Dishwashers, fridges, laundry machines, vacuums and other basic home appliances are mostly mature technologies; their basic design & function solidified over 70 years ago and there’s not much left to improve on now (other than efficiency).
This isn’t an issue for consumers or private companies, but public companies need to deliver increasing profits (not just steady profits) year over year. One solution to this is planned obsolescence, but adding a bunch of unnecessary tech “features” kills two birds with one stone by allowing manufacturers to justify higher prices while also building in additional points of failure. It’s also a means of harvesting consumer data which can then be sold for additional profit.
Dishwashers, fridges, laundry machines, vacuums and other basic home appliances are mostly mature technologies; their basic design & function solidified over 70 years ago and there’s not much left to improve on now (other than efficiency).
This isn’t an issue for consumers or private companies, but public companies need to deliver increasing profits (not just steady profits) year over year. One solution to this is planned obsolescence, but adding a bunch of unnecessary tech “features” kills two birds with one stone by allowing manufacturers to justify higher prices while also building in additional points of failure. It’s also a means of harvesting consumer data which can then be sold for additional profit.
Good for shareholders, bad for everyone else.