Why Everything You Buy Is Worse Now

Have any of you noticed how bad everything is right now? And I'm not talking about the overall state of the planet. The goods we purchase now are marginally inferior to those of ten years ago. My coworker Mike posted about having to replace his phone, which got me to thinking about this.

So I'm going to do what any reasonable person would do and purchase the same item from the same vendor. After a few weeks, it simply started to fall apart.

So this kind of set me on the path of, alright, I'm hearing anecdotes from so many individuals in my life that I talk to. from coffee makers to sweaters, phones, computers, etc. They all rip, snap, or blow up far more quickly than they used to. So what is happening? And is there a way to get out from under this mountain of rubbish left by consumers?

So let's start with the design process and discuss this in the most fundamental terms possible. There are three key things to think about when a corporation wants to create something, like, say, a jacket.

Functionality: Is it effective?

Do you think it looks good?

And how easily and cheaply can a large quantity of this product be produced?

A good product will often have a nice combination of these three elements. However, this process has become out of balance recently. Consider clothing as an example. When you needed a new jacket in the past, you would visit a tailor, have your measurements taken, select the material, and have the item produced. Then, for many years, we bought mass-produced items from department stores rather than going to a tailor for a jacket. By the 1980s and 1990s, we had a wide variety of options and shops. And nowadays, a lot of us simply go online, click "add to cart," and purchase something without ever having had it in our hands. However, it's not just how we buy; it's also how frequently. And we can sort of blame this man for it. Ernest Elmo, wow, such a name. He prepared a report in the 1930s, at the height of the Great Depression, that said, "Okay, the government should support this idea of planned obsolescence." However, he didn't use the term "planned obsolescence." He referred to it as "consumer engineering." Recall the jacket you purchased? Well, it's no longer in style and the season has changed. Zippers are in, whereas buttons are out. You then purchase a new item. Not, however, because the original had any physical flaws. It is for this reason that consumer engineering is referred to. It's up here in the brain, sort of. And we have been doing it for years. As a result, we constantly desire the next best thing. And now the demand has gotten out of hand.

We are encircled right now. The quickness with which some trend cycles change and the way in which these micro-communities are catered to. Like Stanley Cups, then maybe a year ago was Hydro Flasks. The result is that we buy a lot. A survey done in 2021 found that nearly 40% of UK consumers buy clothing as often as once a month. The UN reports that between the years 2000 and 2014, the average person was buying 60% more clothing… and each item was only kept half as long. So we want to buy a lot of stuff fast and because we replace our stuff so often we don't want to spend a lot of money on it, which has an effect too. People aren't willing to pay more for something they purchased a while ago. In other words, if I paid $50 for a phone, 10 years ago it would have been extremely difficult for me to pay $150 for it, even though in the last 10 years labor costs have risen. So what we're left with is an incredibly fast cycle of demand for low-cost products. And here's what that looks like. Companies must either increase employee numbers, change the way products are produced, or do both to speed up production. But they also have to keep prices low enough for consumers to keep buying. So they may start substituting fabrics like cotton or silk for cheaper synthetic materials. Or rely on a more basic stitching pattern that maybe just doesn't hold as well. So if after 10 years, you're still paying the same amount or close to the same price for a product that looks the same well, something had to change. So you might say, "Okay, George, fashion trends are moving too fast and we buy too much stuff. I get it. I get it." "But why does my washing machine suck?" And that's a great question.

Let's talk about technology. When things like computers first became part of our daily lives it made a lot of sense to upgrade devices pretty often. There were actually very big differences between what a device did that was 2 years old versus one that was brand new in the market. There were just big leaps. Gay Gordon-Bryne. She directs a consumer advocacy group called the Repair Association. You know, if you had a 2-year-old thing you probably couldn't do half the cool stuff that the other guy could do. So that kind of fueled the replacement cycle because you really did get something better in terms of functionality. For example, when the iPhone was first made, it was a major breakthrough. Subsequent phones up to a point responded to major technological leaps.

Like, look at the difference between the 3GS and the 4. The iPhone 4 had a way better resolution and a front-facing camera. For a while, these big leaps between models were the norm for technology. But we're not making those giant changes as often anymore. Instead, partly to make us want to buy more things, companies make very minor adjustments year after year.

So the dryer you own may now play a delightful little tune after a cycle instead of shouting. And now, as technology advanced and became more complex, there was a new issue for consumers. All these things started to come into the world. They did not arrive with repair equipment. They came in to be thrown away. When this stuff breaks. It's often intentionally impossible to repair. Because if you buy something that has a computer chip in it or a circuit board or whatever you probably can't make one in your garage.

As a result, you are very dependent on the products the manufacturer will agree to sell. Additionally, they frequently refuse to give you a diagram or even agree to sell you any components, tools, or diagnostics. However, there are times when a fix simply cannot be made due to cost-cutting measures, much like when plastic and glue were used in place of metal and screws in the fashion industry. And these kinds of issues apply across the board in technology... from your phone to toasters to blenders, to electric wheelchairs to your car. You would probably be shocked to learn just how many items you own that have chips in them if you took a tour around your home or apartment and started keeping track. I want people to have optimism. Yes, there are aspects of this that are beyond our control and some that are not. I don't want you to feel bad about participating in this system because, like so many other people, we've kind of been culturally conditioned to think and act in this way. We have a remarkable degree of influence over this issue compared to other awful things in the world. Fighting for the right to repair is actually very successful with technology.

The right-to-repair law was recently approved in New York State in 2022; it isn't ideal, but it is something. Avoid micro trends and rapid fashion as much as you can when it comes to clothing. Purchase carefully and become a good steward of what you already own. Consider your objects as requiring upkeep. Read the care instructions. It will take some time for us consumers to sort through all that garbage and slightly rewire our thinking. However, we may make modest changes to regain command of the situation. After all, all of this stuff was created with us in mind.

Let's be clear about what we want.