Shopping sucks less now. Wider selection and more transparent information means that you can make a better choice today. If the author stops looking for the absolute best item, they'll find that it's a great world for the satisficing consumer.
The wider selection is very often knockoff, quasi-fraudulent garbage dressed up in fake reviews that will drown out most of the transparent information you were hoping to find.
Overall, what you can buy with a little research is much better in 2019 than 1999, even with the lemons and fake reviews.
Not sure I agree with that...
Seems like every year materials get thinner, workmanship gets worse, and the rush to the bottom get worse.