AS MIGHT BE EXPECTED, the longest-serving piece of technology in my life has no moving parts. It's a hand-operated Borner vegetable slicer that I bought for $12 in 1987 from an Italian in West Germany. Since then, it's been with me in at least 10 different kitchens, helping me prepare meals and slice up things for stir frying or baking. It's quiet (unless you slice your fingers carelessly), clean, eco-friendly and dependable. Since purchasing the little guy, its cost has tripled but that's what you might expect with an implement that continues to be made in Germany and not outsourced to China for manufacture. I don't know if we'll ever buy another because during the past 20 years, there's really been no wear or tear. The metal tines seem impervious to wood, buckshot and stone. They have passed over all those surfaces while slicing and dicing countless meals of meat and vegetables.
Swissmar Borner Slicer.
