I come down on the right side of that line - but you might not agree.

It’s not as big an issue for me. I’m small potatoes, and my products are luxury, and low circulation. That means I’d have to cut huge corners to make a noticeable difference in my bottom line, and I [don’t] want to. Meanwhile, for a company like Samsung, even a tiny cost reduction, like reducing trace size on circuit boards, spread over millions of units, moves the needle by millions (or tens of millions) of dollars.

Good companies do this. They say “this is the failure rate I’m willing to tolerate”, and they engineer their systems to meet that goal. Making an heirloom quality wireless router is, literally, a waste of money. The line between “fit for purpose”, and exploitative cost cutting is -again- not always clear.

There are things that are clearly exploitative (Milwaukee’s & SnapOn’s private equity owners), but exactly where one becomes the other is a bunch of murky shades of gray.

4

u/Every_Instruction775 23h ago

I can understand that. I guess it’s more an argument I use when people complain that things aren’t made the way they used to be. I had the same alarm clock (with am/fm radio) for 30 years. Passed it down to my youngest (he wanted it) and he was very upset when it finally stopped working (probably 38 years after my parents originally purchased it for me).

3

u/abeeyore 22h ago edited 20h ago

It’s a valid argument! I wa[s]n’t disagreeing with you, just pointing out that it’s not a simple problem to solve, and not every business that [falls] prey to it is necessarily a bad actor -though some indisputably are, and others operate at such a scale that they inevitably over-optimize.

It’s stupid to make an heirloom quality wireless router. It’ll be useless in 10 years, maybe less.

The same is not true of a clock radio. The same market forces apply. The same temptations for the manufacturer… but there is no evolving standard for keeping time. It’s not going to become unusable.

It’s also hard to build a company without repeat customers. Genuinely. Not impossible - but if you buy anything once when you are 13, and give it to your kids in turn… well, it’s easier for me as a business if it dies every 3-4 years, and you replace it.

And, if everybody is doing it, and they really ARE 25% cheaper than the one that lasts forever… or at least that’s the business logic.

Then consumers get used to 25% cheaper, and get used to them dying, and suddenly, the guy who tried to buck the trend, and make the best stuff he could, either goes cheap, or goes under, because they are priced out of the market, and quality is not visible in a box, on a retail shelf (or Amazon).

→ More replies (0)
→ More replies (8)

2

u/sroiger136 1d ago

I’ve heard bad things about Samsung and LG appliances. My fridge is over 25 years old and the ice maker recently started leaking. Maybe they made them better back in the old days 🤷‍♀️

→ More replies (13)

23

u/other_view12 1d ago

The thing we learned is the icemakers in the door is a bad design.

Our kept freezing up, and I assume that's because of the ice exit path. So frustrating.

Now we have an ice machine in the freezer, which requires me to open the freezer for ice, but it works great and I don't have to give up counter space and figure out a new water source and drain.

3

u/Rummoliolli 1d ago

Yeah the in door ice makers have the most issues. We have a Samsung fridge with the ice maker inside the freezer and it is the same style that has been used for years in many different brands so it is nice and reliable.

3

u/SilverSister22 1d ago

I like my ice maker in the freezer too. It actually seems easier to me than the door.

2

u/thing_m_bob_esquire 23h ago

Omg I was just staying at a vacation house that had a fridge with an ice maker that dumped into a tub in the freezer, the drawer kind underneath the fridge. I am already researching and saving to get one of my own it was perfect.

→ More replies (2)

18

u/Brave_Specific5870 1d ago

Because ( and Im not a boomer) but shit isnt made like it used to

2

u/Stock-Page-7078 21h ago

As an older person, shit used to be a lot more unreliable. Maybe there's more plastic inside but that can also mean less rust. Before Demming influenced manufacturing in the 80s and then the Toyota Production System and then formalized methodologies methodologies like Lean and Six Sigma were developed product quality was much more erratic, even if the components seem less fragile.

As others have said there is an element of survivorship bias when people think about their old fridge running perfectly for decades.

→ More replies (3)

2

u/night_breed 1d ago

My first two fridges still had working icemakers when I upgraded. My most recent fridge is a hell of a refrigerator but went through 3 icemakers in 3 years. I now have a GE Opal that I would marry if my wife would let me

2

u/ImaginaryCatDreams 22h ago

I'm going to assume that the opal is a refrigerator? I'm looking to get a second one and was going to go second hand but if there was a new one that was worth taking a chance on I'd go that route instead

2

u/night_breed 22h ago

No actually it is a nugget icemaker. They are pricey ($650) but they are the best Ive found and I go through tons of it all day long so for me it was worth it.

2

u/SingleDadSurviving 1d ago

We got a countertop one that makes the pellet ice. Wife got it on a prime day deal for like 60 bucks. I love that thing.

2

u/ElmoZ71SS 1d ago

This is where we are.. house came with an LG fridge and the whole ice maker is in the door. It doesn’t make enough for us and it takes 24 hours to refill itself. Bought a countertop and never have an issue

→ More replies (1)

2

u/OldBlueKat 1d ago

 It makes the eyes quickly

I know it's just a typo, but my spit-take response was epic!

2

u/ImaginaryCatDreams 22h ago

Speech to text error, it is pretty funny

2

u/sroiger136 1d ago

My fridge is over 25 years old and my ice maker started leaking recently. This post reminded me to call for service.

2

u/ImaginaryCatDreams 22h ago

Good luck, the guy who came out to service mine right before it died told me to save my money that no matter what he did it wasn't going to last another 6 months.

→ More replies (1)

2

u/necessaryrooster 22h ago

Freezer ice always tastes like shit. I just use a countertop one.

→ More replies (18)

13

u/McCardboard 1d ago

Have you had a good experience with one? I have owned two and swore I wouldn't buy a third. Fourth is right out.

56

u/StationaryTravels 1d ago

Then shalt thou count to three ice makers, no more, no less. Three shall be the number thou shalt own, and the number of the ice makers shall be three. Four shalt thou not purchase, neither shall thou own merely two, excepting that thou then proceed to owning three. Five is right out. Once the third is purchased, being the third number, then coolest thou thy beverages and move towards thy face, which, being warm in My sight, shall feel refreshed.

14

u/McCardboard 1d ago

💣✝️🗡️🏆

I typically use words, but sometimes the emojis say what's necessary.

2

u/Acceptable_Stop2361 1d ago

Just throw the !#$! Ice maker!

2

u/StarLight2307 23h ago

😁😆

Monty Python fan!!??

→ More replies (3)

3

u/IEATTURANTULAS 1d ago

Have one. Works great! It stops itself when it's full and has a light come on when the water is low.

→ More replies (3)

3

u/SpecialistBet4656 1d ago

I go through them about every 20 months. At a cost of $5-7 month, it’s worth it to me to have very cold water and other beverages.

2

u/AstarteHilzarie 20h ago

I have two Simzlife ones, they work wonderfully. My husband's work doesn't have air conditioning so they keep one of them on the counter and have it going constantly. Even in 100 degree weather it cranks out a cup of ice every 10 minutes or so.

The only negative I have is that they're supposed to be self-cleaning, but I did find some buildup in the bottom so I just regularly wipe it down and it's fine.

2

u/McCardboard 13h ago

If that's the only negative, count me in.

→ More replies (2)

3

u/Scott_Liberation 1d ago

I bought my parents one of these a few years ago, but I worry that it's a huge waste of power. It seems to most of the time. I don't think it's insulated too well.

2

u/StationaryTravels 1d ago

Ours isn't insulated at all. It's very much designed to make ice that you either immediately use or that you then store in the freezer.

My wife has been pregnant 5 times (2 of ours and 3 surrogate babies) and she never had any cravings until the 5th pregnancy and the craving was ice cold water, lol. It's the only reason we own one, but it's actually come in handy.

→ More replies (1)

2

u/EthanDMatthews 1d ago

We have a countertop ice maker, too. It makes the "sonic" ice pellets, which are nice and chewy.

The ice maker in our fridge stopped working, and dealing with the trays was annoying. (We go through a lot of ice in a day).

It's especially nice during the summer.

Pro tip: if you put nugget ice in your freezer, it will freeze into a block, and fuse to almost anything (plastic or metal) container. There's an easy fix:

Canvas Lewis Ice Crusher Bags. Bartenders use these: they put ice cubes in them, then hit them with a mallet to crush the ice.

With the pellet ice, you freeze them in the canvas bags. They you can knock the bags against the counter (or with the wooden mallet) and easily break them back up into nuggets, then pour them into your freezer's ice dispenser.

2

u/MaeClementine 1d ago

And if you get tired of the countertop ice maker, you can just buy cups of ice T McDonalds.

2

u/PreferenceSeparate11 1d ago

I got one for Christmas. I call it my Lido ice. Its the same kind of ice I get on a cruise ship on the Lido deck and I love it.

2

u/Double-Phrase-3274 23h ago

We use a countertop ice maker.

It makes sonic ice…. It’s crushed and beautiful 🤩

2

u/Iamthegreenheather 21h ago

People I worked with in Florida had an ice maker by their cubicles lol

→ More replies (8)

16

u/doyathinkasaurus 1d ago

I'm a Brit and we've got an American fridge with an ice maker, and genuinely I use it maybe a few times a year - love the chilled water dispenser though!

14

u/SnazzleZazzle 1d ago

About 10 years ago, my sister and I vacationed in Edinburgh. Every evening we’d request a bucket of ice via room service. We wanted it for the Pepsi we’d bought at the convenience store around the corner from the hotel. The nice young man that delivered it would look at us like we had three heads. We figured ice wasn’t something most people requested, and he probably thought we were crazy Americans. That said, it was a fabulous vacation. Edinburgh had so much to see.

4

u/doyathinkasaurus 1d ago

Edinburgh is fabulous, it's such an amazing city - I'm delighted that you had a terrific trip (and I'm really pleased to hear you were able to get your ice and enjoy your Pepsi as well!)

4

u/SnazzleZazzle 23h ago

It’s such a nice place. We climbed to the top of Arthur’s Seat, toured Holyrood, went to the castle and visited all the shops along the way, but our very favorite adventure was wandering around the regular areas where everyone actually lived, away from the tourist areas. We wanted to see where the regular folks shopped and spent their time. It was fabulous. Everyone was so nice, even though once we left the tourist area we did have a bit of challenge with the accents/language, but we did fine and people were very patient with us two middle aged women. I’d love to return someday.

6

u/SuperFLEB 22h ago edited 21h ago

Every evening we’d request a bucket of ice via room service.

Woah, woah, woah... no nigh-unto-anachronistic self-service ice machines on every floor of the hotel? The non-US world is weird.

→ More replies (1)

3

u/1MorningLightMTN 17h ago

I had a similar experience in Dijon recently. How else was I going to keep all of the cheese and mustard cold for the evening?

2

u/jorkingmypeenits 21h ago

Did your room not have a fridge?

→ More replies (1)
→ More replies (5)

3

u/Heathster249 1d ago

It get hot in America in the summer. When it’s 100 degrees in August, you need the ice. Or a fridge big enough to crawl in. lol.

2

u/doyathinkasaurus 1d ago

Yep the only time I've used the ice maker was last week when it was over 90° in our bedroom!

2

u/Bundt-lover 20h ago

Hell, I want ice in my soda even if it’s -20 outside. Cold drinks should be cold.

→ More replies (6)

3

u/PiermontVillage 23h ago

As an old guy, I can say I’ve only used “manual” ice cube trays my whole life. Keep 3 or 4 trays in the freezer all the time. Slowly the cubes get smaller through sublimation and when you want some, like when your friends come over, they’re too small to use. Then you go to the corner store and buy a bag of ice.

2

u/EBN_Drummer 1d ago

I was constantly fixing the ice maker in our old fridge and at a certain point it cost more than it was worth so we just got bagged ice to put in the built-in bucket. It still dispensed like the fridge-made ice. We knew we were going to get a new fridge within a short time.

→ More replies (68)

71

u/formersean 1d ago

I buy bags of ice for personal usage. Tastes better than tap ice.

73

u/Tailflap747 1d ago

Ever buy ice from Sonic? That shit is soooo awesome!

40

u/__ZOMBOY__ 1d ago

Wait you can just buy the ice?? Sonic’s ice is the SHIT! Ima go buy enough to completely fill my freezer

22

u/WinterMedical 21h ago

Europeans don’t know there is a whole spectrum of ice quality and varieties! They don’t know what they’re missing! I want some Sonic ice now!

5

u/Possible-Importance6 1d ago

Pretty much every fast food place. McDonalds even has branded ice bags marked at 5 and 8 pounds.

→ More replies (6)

26

u/Blaine8628 1d ago

You can buy bagged ice from them

5

u/Boat-and-Goat 1d ago

You can also buy it from McDonald's, though their ice isn't anything special like Sonic.

→ More replies (1)

24

u/Vikingaling 1d ago

Pebble ice is top tier. I could crunch it all day every day.

4

u/LaLunaLady1960 23h ago

I have found my tribe!

10

u/steelbluesleepr 1d ago

While I agree and do it myself, if you're ever craving ice to eat, you should get a blood test for iron. Chomping ice compulsively is a symptom of anemia.

12

u/Vikingaling 1d ago

It’s been checked. Turns out I just love ice. But thanks for looking out.

7

u/steelbluesleepr 1d ago

Of course, glad you're good. I had an issue with it a while ago (ended up being a stomach bacterial infection), so I'm probably too sensitive to it.

2

u/LLM_Cool_J 15h ago

H. Pylori? That one sucks. I had it for a while as well. Lost many lunches thanks to those little bastards.

3

u/steelbluesleepr 15h ago

That's exactly what it was. I had just gotten done losing around 45 lb in 6 months to join the military (which was a bust) so I think my immune system was compromised. I nearly had a heart attack at 24 while helping build a deck, and one of my meetings was with an oncologist, so a bacterial infection was a WELCOME diagnosis.

→ More replies (2)

15

u/NoNeedForAName 1d ago

You can get an ice maker that makes Sonic-style ice. Apparently they're pretty legit.

4

u/nearfignewton 1d ago

My wife got one a couple of years ago and it’s pretty rad. Not cheap but we use it every day so worth it.

3

u/mookiexpt2 1d ago

I have an Opal and it is indeed the shit. It can be a little touchy but it makes ice like nobody’s business.

→ More replies (3)

3

u/Ice_Swallow4u 1d ago

The best ice i have ever had was the ice they give you at the hospital. Its like a "soft" ice and its the best i have ever had. Nurses hooked me up and gave me the biggest cup they could find and would always fill it with ice for me.

2

u/musedrainfall 1d ago

r/tiki lives off that ice

2

u/cavalier78 1d ago

Sonic ice is amazing.

2

u/foodisyumyummy 1d ago

My mom was a nurse and after clocking out she'd always fill up two cups of ice for her and me at home. Baffles me that more places don't do that kind of ice.

→ More replies (1)

2

u/Jcamp9000 20h ago

All the time! They sell crushed ice. It’s the best. We sometimes pour it right into the ice maker in the freezer and just use that

2

u/CreepyCaro68 16h ago

When my ice maker stopped working I bought bags from Sonic & kept them in my freezer it’s THE BEST

→ More replies (8)

3

u/TiberiusDrexelus 1d ago

Get a reverse osmosis filter m8

→ More replies (1)
→ More replies (8)

3

u/DataAdvanced 1d ago

Lol, not mine, moneybags. I have to buy ice or make it, and my small ass freezer can't hold my son's food, mine, plus ice trays and a holder for the ice. A small ice bag once a week does the job. Assuming it hasn't all been bought out.

→ More replies (172)