20yr ago the full stack (engineering concept to slapping the shipping label on the box bound for the customer) cost of actually getting a product into buyers ha

20yr ago the full stack (engineering concept to slapping the shipping label on the box bound for the customer) cost of actually getting a product into buyers hands was sufficiently higher that it made lower quality versions of many things simply not economically viable to produce and sell. The range of options for any given consumer product has grown substantially on the low end.