I was just thinking in the back of my head about how cheap LEDs have made types of lighting that would’ve cost way too much (both to install, and in electricity usage) no longer stupidly expensive.
For example, I noticed on Amazon some cheap furniture that has LEDs/power outlets sort of integrated right into them. Looks pretty cyberpunk-ish to my eyes. And I know years ago that sort of thing would’ve been marked up to high heavens.
Fancy lighting in general has changed drastically in price/design.
So…what are some things, due to changes in demand or changes in tech or changes in anything…that would’ve been really expensive back in the day, but which no longer seem to be, making them more frugal than they used to be?
That not really true, it’s cheap because manufacturing is a solved problem and incredibly easy to exceed the requirements.
It’s cheaper for those reasons.
Cheap shit on Temu, Amazon, and AliExpress is cheap because it’s shit.
It’s often things made with exactly the same machines and materials as all the others on the market, that’s what a solved problem is.
You can spend $80 for something in a nice box where the distributor is run by people who own yachts or an identical thing straight from the factory.
Often it is, and often it isn’t. Sometimes the same manufacturing facility will have different quality standards for different buyers, and the distributors run by people who own yachts will not accept the same level of defects as the others. Name brands have to stand by their products and provide warranties, because their name is supposed to mean something. Random shell companies that exist only to sell knock-off products don’t care if your charger stops working in 6 months.
I’m not suggesting you have to buy name brand shit, because in practice those companies have demonstrated that they aren’t as committed to quality as one would hope. But if you’re buying an $80 Samsung product for $25 from Symsnug Ltd, you have a much higher chance of throwing it away.
True to an extent and for certain products but if you’re buying an 80$ Samsung USB hub instead of a 5 dollar straight from the factory generic then you just spent 75 bucks on adverts, ceo bonuses, and graphic design.
SD cards I only buy from big names for the reason you mention but the machines can trace and solder at far higher precision than is needed for most electronics.