I appreciate this push-back. I keep a running list of words like this...content, product, device, experience, space, vehicle, resource, etc. I can't put my finger on why, but all of these make me distrust the speaker.
From about 1998-2008 I ran one of the largest sites on the internet for a particular niche. Zero advertisers, no ads, no shady links, just content about a subject I loved. I worked hard to make sure it was accurate and up to date. Now someone creating the same site would be loads of referral links or paid ads, so no trust whatsoever in what’s being presented.
I get a similar ick when I hear someone say "I enjoy consuming this type of content." They're not selling anything, but they are still adopting the soulless language. Like, if it still exists after you interact with it, you haven't consumed anything. Second, do you really see yourself this way? Why not just say "I love to read travel blogs"?
Device is a handy one though you often want to say "computer, laptop, tablet or phone" in one go. We could call them all computers but that would confuse people I think.
These words are sometimes like schrodingers cat and this is also what I have observed that within recent layoffs, its really hard to accurately find what the real intent behind it was within some companies and there is no wide consensus.
Perhaps this is their true purpose, to hide the real intent behind things and perhaps (to give the benefit of doubt?)
By the 1990s, it had largely withdrawn from its earlier manufacturing role to "branding" products made largely in Taiwan. Its manufacturing "partner" learned the design and the business, and eventually took over the marketing role itself. The new (foreign) brand exists, and is relatively well-known, the century-plus original ... was sold in bankruptcy auction in the early aughts and ... surprise to me, actually continues on as a "brand".
What I've noticed as well are two common trends:
Many well-known brands, particularly in appliances, sell products which are all but certainly produced by whitebox manufacturers in China, with the "brand" literally an adhesive label slapped on at the end. There's not even enough trust in the relationship to weld or stamp the name onto the goods. Often times those badges will fall off after a few months....
Increasingly I see goods with no manufacturer indication at all. Ceramics, electronics, household goods, and the like. There may have been some sort of adhesive label, but there's no permanent branding or marking that will remain on the device.
I'm hardly the most brand-aware or brand-loyal person out there, but I did come of age in an environment where the marketing philosophy was "brand is king". After decades of rebadging goods from independent manufacturers, even the pretense of branding's significance no longer seems to exist, in many cases.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multi-divisional_form>
Outside the US you'll find Chaebol (Korea) and Keiretsu / Zaibatsu (Japan) models.