[mijamo]

I do not know where you are from but the description of the plugs basically match the ones still installed in France (although many don't require screws because they have built it fixations that just "click"), and I have never seen one that requires glue or soldering. Appliance life expectancy has also gone way up statistically, just like cars, although people often complain about the complexity of both. Most washing machines are pretty easy to fix for the parts that do break for instance. Of course if you get a dead motherboard it is not easy to fix, but usually wear and tear happens more on the mechanical pieces that are well documented and also now full of tutorials on how to change them on the internet. My parents and grandparents never dared doing anything on their appliances because nobody taught them to. I am not particularly handy but I have been fixing their appliances just following some basic instructions.

[hooby]

Not the sockets - I'm talking of the plugs that you put into the sockets.

I haven't seen a plug with screws in ages. They all are a single molded piece now, aren't they?

See: https://www.kulthifi.de/WebRoot/Store19/Shops/80012341/5E84/... for example.

[denton-scratch]

I think there are regulations requiring that new products with mains plugs must have them moulded on. I think it's a safety thing; users tend to fit plugs incorrectly, causing fires. I think it's regrettable; the correct remedy would have been to teach kids how to wire a plug correctly. Oh well.

[tonyedgecombe]

We were taught that in school. I remember it well because we were given a short piece of cable and plug to do it ourselves. Sadly the idiot next to me plugged his in and switched it on whilst the other end of the cable was shorted out.

Turns out it's much easier to fix the plug than fix people.

[CaptainZapp]

Yes, they usually are.

But you can - if you're so inclined - buy plugs with screws and replace the molded ones by cutting the cable.

[hooby]

And the cut off molded ones still end up in a landfill.

And that's my point - in my granddads time, all devices came with plugs that could be repaired and re-used (and my granddad never threw them away) - and today, all devices come with plugs that can only be cut off and thrown away.

I fully believe that the molded ones are actually both cheaper AND more durable (will last longer without needing repair). But they are neither repairable nor reusable, and thus still end up in a landfill sooner than the old ones, when those old ones do get repaired and reused.

And the same is true for most other components of any device.

[tonyedgecombe]

I cut them off at the other end. I replaced the cable and plug on a mixer fairly recently.