Sure, and I agree that many products aren't built like they once were (with or without survivorship bias, as well as the ability to fix older products is way ea

Sure, and I agree that many products aren't built like they once were (with or without survivorship bias, as well as the ability to fix older products is way easier than newer products) but, the cost of metal gears versus plastic gears, for instance, was much much higher. (now with Metal Injection molding, the prices would be closer, but the MiM are still more expensive.) For better or worse, people are almost always going to choose cheaper products.