Venson,</p><p> Thanks for your thought what you thought Aerus should a been but infringement on other's patents is not one of things that a good company will do.. The PB 1 is designed for the foreign market and not the U.S. carpet. Aerus has the right to Lux in U.S. and Canada and other areas in this hemisphere. What did you think of the Turbo Tool? Back in the late 80's Electrolux had such a tool- Americans didn't go for it. I have two. Things you may like from other markets in the world won't always work in the U.S. I am sure Aerus has researched that. Aerus is taking tried and true products and improving them from the inside. Styling and color and what people like is what will sell in this market. </p><p> If you want an example of using a body people liked and see improvements insde and minor details outside look at the AMC Hornet. $80 million dollars to bring it out in 1970 and the body was in use for 15 years in modified looks. Sure it came from the smallest of the Big 4 but it made money and there are still people wishing they still had them.</p><p> Procare
Hi procare,
I really wanted a Lux 1 (still do). It's had better features -- filtration set-up, etc. -- all along. For the USA all it needs is a beefier PN. As well, I past also liked the Canadian Electroluxes -- now no more -- like the Model 89, which I think beat the Model G hands down because, cord reel and all, they worked in an exhaust filter. The front end is hinged. You just undid a latch and there was the exhaust filter. The clean air quotient had to be a lot better.
In any event, I had some money to mess around with and I tried like all get out to make the acquisition of a Lux 1 happen for me about a year or so back. The very first thing that I learned was that there was indeed some kind of agreement between Lux International and Aerus. I stll don't quite get it. If Hyla, Delphin and even Roboclean have distributors here why not Lux International? But that's another discussion . . .
Yes, the other issue of course was voltage. I couldn't understand how a company that claimed it sold throught Europe, Asia and AMOST all the rest of the world did not have a 120 AC version somewhere. Anyway, I perservered and tracked down a dealer in the Bahamas who could have arranged the purchase of a 120 volt model. After about three or four phone calls that lead me to believe I had a real chance, the fly in the ointment that time was that this gentleman's business was a small concern and he claimed he could not order just one unit. He suggested that I might get things arranged by a dealer he knew in Florida but I did not pursue.
Europe and other parts of the world appear to have a more practical approach to things. Low pile carpet with a little padding underneath feels fine underfoot and is easy to clean. Why we need the sensation of being up to our ankles in "rug" I can't say but I quess the American "more's better" sentiment is going to prevail for a long, long, time.
During the early '90s I spent four-and-one-half years out fo the country in Munich, Copenhagen, Istanbul and Ankara and the Grand CAries. Lifestyles were indeed varied but no one went overboard on carpeting. The one thing I noted was that carpet was generally low pile much as it had been in ordinary homes here in the 1950s -- at least it was that way in my neck of the woods Niagara County, New York.
In time, good synthetic materials, nylon for one, allowed for more luxurious yet affordable carpeting that just about everyone could own if they wanted to. But back in the day, I think deep pile carpet with a dense weave was more a thing for folks with money and lots of it.
I saw lots low pile carpet and also lots of straight suction canisters in use during my travels. Yet, I actually have no recall of seeing a upright vac or canister with a PN at work anywhere.
The Lux Turbo tool is interestng but it depends on suction to run. As well, the like here usually costs two times or more the price of a decent electric drill or sander. I liked the floor polisher that came with the early American Electroluxes (I have one I use now and then) and found them actually handy if you don't have a lot of ground to cover. I like the air-powered polisher Filter Queen made to but though it could be accessorized to drill and sand it too never seemed like much of a big deal.
I have never known quite what to make of some of the doo-dads that have been sold with vacuums. The big carpet disc thing from Interstate Compact, the hair dryer and the vibrator from FQ. And Kirby -- well forget it. Kirby fitted you out with so much stuff that you could have probably gone out into your yard and started drilling for oil. IF you had enough cord. My persoanl claim to fane is that I an the obly person I know that used their Hoover's demothing attachment.
Oddly, my clearest Electrolux memory is that for all those people that got the spray attachment, only once in my life did I see someone repaint her kitchen cabinets with one. All the rest I've seen are still in their boxes waiting eBay.
Best,
Venson
