alt Hacker News> When it became cheaper to … did the quality go up?
No, but the availability (more people can afford it) and diversity (different needs are met) increased. I would say that's a positive. Some of the expensive "legacy" things still exist and people pay for it (e.g. newspapers / professional journalism).
Of course low quality stuff increased by a lot and you're right, that leads to problems.
Replies
craswell • today at 3:44 AM
I think you found, but possibly didn't recognize, the problem. When availability goes up, but the quality of that which is widely available goes down, you get class stratification where the haves get quality, reliable journalism / software / games / etc. while the not-haves get slop. This becomes generational when education becomes part of this scenario.
Well yeah more people can afford shitty things that end up in the landfill two weeks later. To me this is the essence of "consumerism".
Rather than think in terms of making things cheaper for people to afford we should think how to produce wealthier people who could afford better than the cheapest of cheapest crap.