New Refrigerators, Washing Machines, Furniture and Tires Will All Have to Last Longer, Europe Mandates

That's fucked up

Probably, doesn't have to be much more expensive. Just designed in a more robust way.

But it's really not the consumer's fault anyways, it's the producers'. If no one is making "heritage" goods, it's because there's not enough money in it.

It's like the Sam Vimes boots theory, but applied in the other direction to look at the business models which profit from this situation. In essence, why there will eventually be nothing left but cheap boots.

Company A sells a gadget for $2000 and it lasts 30 years. Company B sells a gadget for $1000 and it lasts 10 years. Obviously on paper, Company A is the better deal because it lasts longer, but it's a higher upfront cost that prices some consumers out, and folks might be thinking "I don't know if I'm even going to be around in 30 years."

The kicker is, if Company A is only making $100 profit per sale to price as competitive as possible, while Company B can make $500 in profit from all the cut corners, Company A will eventually get priced out of the market. Maybe they can stay afloat as a "luxury" brand where they double their cost and appeal to upper-class whales who want the "best," but they can't stay competitive in the standard market while making 1/5 the money. Eventually they get pushed out or bought out.

As long as companies can make more money by cutting corners, that is the direction the market will move. The only solution around it is to legislate away a company's ability to cut corners, either by regulated product standards or defining industry-wide minimum warranty periods.