> things built in the 80s tended to be pretty solid
Survivorship bias. We built a lot of crap stuff in the 80s, too. Most stuff built in the 80s is probably in landfills now.
Survivorship bias. We built a lot of crap stuff in the 80s, too. Most stuff built in the 80s is probably in landfills now.
I'm sure we built a lot of badly made stuff then too, but my guess is with our tighter manufacturing tolerances, we can push things closer to breaking point, with our increased casting/molding tech, we make stuff smaller and more complex, so it breaks more, we also drive harder to profit margins (unsourced claim!) so cutting corners/quality is more acceptable/planned obsolescence/planned failure.