Your toaster dies the second you unbox it. Pants rip on day one. The quality of everything is trash now. This is what bigheaded people call enshittification. Companies deliberately design products to break right after the warranty. This is due to the so-called “Hunt for Infinite growth.” Steady profits ain’t enough. They need MORE, so they skimp, shrink packages, and shove everything behind subscriptions. Infinite growth is a plague, and it hurts your personal finance.
Disclaimer: This video is satirical commentary and for entertainment purposes only. It does not constitute financial, legal, or investment advice.
We let MBAs, who have no skills other than “buy low, sell high”, take over everything.
Story time:
I used to work at a place that sells exclusively to local factories. We had an insane warehouse that may very well have had the Ark of the Convenant in the back, and small shops in each factory. Workers could get gloves, drive belts, fans, and other day-to-day stuff right there at the factory or order from the warehouse. The big Fortune 500 plant manager (engineer, nice guy, smart) tells me that he’s retiring and the New Guy (MBA) wants to have a meeting. Ok.
New Guy immediately starts making demands, “I want to know how much we are buying off your shop”. Well, we send a weekly update every Monday and each month a full report that tracks trends and notes any major purchases.
“I want the full report TODAY”. Ok, here is the most recent report.
“No, run it for today”. Sir, it’s the middle of the month so all the metrics will be skewed comparing two weeks to previous months.
“I don’t want your opinion, I want the report. Now.” To which I think I’m this guy’s supplier and he talks to me this way, I can only imagine what employees hear. So I print the report and leave.
Start of next month I get a call “You’re robbing us blind!” Well good morning to you too, what is the problem. “This report you sent says you’re charging us way too much. We’re going to fix this.” After some back and forth, it’s clear he was using the two week report as the baseline for what he thinks our services should cost. I try to get him to look at literally any other monthly report or grasp the basics of how time works. Nope.
Then he says the greatest thing a human in charge of a factory has ever said. “It looks like the maintenance guys are the ones spending the most money…” I pause trying to figure out what he is getting at since of course the people replacing parts are the ones buying parts. “…the maintenance department doesn’t even make us any money!” It was at this moment I realized I wasn’t dealing with an asshole, I was dealing with an idiot asshole.
They also moved most of the maintenance guys over to the line. Soon after, our shop was kicked out. Idiot Asshole would bulk ordered parts, usually incorrectly. Parts, tools, and safety gear kept disappearing from their new storage room which he tried to make my problem, somehow. They ran up absurd levels of delivery fees over the following months because the line would shut down so they had to emergency order the replacement from the warehouse instead of walking to the shop. Lots of wrong parts ordered because while the shop had the most commonly replaced parts for that factory handy, the warehouse list had a million billion almost identical parts and good luck figuring that out looking at a part list.
My last week I had to emergency deliver ($$$) some fuses over and they had a team of suits there trying to figure out why productivity had cratered. I caught a smoke on the way out with one of the remaining maintenance guys who informed me the first thing the suits did when they walked in was fire his boss, the miracle worker who kept the place somewhat running with Idiot Asshole in charge. The maintenance boss didn’t say a word when he was fired, just got in his truck to drive across the street where they hired him on the spot.
This was a few years ago. The plant is still down more than it runs. The company has done two huge stock buybacks in recent years, so the stonks is way up even with their largest facility barely operating. The Roaring 20s keep on roaring.
McDonalds sells hamburgers for $7
I can beat that. Let me sell you a hamburger for $1
Capitalism approves… the government does not
I’m not allowed to sell you a hamburger. Not without a permit, and an inspection, and a place designated as a business to sell that hamburger from. What, you think you can just cook a hamburger on a grill and sell it to someone?
So I get a business license, find a place of business, get my permits, get my inspection, and open the doors… except all that cost money so I have a $12k loan and a building that costs $3k a month and I still need electricity, water, and wifi. Once all that is paid for I still need to earn enough money that I can go home and pay my own bills and survive
At $1 a hamburger, I’ll never sell enough hamburgers to survive so I have to raise the price. My hamburgers are now $9
McDonalds knows this. They got a stranglehold on the market and while anybody could technically compete and that competition is suppose to keep product quality high and prices low people can’t actually compete
Now McDonalds can make their burgers smaller, the quality worse, and jack up the price… what are you going to do about it?
You think Wendys will save you? Burger King? Nah, they do the same thing
Now apply this to literally everything. Clothes, washing machines, dish washers, etc… I guess in theory I could make a better TV that doesn’t come with a bunch of bullshit advertisements built into it and sell it to you for less, but the government won’t let me
Look them right in the face and use the broken shit.
My phone is not physically on fire? I’m still using it.
My pants are ripped? Don’t look.
You can’t MAKE shit obsolete enough that I won’t suffer through using it out of sheer spite.
I do that already and my friends call it “living in squalor”. I don’t really mind tho
Maybe not all Adolfs are bad #notalladolfs
HAHAHAH
Im taking the name back. Michael Jordan tried to bring the mustache back but the world wasn’t ready for it.
There’s a secret code built in too that if you buy the extended Warrenty, it lasts just beyond it
Not sure how much of this channel is AI generated but they do seem to use a fair bit of it at least.
Unbelievably ironic given the topic of the video…
I say it EVERY DAY now, and my family is sick of it, but they know it’s true: NOTHING works any more. Products, systems, etc., nothing works the way it’s supposed to, including customer service, which is worse than it has ever been. These days, corporations consider an AI chatbot to do ALL of their customer contact to be high quality customer service.
Does the book hold up or does a new book talk about it better? I’ve been trying to slowly convince some of my wife’s friends that no, you don’t really need to buy 100 trinkets everywhere you go just because they’re there. I think I’ve at least gotten through to their nephew that a few cool things and time with friends is enough.
I work for a small (nearly big) company and we still do things with actual people. I’m fully prepared to push back as soon as that becomes an idea. They’re already leaning towards AI bullshit for data crunching, which is fine as it is, it’s helpful, but I can see the writing on the wall. I will not be words on that wall. I have faith the people I work with will do the right thing, but it’s not unshakeable.
This is what bigheaded people call enshittification
Thank God someone else is saying it. I agree with th sentiment but Christ the people who use this term are pretentious AF.
Yes, enshittification used to be for digital products because the network effect and monopoly powers allowed the companies to be as abusive as they wanted to be.
Now enshittification has moved into meatspace because every product category is controlled by at most 5 international megaconglomerates.
The word is oligopoly.
And we used to know what to do about them.
Enshittified lemmy user.
Do you have a single word term that fits the description better than this one?
Kind of like you and the person who posted the video.
Someone not liking being called a spade I see
Whenever some device breaks, I try to get a replacement from ancient times so I’ll never have to buy another shitty one again.
When my desk lamp broke, I got a medical lamp from the 1930s. It’s made out of steel and aluminum and will never fail.
When my fan broke, I got a desk fan from the 50’s - it needed just a few drops of oil and has been running continuously for a week during the European heatwave. Everything down to the gears that make it turn from left to right is made out of solid metal.
The next thing will be an analog scale. I have an electronic one from amazon that partly melted when it was sitting a little bit next to my stove (it didn’t even get that hot). And I secretly hope my toaster will break soon, because ancient toasters look fucking awesome and I want one.
I also have an eBook reader from 2008, when Sony went crazy for a bit and actually produced models with a metal shell. All of these things will definitely last longer than me, as it should be.
The only thing I cannot replace are my fridge and my washing machine. :( You just cannot get those old ones - and even if you do, sellers will not ship them and without a car or driving license, I simply can’t get them. But I do what I can to minimize having to spend a shit ton of money every few years to replace my failing devices.
I agree with you aside from applying that to electrical devices. The lamp is probably ok since you can use a new bulb but the fan might pull more electricity than a modern one, maybe I am wrong about that one though (not an electrician!). Other stuff like a fridge I would 100% not want to get an “ancient” one as it will seriously drain your budget with the electricity wasted by it.
the fan might pull more electricity than a modern one
It draws 35W on full power, which isn’t that bad - and I mostly run it on the low power setting. Even modern fans use the same motor type (shaded-pole motors), they just got a bit smaller over the last 80 years.
A modern comparison would be the PHILIPS Mercury 1000 desk fans, they also draw 35 watts.
looks like the fan could pop a finger or two
It definitely hurts, but hasn’t penetrated the skin of my fingers (yet).
I’d be more worried about loose windings contacting the metal housing and making it live without a safety ground to trip the breaker. And yeah, high efficiency appliances are considerable investments considering their lifespan and constant energy draw. Annual energy costs add up quick.
The fan is grounded. I have replaced the motor wiring and used heatshrink to properly put it into the case. Even though I love my old devices, I don’t take any chances with brittle mains wiring.
The lamp does not have a ground wire, but the plug is at the top and the bulb is surrounded by non-conductive material so I’m not worried about it.
Kudos! Glad you took that extra (necessary) step adding the ground. The old cord was probably disintegrating and crumbly anyhow
You think the ancient eBook reader from 2008 with a metal shell will survive you?
Yes, that thing is basically just a CPU, a few capacitors and a screen. Unless the CPU just dies for no reason it can run forever. Capacitors can be replaced.
Companies don’t make anything new anymore. All the amazing leaps in design and technology we’ve enjoyed over the last multiple decades are finished. They cost too much…a negative expense on quarterly report.
What’s cheap and effective? Shrinkflation. Cutting employee benefits. Stagnating wages. Decreasing quality. Removing employees and replacing them with AI or other automation. Cutting customer service. Forcing people to use apps. Finding new ways to unbundle, insert fees, or force another middleman between customers and what they want.
It’s a perverse Matrix, the “coppertop” is us, and they’re extracting everything they can from us to keep their system going and the line moving up.
SaaS
It’s become “Life as a service”, and they’ve tied everyone’s retirement/pension to the continued existence and success of the system so everyone is too afraid to do anything about it and/or complicit.
A while back I was at an event with a huge coffee urn. At the end of the event I took home a mostly empty plastic container of Folger’s coffee. Instead of throwing it out when I was done, I kept it and used it for years to hold tea bags. It finally died when I left it on the stove and the open fire melted it.
About the same time I brought a plastic measuring cup. That thing exploded the first time I dropped it.
Under capitalism, garbage is eternal, and things you pay for self-destruct.
Rememberers will miss the superior tin cans they were massive and our parents used them to store all means of things.
Costco still sells coffee in huge tin cans.
That reminds me, I need to go get one. Need a new in kitchen compost bin.
True story.
I was on vacation recently. After a tour our guides gave us coffee and cookies. I took the cookie tin home with me, because I hadn’t had a proper sewing kit for a long time.
Huh?
I get the feeling that there are many, many times every day that you ask that question.
…empty plastic container of Folger’s coffee… …I kept it and used it for years to hold tea bags.
Off topic, but WTF? How did the tea taste?
Fine.
I washed the container out before I used it.
Are you still confused?
Are you still confused?
Yeah, how’d you manage to finish a whole can of Folgers?
“FOLGERS…it’s brown…Just shut up and drink”
"empty plastic container "
It was in your own message.
Don’t you read your own posts?
I think, that was another person’s message
Whatever.
Make cold brew with it.
Actually my wife used to work at a Vietnamese restaurant and they’d fill a pot with probably 1/3 of this Folgers container and do a slow drip through it in the morning to make Vietnamese coffee base for the day. Shit was delicious despite its roots.
I think this is due less to planned obsolescence than people want to believe. I’d argue it’s as much due to market pressure. People want to buy cheap things so companies start making things cheaper.
Yea well, they are trying to hide how badly our money has deflated. Can’t buy cotton clothing only plastic. Can’t buy real chicken only chicken that went through a chemical wash.
In fact you can buy both cotton clothing and air-chilled chicken. Those are two things I focus on buying. And not because the chlorine level in water-cooled chicken is dangerous, it’s because the water retention prevents better browning.
Agree. People buy shit for close to nothing and are then shocked that it’s worth nothing.
Naww… it’s about the infinite growth. “Shrinkflation, planned obsolescence, and enshittification” all describe aspects of it.
There are very few (you can probably count them on your hands) companies that don’t do it, such as Arizona tea. The worst offenders are publicly traded companies because they need to show that “infinite growth” to investors.
I think it’s both. Otherwise trash shipping companies like TEMU wouldn’t have become so incredibly popular. A lot of people are basically NPCs which like to mindlessly consume stuff. The cheaper the better.
Shopping is a hell of a drug
Because they were conditioned to be that way.
It’s true. My own husband looks at cheap garbage and thinks it’s “nice”. I’m just like, you can tell you were raised on cheap Walmart furniture. I was poor but we thrifted real wood. I wasn’t allowed to buy cheap clothes (only made to buy less of them) because they didn’t want my clothes to look like shit after a wash.
Don’t buy your kids crap clothing crap food or have them sleep in a room of crap. Buy them high quality just buy them less.
A lot of the “planned obsolescence” perspective is tainted by survivorship bias. The whole “they don’t make things like they used to,” bit is ignoring the fact that garbage quality appliances existed back in the day too.
You can still buy high quality appliances, but not many people want to drop over $200 on a toaster (the adjusted price in 1950). And not many people want to get appliances repaired when they can just get another garbage product for $20.
I highly doubt most appliance manufacturers are intentionally designing their products to fail at a certain point. It’s more likely that the engineers are given a profit margin goal and have to use parts with a lower MTBF to fit within it.
But companies are responsible for training people to think that way.
Life is more expensive for poor people. What you say might be true, but can most people actually afford the $200 toaster? Maybe they can in the most literal sense, there’s $400 in their account, but they can’t justify the expense.
Good ol Sam Vimes put it fairly well in the book Men at Arms:
The reason that the rich were so rich, Vimes reasoned, was because they managed to spend less money.
Take boots, for example. He earned thirty-eight dollars a month plus allowances. A really good pair of leather boots cost fifty dollars. But an affordable pair of boots, which were sort of OK for a season or two and then leaked like hell when the cardboard gave out, cost about ten dollars. Those were the kind of boots Vimes always bought, and wore until the soles were so thin that he could tell where he was in Ankh-Morpork on a foggy night by the feel of the cobbles.
But the thing was that good boots lasted for years and years. A man who could afford fifty dollars had a pair of boots that’d still be keeping his feet dry in ten years’ time, while the poor man who could only afford cheap boots would have spent a hundred dollars on boots in the same time and would still have wet feet.
-Men at Arms
They can afford it. That’s the thing. If you quit buying garbage from Walmart and save. I get what this sounds like but I see the CARTS of garbage being bought by poor people in Walmart. Some people are trained to squirrel away anything with a clearance label. Mounds of clothing that will all look like shit and fit like shit after a wash (to be never worn again).
That’s the thing, though. People in the good old days often couldn’t afford expensive appliances right away either. They budgeted and saved until they could, or relied on it being given as a gift (small appliances were a common wedding present)
But the brainwashing for rampant consumerism has largely made that a thing of the past. People won’t just toast their bread on a skillet for a few months until they can afford a quality toaster.
The cost of living for basic stuff has far surpassed the wage growth though, so this isn’t just a budgeting problem (though there is some of that).
And I hate how individuals are blamed for their poor choices when the corpos are spending billions to try and distillate how to make people spend their hard earned money on them.
Our society is anti-humans and individuals are blamed because they succumb to the harsh pressure put on them everyday.
Yes there are shitty people that are outright dumb, but the number of people barely scraping by is rising and they are blamed personally for a system designed to crush them.
Paying $5 for a new tshirt in America does make you at least responsible, though. Think of how many resources goes into that. Someone has to cut and sew that shit. It’s slave labor to receive a product that’s garbage and won’t fit after a wash. If you’re doing things like this you shouldn’t wonder why your own labor is worth so little.
Increasingly more people can’t pay for basics like rent and food, is it far fetched that they won’t pay 25-30$ for a t-shirt when they are indebting themselves more each month?
If you can afford ethically sourced clothes and you buy crap on Amazon, you are definitely a problem.
But if you just scrape by, you shouldn’t be blamed for buying a 5$ t-shirt.
Salaries are so low it’s a race to the bottom for every product. Anyone can design a toaster that works, but it takes an enshittification engineer to make one that barely works.
Salaries are low, but this is a trend that’s been going on for decades. Since long before the current affordability crisis.
Wealth inequality has also been a long slow march. The fact is almost nobody can afford a basic standard of living from minimum wage in the 70’s: American-made cotton clothing, appliances that last 30 years, real local food that doesn’t make us sick, on and on… It’s not even that the products are cheaper it’s that they’ve also become less ethical. If you shop for a regular organic cotton USA-made T-shirt it’s like $80. What was once within reach is now a luxury with a cheap surrogate.
Thankful for someone else using the tshirts. I tell people this and they get so mad. $80? They say. I’m like… yea think of how much goes into that shirt! How much would it cost if you made it? If you want good quality that lasts even a tshirt will cost you $100. Our dollar is near worthless.
You’re mostly right, but I think you have cause and effect backwards.
The real problem is advertisers training everyone to seek instant gratification and treat everything as disposable. People have been brainwashed to want things cheap, and to want them right now.
You can still get appliances that will last decades, but they’re more expensive. Back in the “good ol’ days”, home appliances were a major purchase that you usually budgeted and saved for. If it broke, you hired someone to repair it. When you bought a toaster, the price was the equivalent of $100 to $300 adjusted for inflation.
Not to mention that there’s heavy survivorship bias on the topic. There were garbage quality appliances made back then that didn’t survive.
And you could look for an appliance that is supposed to be quality, and costs even more than other “quality” brands. Then that thing you paid that much for lasts even shorter than the cheap appliance. And then when you take it to get repaired, because it cost so much of course it can be fixed, they tell you the entire [main active unit] needs replaced because the mfg doesn’t provide the [small bit of active unit that’s actually bad] which happens to cost only twice what the cheap appliance in whole costs.
I think not.
I remember the last time I went to the store to get a toaster.
They were all in the same price range and all about the same quality. There was no option for an expensive toaster that would last fifty years.
You were shopping at a store with cheap products then.
So name it.
What is this store that sells high durability consumer products?
An appliance store…
You’re going to have to give a detailed explanation of your process here.
What store did you imagine I went to?
Walmart.
In store try Williams Sonoma for higher quality.
My friend got me this alarm clock for my birthday last year or the one before. Big battery that charges automatically, you can set your own alarm audio file, sounds good right? The display is already non-functional.
Meanwhile, the LCD display in my alarm clock from the 80s is still as bright as ever…
Quick question, what does the d in LCD stand for?
Liquid crystal display
So LCD display is redundant.
What does pedantry mean?
Let’s go to an atm machine and you tell me the pin number of your credit card and I’ll tell you 🙃
This is why, you don’t need a whole video to explain it: 🖕
This hasn’t really been my experience, even as someone who often buys the cheapest available product. There’s some notable exceptions but for the most part all my basic tools and appliances have just worked as they are supposed to and still work after years of use, and are as good or better than what was available in the past (love my lithium battery drill, mower, staple gun, plumbing tech that lets me do basically any upgrade or repair without soldering, air fryer, silicone cooking utensils, etc).
There are aspects of the typical design of old products that are objectively worse than what is standard now, for instance comparing my drill to the decades old one my parents have, aside from the clear improvement not needing an extension cord, it has a button on the top of the handle that can be pressed from either side to switch modes between clockwise, counterclockwise, and locked, which is directly next to where your thumb and index finger are. This is really good design imo and most modern drills seem to use it, but the old one does it a worse way, iirc there is a switch on the side in a less accessible area that you need to use your other hand to reach. It was also much more expensive. There are lots of subtle improvements like this that have gotten standardized, including safety features (ie. space heaters that will turn off if they tip over).
Enshittification is real, but I think it mostly applies to online services, and the products most affected are the ones that rely on them.
Elons trash can on wheels prime example of that!
