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You have been able to put to words the feeling that I have had for such a long time. Thanks. I don't know if the world is getting a shittier place. But it sure

by vsc 9y ago

You have been able to put to words the feeling that I have had for such a long time. Thanks. I don't know if the world is getting a shittier place. But it surely is getting less reliable.

TeMPOraL 9y ago
> I don't know if the world is getting a shittier place. But it surely is getting less reliable. It is, because everything is being optimized into literal minimum viable products. That's how competitive markets work - whatever aspect of your product or business you can cut out to save money and thus get ahead of your competitors, you will cut out, and then your competitors will cut it out too, in order not to get outcompeted by you. This race-to-the-bottom phenomenon is fundamental to how competition works, and the result is that products gradually lose quality. It's the reason why your grandfather's washing machine probably works 'till this day, while you have to fix your new one every year, and will probably replace it in five years. "Building to last" is a good example of a quality that the market economy optimized out over time across pretty much all products in all sectors.
- Rescis 9y ago
  > It's the reason why your grandfather's washing machine probably works 'till this day, while you have to fix your new one every year, and will probably replace it in five years. Adjusting the cost of each product with inflation, things really are built like they used to be. Your grandfathers washing machine both cost far more than a current model* (again, adjusted for inflation), and all of the poorly built old washing machines broke and no on sees/thinks about them anymore. * I am having trouble finding a source on washing machines specifically, however I'm assuming they followed the same trends as most commodities tracked by BLS: https://data.bls.gov/cgi-bin/surveymost?ap https://data.bls.gov/cgi-bin/surveymost?ap As questionable as citing Reddit is, this post rather well encompasses what I am trying to get at: https://www.reddit.com/r/Showerthoughts/comments/4kn8ku/the_only_reason_why_we_think_things_were_built_to/d3gtfbt/?st=jbicihs9&sh=2826402c https://www.reddit.com/r/Showerthoughts/comments/4kn8ku/the_...

by vsc 9y ago

You have been able to put to words the feeling that I have had for such a long time. Thanks. I don't know if the world is getting a shittier place. But it surely is getting less reliable.

TeMPOraL 9y ago

> I don't know if the world is getting a shittier place. But it surely is getting less reliable. It is, because everything is being optimized into literal minimum viable products. That's how competitive markets work - whatever aspect of your product or business you can cut out to save money and thus get ahead of your competitors, you will cut out, and then your competitors will cut it out too, in order not to get outcompeted by you. This race-to-the-bottom phenomenon is fundamental to how competition works, and the result is that products gradually lose quality. It's the reason why your grandfather's washing machine probably works 'till this day, while you have to fix your new one every year, and will probably replace it in five years. "Building to last" is a good example of a quality that the market economy optimized out over time across pretty much all products in all sectors.

Rescis 9y ago
> It's the reason why your grandfather's washing machine probably works 'till this day, while you have to fix your new one every year, and will probably replace it in five years. Adjusting the cost of each product with inflation, things really are built like they used to be. Your grandfathers washing machine both cost far more than a current model* (again, adjusted for inflation), and all of the poorly built old washing machines broke and no on sees/thinks about them anymore. * I am having trouble finding a source on washing machines specifically, however I'm assuming they followed the same trends as most commodities tracked by BLS: https://data.bls.gov/cgi-bin/surveymost?ap https://data.bls.gov/cgi-bin/surveymost?ap As questionable as citing Reddit is, this post rather well encompasses what I am trying to get at: https://www.reddit.com/r/Showerthoughts/comments/4kn8ku/the_only_reason_why_we_think_things_were_built_to/d3gtfbt/?st=jbicihs9&sh=2826402c https://www.reddit.com/r/Showerthoughts/comments/4kn8ku/the_...