I just made a quick list for myself about many of the things that I like or are important to me and noticed a significant negative trend going on since about 2015.
Just some examples:
- Clothes that used to be great quality are falling apart after just a year or two
- Clothing brands going from trend setters to completely bland run-of-the-mill brands
- Tech products getting increasingly unreliable
- Movies/TV shows getting unwatchable
- Cars getting ugly and bloated with unnecessary ‘smart’ features
Comments
Sure, sometimes products will add complexity in an effort to stay relevant. Often times, this seems superfluous, especially if you’re paying for these new features which you don’t use. More features mean more things to go wrong. Higher prices mean pressure to reduce costs to keep prices down, resulting in lower quality.
I have already begun to choose products that are more expensive, but have fewer features, which is sort of a double-whammy. Speed Queen TR3/DR3 products, for example.
its called enshittification
Vampire capitalism at work. Stagnant wages and ultra consumerism. I hoped after Covid things would get better as the people would be awakened. But it seems the opposite has happened. Streaming services littered with ads. Take out is bottom of the barrel. Costs are way up. :/
Yeah, it’s called getting older. When you were a kid older people had the same complaints about things you enjoy compared to how they were 10-20 years before you were born.
It’s the perpetual cycle of growth. Companies are driven to reduce costs so they make shittier products. They have to sell the new model so they add features. They don’t need to be more profitable so they cut corners.
It really has gotten so bad. Vacuums are another one to add to your list. It’s getting harder and harder to find ones that last. I remember my grandmother had a vacuum she bought long before I was born and had it throughout my entire childhood. Now it’s rare to find one that makes it longer than a couple of years.
Here are some vacuum brands we researched for r/BIFLVacuums that are designed to be serviceable and offer 5+ year warranties.
SEBO
Warranty: Up to 10 years (when purchased from an authorized dealer)
Miele
Warranty: 5 years on motor/casing; up to 10 years on some models (like HomeCare)
Riccar
Warranty: 4 to 8 years depending on model
Lindhaus
Warranty: Around 5 years
Numatic (Henry)
Warranty: 2 to 5 years depending on model/retailer
Simplicity
Warranty: 4 to 7 years depending on model and dealer
Kirby
Warranty: Limited lifetime (with caveats)
Almost all chocolate is actually just colored palm oil and it’s fucking gross.
Companies are required by law to make 2% more profit this quarter than last and next quarter as well. The only way to do this is through enshittification. Cut costs, employees, buy cheaper materials, etc. This is by design so oligarchs can have more.
And good too. Everything is losing quality.. it’s sad.
There’s a few reasons:
Video on products: https://youtu.be/DHXBacEH0qo
Video on the internet/tech: https://youtu.be/JOSqHPnqoIA
Generally when a company is sold off, their items are inflated because they want to make a return through further outsourcing or through cutting corners.
The brands I tend to buy are smaller, but I am willing to pay more upfront for them due to small and ethical manufacturing processes, which turn out to be better in the long run.
For new ‘cool’ things, I usually try them once. If they rip or wear out quickly, then it is a no. Same with streaming, we have got rid of most of the services since they raise rates or the shows are dime a dozen.
Cars are another weird one. As a car guy, a few of them are objectively getting better stylistically, or at least are staying on par. For a few of the new models however, the MSRP have jumped, which is part of the problem. A few of the brands are also cutting out smart features, so I would say check around first.
Yes.
And no one is doing anything about it.
Yes, yes, yes. Clothing is ill-fitting and poorly constructed, made of questionable fabrics. Restaurant meals are just frozen prepared and alike everywhere. Same plastic junk everywhere you look.
Does anyone feel the opposite?
well, if you make one good products that would last people decades, who’s gonna be your return customer to enrich your pockets? it’s all really bad
the enshittification – the lemonade portion is the removal of shit products paves way for better and newer things.. personally i wish i was born 3 generations ago or 3 generations from now..
I’ve used Ivory Soap my entire life but looked into the ingredients after getting a rash. They stopped using sodium tallowate and now use sodium palmate. Not only that, the soap doesn’t even float anymore.
I was just thinking about #4 over the weekend. When did everyone screaming become every show out right now. 😫
What bothers me in my city is how developers don’t care about the buildings they make. The city has grown so much in the past 15 years and there’s a crazy amount of development, but the newest buildings are garbage. They don’t care about sound insulation or creating actual livable spaces as opposed to doling out square footage in the most efficient way possible. I miss how our buildings used to be made with unique accents and the apartments were spacious and interesting. We’re basically just a giant resort now and you’re lucky to be here at all.
Bought a sharper image cordless wand vacuum and loved it. Powerful and so light. 3 months later the battery swells up on me, no getting it off and dangerous. Had just tossed the receipt so sharper image nor target would help me replace it (no surprise there). Replaced it with a shark since we have pets. After 6 months it will not suck dirt into the trash compartment. I’ve taken it completely apart, emptied everything, made sure the wand and all dirt entry points were unclogged, cleaned the brush off completely. it sucks up enough to pull our thin carpet up but just spits all the dirt back out into the floor. I figure I’ll have a tinkering type handyman look at it but ffs is anything worth the money anymore?
our food ain’t food
You’re mentioning a number of different phenomena, and a lot of people’s response will be, “Capitalism, amirite?”, but it’s useful to examine why this is happening… and whether it actually is.
First of all, part of capitalism is that, if people don’t buy it, it won’t sell. Companies are producing to the tastes of the public, and the public is choosing to consume.
For clothes, when you spend a fraction of the inflation-adjusted cost as in yesteryear in a world where wages are rising, you can’t expect quality to be better. Many consumers don’t know how to shop for quality or, in some cases, don’t care, preferring 5 $20 dresses that fall apart to one $100 dress that lasts. So that’s what’s made.
For TV, many reviewers say we’re in a golden age, but whether or not we are, there’s more choice than ever, and most entertainment means more of it will be low budget or otherwise crap.
For films, studios won’t take risks, so as long as franchises are more reliable with audience than other films, studios will prefer franchises. And, as someone getting older, you (and I) may prefer the best of the past to what’s new this month.
For tech, if you’re going to buy a new phone in two or four years anyway, why make one that lasts 10 or 15 years? That said, a have a friend who won’t budge from her 11-year-old iPhone, so take that as you will. In general, tech actually does last longer. I’m typing this on a 13-year-old laptop, while 13 years ago, the idea that a laptop from 1999 would still work would be laughable. I had my last phone for five years with only one (optional) sensor getting busted (and then suddenly working again), while my first smartphone had a button going wonky after only two years; eventually even the power button wouldn’t work. Things have gotten better.
That shows that your perception is likely colored by selection bias. You’re noticing what’s getting worse, not what’s getting better.
Disposable razors! Every subscription company I’ve ever joined, 3 different ones specifically, the quality just got shittier and shittier. Now they’re no better than the flimsy one-and-done razors from the pack you can by at the dollar store.
I did switch to a nice safety razor, and am much happier with the quality, but what a disappointing experience.
Everything’s a subscription now. I half expect my fridge to charge me monthly to keep stuff cold.
Yea everything’s is declining. People do not care anymore.
Don’t forget how unimaginative modern houses are.
100%
Even things that they should be able to just NOT TOUCH are getting worse.
Planned obsolescence. Been happening for longer than a decade too.
Yes. Everything everyone is saying in here really is true. I’ve been noticing it for a while myself. Especially clothing lines quality and aesthetic appeal and the cars you mentioned. The question is why is it really happening? Creativity/style has gone out the window in some cases in the mid-class & upper class range. Time to find new brands is all.
Shareholders FUCKED UP Video Games. Im 47 and haven’t touched any of the new systems. I refuse to buy something digital that I don’t technically own, and if I buy a physical copy it’s just a blank disc that I have to go home and download the map and whole game for 5 hours before I even get to play. Add in the constant patches and updates and shit just sucks. I busted out my old Xbox 360 with a backlog of quality games that can keep my family and I entertained for the next 5 years. Not because I’m cheap as I have a modicum of financial success and a healthy salary, however just out of the pure notion that just as you all have stated, things just suck nowadays.
This is why one should find niche brands that focus on reliability and learn how to best maintain your stuff.
Mcdonalds as well. They’re so understaffed these days.
company’s make money on repeat sales, not one off. all companies are incentivised to make thing just good enough, but not so good it lasts forever
Restaurants have gone to shit with their
automatic flip tipping machines, half as much food but almost twice the price, and no improvement to the quality of their menu items.
It has always been this way, trust me, I’m a hundred so I know (61). If you find a product that you love, especially something you wear, like that, buy as many of them as you can afford and store. There was a shoe I loved. I’m a man, so not shoe love like that, like THE best leather shoe ever. Stopped making it. Best underwear, stopped…. best shirts, stopped… on and on. So now I hoard since I’m old and can afford whatever
I remember a good laptop would get you almost 10 years back in the day. Now those things start to disintegrate right after the warranty ends in 3-5 years.