Have you considered that it's not that we are spending money on cheap stuff, it's that even expensive stuff is built to not last with the incentive you come back for more? You do realize there are whole R&D departments working on planned obsolescence.
- Apple's refusal to change their idiotic charging cables to a standard one, so they can sell you crap that works on no other device. https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-66778528
I know Apple are mentioned a lot here, but they are a perfect example of what happens when nobody calls out a monopoly on their shady practices.
> but I can't help but feel that a lot of the ills of society that we're witnessing is simply coming down to the fact that we're living a lot longer as people.
Ah yes blame it on the consumer, who dares to live longer.
> Whereas it's like, if you expected that you would die in your 50s/60s you'd probably be happier spending your money on stuff that you felt served you better, irrespective of the cost, cause you're still working and able to service that lifestyle.
I don't get the logic here. If I knew I would live to 100, would it not make sense to buy stuff that serves me well over the long run (i.e more expensive)?
I'm not sure if those examples are really applicable when there are perfectly fine alternatives i.e. linux, desktops etc. that don't have those issues. Ultimately it's a choice to be part of those eco-systems, at least from a consumer point of view.
With that said, I'm not sure why both our arguments have to be mutually exclusive? Why can't it be that things are being planned for obsolescence + we're living too long?
Regarding your last point, let's say that you did know you were going to live to 100, I think you'd be hard pressed to be able to afford a lot of that nice stuff which would serve you in the long run without working into retirement age (unless if you just happen to very wealthy).
I earn a relatively high salary and even if I was making the most of my retirement contributions and considering compounding, it would still only last me by 90 without requiring state assistance. And most importantly, that's if I were to maintain my current lifestyle, which includes buying the cheap shit I can afford (in part so I can keep up with funding retirement).
I couldn't imagine how much harder it would be for those on an average salary.
This is such bullshit. I'll address the Apple points because while I buy "Windows" hardware such as Lenovo I immediately wipe it and install Linux.
No one knows how to make batteries that live forever. Apple's slowing down the clock speed allows people to use a phone with an old and dying battery for longer before they need to replace either the device or the battery.
And it's not that their batteries are bad. I have an original late 2015 iPad Pro, bought in 2015, which I use daily and which still goes (with my usage pattern) a couple of weeks between charges. Has it been slowed down? No idea, I haven't noticed.
Lightning cables are superior to the "standard" USB-C. It's a travesty against freedom of choice that the EU has legislated against them. It's not even that you have to buy Apple's cables -- you can readily buy both much cheaper 3rd party cables (in every gas station and supermarket!) and better quality armoured cables.
Every iPhone I've owned since 2007 still works. They just seem sooooo slow now because of the march of technology. And the networks they used -- GSM 2G, Edge, even 3G now -- no longer exist. I also have Apple laptops dating back to the 1990s, which I used heavily while they were current. They all still work. I just a year ago replaced my 2011 17" MacBook Pro.
If anything, they exhibit an EXCESS of quality, lasting for far longer than anyone wants to use them given the rapid improvement in their replacements.
I don't find the complaints valid about anything else either. The tshirts in my weekly rotation were bought -- I just checked my emails -- from myvintage.co.nz in 2018 and 2021 and still I think look the same as new. Colours haven't faded. Of course at standard price NZ$45 (US$27) they are not the cheapest you can buy.
My Subaru car is from 2008, almost never needs anything other than scheduled servicing and the usual wear items. I'll probably still be driving it in another ten years. My previous ones have lasted 25 years and 300k+ km and I don't see any decrease in quality. My BMW motorcycle will be 30 years old in October -- bought new in October 1995. Hondas also last forever -- I had 1980s XR250 and XR600 dirt bikes and you still see plenty of them around.
Maybe the new stuff won't last as long. It's impossible to say until it gets old -- or doesn't. I bought a Honda CRF250 Rally the day before the first lockdown in 2020. It's just passed five years old, I have no plans to update it, let's see how it goes.
In short: yes, there is plenty of cheap crap around -- I actually think this is a good thing for people who will not be using it heavily. But I think there is still plenty of great quality things around. They are not as cheap -- but usually they are a LOT cheaper compared to salaries than they were 20, 30, 40 years ago.
> Apple's slowing down the clock speed allows people to use a phone with an old and dying battery for longer before they need to replace either the device or the battery.
That's laughable. Apple before 2023 didn't even allow you to replace yourself unless you had their crappy plan.
And their lightning adapters were a deliberate strategy so they keep you on their system and sell you commodity hardware at a premium pricing.
Until the EU forced them to use standard chargers to reduce the mountain of e-waste that's directly tied to Apple's shady practices.
> Lightning cables are superior to the "standard" USB-C. It's a travesty against freedom of choice that the EU has legislated against them.
You have the freedom of choice to use an old IPhone with an old Lightning cable, since they are "superior" to USB-C, and old IPhones are apparently of such high quality.
OR you can go with the far worse (according to you) USB-c standard which allows charging, video and data transfer and internet connectivity.
> 2018 and 2021 and still I think look the same as new. Colours haven't faded
Wow, a shirt lasting 4 years, impressive!
> I don't find the complaints valid about anything else either. The tshirts in my weekly rotation were bought -- I just checked my emails ....In short: yes, there is plenty of cheap crap around -- I actually think this is a good thing for people who will not be using it heavily.
"who will not be using it heavily" is a reference to the fact that sometimes cheap nowadays crap is poisonous and you might not live to see another day?
> You have the freedom of choice to use an old IPhone with an old Lightning cable, since they are "superior" to USB-C, and old IPhones are apparently of such high quality.
It's so bizarre to act like this is a crazy thing to do, like, yeah, my iPhone does have Lightning, I haven't upgraded since they switched to USB-C and have felt no need to? Like that was pretty recent? It's not like the Dock Connector where the only iPhones that support it use wireless networks that are being actively dismantled?
- Apple's planned obsolescence on batteries: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batterygate
- Window's 10 to 11 garbage hardware requirements: https://www.euroconsumers.org/microsoft-security-windows-10-... If an OS's new version is supposedly...faster and better written, why does it require newer hardware?
- Apple's right to repair fight: https://sustainablebrands.com/read/apple-support-right-to-re... and then, when they saw they can't support this position anymore, suddenly becoming a champion of sustainability
- Apple's refusal to change their idiotic charging cables to a standard one, so they can sell you crap that works on no other device. https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-66778528
I know Apple are mentioned a lot here, but they are a perfect example of what happens when nobody calls out a monopoly on their shady practices.
> but I can't help but feel that a lot of the ills of society that we're witnessing is simply coming down to the fact that we're living a lot longer as people.
Ah yes blame it on the consumer, who dares to live longer.
> Whereas it's like, if you expected that you would die in your 50s/60s you'd probably be happier spending your money on stuff that you felt served you better, irrespective of the cost, cause you're still working and able to service that lifestyle.
I don't get the logic here. If I knew I would live to 100, would it not make sense to buy stuff that serves me well over the long run (i.e more expensive)?