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Our clothes are cheaper... There's a useful function in limited lifespan - things are much easier to update and upgrade. My tastes have changed a lot over the

Our clothes are cheaper... There's a useful function in limited lifespan - things are much easier to update and upgrade. My tastes have changed a lot over the past 20 years. If my clothes lasted longer I'd have a wardrobe full of things I don't like now and wouldn't wear. If my TV lasted 20 years I'd still have an old, inefficient SD CRT box in the corner, or I'd have passed it on to someone else and maybe they'd have scrapped a functioning item now. It's less true for basic things like toasters and pots and pans, but I suspect the lower quality is partly due to being cheaper to make and therefore more accessible. If everything is made well and costs more then wealthy people have things that last and poor people don't have things. Cheaper things balances that inequality a little.

TonyTrapp 3y ago
It's not useful that the thing happens to be broken at the point of time where you don't like it anymore anyway. If it wasn't broken and you didn't like it anymore, you could pass it on to someone else.
pjerem 3y ago
> My tastes have changed a lot over the past 20 years. If my TV lasted 20 years I'd still have an old, inefficient SD CRT box in the corner Societal context is important here. Did your taste really changed on itself or did the constant marketing pressure changed your taste for clothes and your expectations for what is an acceptable TV ? I mean : of course, I’m a tech enthusiast : I love big modern OLED screens, I love 4K movies and beautiful video games. I’m truly amazed by what we can do. But, does all of this makes me truly happier than when I played with my Nintendo 64 on a cheap CRT screen ? I don’t think so. The pleasure I feel playing video games alone and with my friends never changed with technology evolution. And it’s just an example that can apply to mostly everything. We just change things because we are encouraged to by marketers. Sometimes things are more robust or more efficient and that’s really worth changing, but that’s pretty uncommon.
- Retric 3y ago
  I really don’t notice much difference between 4k and 1080 or even 720 as long as it’s minimally compressed data. High compression ratios is IMO is a huge driver for 4k because you can hide a multitude of artifacts once individual pixels aren’t as noticeable, but rarely do you compare identical bandwidth streams at 1080 and 4k. That’s IMO what’s driving a lot of technological advancement. It’s not necessarily about needing progress as it is separating yourself from the profit maximization processes which makes most things worse over time. Tiny companies don’t have inherent advantages when it comes to say food, but they don’t have the expertise to perfectly maximize shelf life while keeping the food reasonably palatable. That same maximization causes Windows and smart TV’s to include so much advertising because it’s maximizing their profits at the expense of the product. But you don’t see that in new categories like AR headsets.
  - joshspankit 3y ago
    I have direct experience that supports your point: There’s a local TV/internet provider who rolled out a new system of TV boxes. They compete with the big giant who had “4K” at the time. This provider sent out a signal that was 720P natively but it looked way better due to the rock-solid bitrate that was planned from the beginning. It was so noticeable that sports on the big giant’s boxes were a smeary blurry mess by comparison. And yet, the majority of bigger-spending customers still got pulled in by the “4k” marketing.
    - bombcar 3y ago
      I wish we had standardized on advertising bitrate instead of resolution.
anonymouskimmer 3y ago
Poor people go to Goodwill or the Salvation Army store for high-quality, inexpensive items. Or they used to when high-quality items were in greater abundance. It's not that much more difficult to periodically clean out your wardrobe and donate it compared to throwing it in the trash.

TonyTrapp 3y ago

It's not useful that the thing happens to be broken at the point of time where you don't like it anymore anyway. If it wasn't broken and you didn't like it anymore, you could pass it on to someone else.

pjerem 3y ago

> My tastes have changed a lot over the past 20 years. If my TV lasted 20 years I'd still have an old, inefficient SD CRT box in the corner Societal context is important here. Did your taste really changed on itself or did the constant marketing pressure changed your taste for clothes and your expectations for what is an acceptable TV ? I mean : of course, I’m a tech enthusiast : I love big modern OLED screens, I love 4K movies and beautiful video games. I’m truly amazed by what we can do. But, does all of this makes me truly happier than when I played with my Nintendo 64 on a cheap CRT screen ? I don’t think so. The pleasure I feel playing video games alone and with my friends never changed with technology evolution. And it’s just an example that can apply to mostly everything. We just change things because we are encouraged to by marketers. Sometimes things are more robust or more efficient and that’s really worth changing, but that’s pretty uncommon.

Retric 3y ago
I really don’t notice much difference between 4k and 1080 or even 720 as long as it’s minimally compressed data. High compression ratios is IMO is a huge driver for 4k because you can hide a multitude of artifacts once individual pixels aren’t as noticeable, but rarely do you compare identical bandwidth streams at 1080 and 4k. That’s IMO what’s driving a lot of technological advancement. It’s not necessarily about needing progress as it is separating yourself from the profit maximization processes which makes most things worse over time. Tiny companies don’t have inherent advantages when it comes to say food, but they don’t have the expertise to perfectly maximize shelf life while keeping the food reasonably palatable. That same maximization causes Windows and smart TV’s to include so much advertising because it’s maximizing their profits at the expense of the product. But you don’t see that in new categories like AR headsets.
- joshspankit 3y ago
  I have direct experience that supports your point: There’s a local TV/internet provider who rolled out a new system of TV boxes. They compete with the big giant who had “4K” at the time. This provider sent out a signal that was 720P natively but it looked way better due to the rock-solid bitrate that was planned from the beginning. It was so noticeable that sports on the big giant’s boxes were a smeary blurry mess by comparison. And yet, the majority of bigger-spending customers still got pulled in by the “4k” marketing.
  - bombcar 3y ago
    I wish we had standardized on advertising bitrate instead of resolution.

anonymouskimmer 3y ago

Poor people go to Goodwill or the Salvation Army store for high-quality, inexpensive items. Or they used to when high-quality items were in greater abundance. It's not that much more difficult to periodically clean out your wardrobe and donate it compared to throwing it in the trash.