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In a less capital-intensive industry, you'd see small competitors building higher quality goods for a premium price. You see this in, for instance, leather good
by solatic 8y ago
In a less capital-intensive industry, you'd see small competitors building higher quality goods for a premium price. You see this in, for instance, leather goods (where you can get very high quality leather wallets for under $100), clothing (much better goods available online for only slightly more than mass-market retail), etc. Small competitors don't care about planned obsolesence when they could only dream about capturing enough market share where planned obsolesence becomes necessary to keep profits growing every year.
But the capital barriers to entry for new cars and smartphones are way too high. Elon and Tesla were the last true upstart to even come close to a semi-affordable premium option, and they burned through billions in startup capital to get there.
If the government can't reduce the barriers to entry for Smith's Invisible Hand to naturally produce competitors, then the government needs to regulate the natural oligopoly.
- hedora 8y agoI’m really surprised no one has come up with a reliable appliance brand. The old machines from decades ago are absurdly reliable, and not patented anymore. Also, most appliance technologies stagnated more than 17 years ago (front loader clothes washers are the only counter example that comes to mind). There is still R&D to be done to update for modern manufacturing techniques, but an upstart that simply built old classic designs and added a 30-year warranty would do well. Bonus points for standardized dimensions (for easy replacement years from now).
- pxeboot 8y ago> I’m really surprised no one has come up with a reliable appliance brand Speed Queen has done this for Washers and Dryers. https://www.speedqueen.com/ https://www.speedqueen.com/
- Corrado 8y agoI used to think the same thing, however looking at some recent reviews it appears as if Speed Queen has succumbed to the cost cutting movement. People are complaining that the latest machines no longer clean properly and are not up to the old standards. I don't know about the repair-ability of the machines but if they don't do the job they were built for then it doesn't really matter if you can fix it or not.
- Nasrudith 8y agoIf you want reliability generally you want to go with the 'industrial' version - which may or may not be ideal for whatever you want to do.
- gnopgnip 8y agoYou can get a commercial or industrial version of most appliances with relatively few features, and a focus on durability and ease of maintenance. One problem is commercial units are loud. The other is they are often slightly larger. For most users the cost alone means the residential versions are a better option.
- nathan_long 8y agoI've wished for this myself. We replaced a refrigerator, and I thought "what a waste - 95% of the mass of that thing was non-moving parts that could've lasted centuries". > There is still R&D to be done to update for modern manufacturing techniques, but an upstart that simply built old classic designs and added a 30-year warranty would do well. Bonus points for standardized dimensions (for easy replacement years from now). Extra bonus points for publishing manuals and 3D printing plans for replacement parts and ensuring they remain available long term - eg, creating a web site and funding a foundation to keep it running + seeding torrents with the info.
- rkul 8y agoDo you have any concrete examples of good quality clothing e-stores?
- aikinai 8y agoI haven't tried them yet, but I heard Outlier is this kind of company. Here's an interesting Wired article[0] about them. [0] https://www.wired.com/story/outlier-tech-clothes/ https://www.wired.com/story/outlier-tech-clothes/
- sequoia 8y agoAt least for me personally, a $125 t-shirt does not tick the "only slightly more than mass-market retail" box. These are expensive clothes. https://shop.outlier.nyc/shop/retail/shirts https://shop.outlier.nyc/shop/retail/shirts
- maimeowmeow 8y agoA regular t shirt might last 10 to 20 years, but a $125 might last generations as long as it doesnt get torn or stained.
- pwagland 8y agoIn all seriousness though, how many people are really going to consider a t-shirt to be a family heirloom, that you _should_ pass down through the generations?
- maimeowmeow 8y agoThe handme downs are passed down through each generation of siblings, but unless you have space, or clothes are adult sized its probably gonna be donated. Definately not heirlooms even at 125 bucks.
- sequoia 8y agoDo you have t-shirts you've been wearing regularly for 20 years? How old are you if you don't mind me asking?