Planned obsolescence is nothing new in America, at least. Way back in the 19th century, a foreign observer (Alexis de Tocqueville) noted that American-built ships were made much more cheaply than European ones. He pointed this out to an American sailor & got the reply that because "the arts of navigation" (i.e., technology) was advancing so fast, that American shipowners had no motive to keep their vessels for very long before getting newer ones that cost much less to operate or were faster.
So, if technology advances really fast, we have no motive to build things to last. Same thing for changing/evolving standards. Until we get a single set of DVD standards, no one will want to invest in a unit that lasts for 20 years but might be obsolete for 19 of them.
Another way quality is stalled is getting locked into standards. Having household electricity at 220 volts, 50Hz is probably better in many respects than the 125v, 60Hz that is the North American standard, but when large-scale electrification took place in the US, the latter was the standard & it would've been too much trouble to switch. Same thing with TV standards; PAL or SECAM is better than NTSC, but Europe (PAL, SECAM) got television post-WWII, while the US settled on NTSC in 1941 or so, & THAT had to be backwards-compatible to FCC standards for broadcast TV set forth in 1929. America gave up getting 100 extra scan lines in exchange for the ability to use 1930's equipment today.
This doesn't even get into the "features over quality" bias that we have in most consumer goods. A lot of you rail against it, but marketers will probably tell you that it's a lot easier to sell someone by bragging that it has more features in it than to say that it'll last 10 years longer. Especially if the latter will cost more than the former.
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Uh, one word: Mozilla
They won't let us download/change software at work.
Mostly I do a lot of cussing while swatting down all the pop-ups.
So, if technology advances really fast, we have no motive to build things to last. Same thing for changing/evolving standards. Until we get a single set of DVD standards, no one will want to invest in a unit that lasts for 20 years but might be obsolete for 19 of them.
Another way quality is stalled is getting locked into standards. Having household electricity at 220 volts, 50Hz is probably better in many respects than the 125v, 60Hz that is the North American standard, but when large-scale electrification took place in the US, the latter was the standard & it would've been too much trouble to switch. Same thing with TV standards; PAL or SECAM is better than NTSC, but Europe (PAL, SECAM) got television post-WWII, while the US settled on NTSC in 1941 or so, & THAT had to be backwards-compatible to FCC standards for broadcast TV set forth in 1929. America gave up getting 100 extra scan lines in exchange for the ability to use 1930's equipment today.
This doesn't even get into the "features over quality" bias that we have in most consumer goods. A lot of you rail against it, but marketers will probably tell you that it's a lot easier to sell someone by bragging that it has more features in it than to say that it'll last 10 years longer. Especially if the latter will cost more than the former.