There are many intangibles in the equation @jacobtothe... like the speed of technology, these days; stuff is obsolete between the time you pick it up at Best Buy and the time you open the box at home; there's our thirst for "novelty," although I suspect part of that is artificially created; there's the societal pressures to always strive to have "the biggest pile of toys," which means sacrificing quality for quantity... the list is long.

I happen to value well-made things, and such ideas as "heirloom quality." I was born and raised in Denmark; people live in 300-year old buildings... they could have been knocked down and given way to modern apartment blocks, but they were built well and instead get renovated over and over. I still have all the hand tools my dad gave me for my 16th birthday.

I'm not saying or suggesting that everyone should think like me, but I am saying that I really would rather not have my way of thinking be made obsolete by the underlying "Wal-Mart-ization" of the world... to use the Harbor Freight example... there should absolutely be a Harbor Freight option, BUT when that approach causes the quality tool maker to go out of business... then I see that as a problem.