5 ms·

Weird how this keeps happening to products we've known how to make well for decades but it turns out it is more "profitable" not to do that.

f0e4c2f7 5y ago
I think this is actually a natural market cycle you see across all industries. New entrant offers incredible product or service, customers rejoice. Competing products, pale. De facto monopoly is established. Time passed, maybe a new board and CEO, maybe not. The now monopoly starts exploiting their dominant position by charging more for worse quality. For some time the monopoly will act as a moat for this behavior. Customers no longer like the incumbent and a gap is opened that other companies and startups can attempt to shoot through. Once one succeeds the cycle starts over. Since someone pointed out this pattern to me I've tried to notice companies that don't follow it. It seems pretty common. Overall though, products and services in the market are still often good. You just have to be careful to buy them from the company that is still rising rather than the declining monopoly.
- mattacular 5y ago
  It's actually not natural though.
  - refurb 5y ago
    It absolutely is. Look at airlines. Customers bitch about service but then always buy the cheapest ticket. Same with consumer goods. Sure some consumers will pay more, but if two brands with exist, one lasts 10 years, one 7 years but the 2nd is 20% cheaper, most people will opt for it.
prepend 5y ago
First I buy a brand with a good reputation. Then I fire all the designers and keep a bare bones staff, including marketing and social media/PR. Then I coast on slowing degrading quality through shrinkage and part swapping. This can last years or decades while I take in the profit from not having staff. I worked for an enterprise software company that got bought by private equity and did this. 15 years later the company is still running and has been profitable for a long time.
- prometheus76 5y ago
  Sounds like Apple post-Steve Jobs and post-Jonathan Ive.
  - seanp2k2 5y ago
    The M1 MBPs are the best products Apple have released in a long time. They could have replaceable anything and be better, but they're very very good for being pro-level disposable laptops.
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
yeetaccount4 5y ago
There’s profit incentive, but also regulation to make them more efficient. Say they have an undersized motor now, you may have to wash your clothes a few times or do more small loads. This puts more hours on the poor motor and it burns out sooner, causing more waste. Kind of like those toilets that use 30% less water per flush, but you have to flush them twice to get anything to go down. This isn’t to say all regulation is bad, but poorly thought out regulation is the worst.
seanp2k2 5y ago
If all the brands are bad, you will have no choice but to accept their awfulness. This is known as the "car dealership", "ISP", or "wireless ISP" model.

f0e4c2f7 5y ago

I think this is actually a natural market cycle you see across all industries. New entrant offers incredible product or service, customers rejoice. Competing products, pale. De facto monopoly is established. Time passed, maybe a new board and CEO, maybe not. The now monopoly starts exploiting their dominant position by charging more for worse quality. For some time the monopoly will act as a moat for this behavior. Customers no longer like the incumbent and a gap is opened that other companies and startups can attempt to shoot through. Once one succeeds the cycle starts over. Since someone pointed out this pattern to me I've tried to notice companies that don't follow it. It seems pretty common. Overall though, products and services in the market are still often good. You just have to be careful to buy them from the company that is still rising rather than the declining monopoly.

mattacular 5y ago
It's actually not natural though.
- refurb 5y ago
  It absolutely is. Look at airlines. Customers bitch about service but then always buy the cheapest ticket. Same with consumer goods. Sure some consumers will pay more, but if two brands with exist, one lasts 10 years, one 7 years but the 2nd is 20% cheaper, most people will opt for it.

prepend 5y ago

First I buy a brand with a good reputation. Then I fire all the designers and keep a bare bones staff, including marketing and social media/PR. Then I coast on slowing degrading quality through shrinkage and part swapping. This can last years or decades while I take in the profit from not having staff. I worked for an enterprise software company that got bought by private equity and did this. 15 years later the company is still running and has been profitable for a long time.

prometheus76 5y ago
Sounds like Apple post-Steve Jobs and post-Jonathan Ive.
- seanp2k2 5y ago
  The M1 MBPs are the best products Apple have released in a long time. They could have replaceable anything and be better, but they're very very good for being pro-level disposable laptops.

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

yeetaccount4 5y ago

There’s profit incentive, but also regulation to make them more efficient. Say they have an undersized motor now, you may have to wash your clothes a few times or do more small loads. This puts more hours on the poor motor and it burns out sooner, causing more waste. Kind of like those toilets that use 30% less water per flush, but you have to flush them twice to get anything to go down. This isn’t to say all regulation is bad, but poorly thought out regulation is the worst.

seanp2k2 5y ago

If all the brands are bad, you will have no choice but to accept their awfulness. This is known as the "car dealership", "ISP", or "wireless ISP" model.