I mean, brands of electronics launch so many models of smartphones, tablets, computers and TVs with different RAM and storage capacities, inputs like HDMI and USB, screen sizes and so on that we can’t decide which one to buy.
But as I observed, domestic appliances like washing machines, dishwashers, ovens, fridges, irons, vacuum cleaners and so on nearly stay the same and not many of them are launched so often. Their main functions approximately have stayed the same, except detergent adjusting and less water consumption for washing machines, for example. And ovens adjusting time of cooking according to type of dish. And robot vacuum cleaners. [And appliances with Wifi connection](https://www.vestel.com.tr/akilli-urunler-c-1108)
Like the capacity of washing machine doesn’t bother us, for example, but we’re disappointed when buying a smartphone with 4GB RAM and 64GB storage but seeing another one with 8GB RAM and 256GB storage.
Plus, we don’t change domestic appliances as often as smart devices, like I had a washing machine bought in 1997 working until 2022 but changed 9 mobile phones since 2006 to this day.
Why is there such a difference?
In: 597
What do they need to advance for? They do everything they need to and do it well.
They don’t really need to. Computers, smartphones, etc. do a lot of stuff and are still relatively new, so they need to advance constantly to handle new technology. Appliances are basically just there to accomplish a single task and many of them have existed in some form for a few hundred years, so there’s not a whole lot of room left to innovate. Irons are literally just a hot slab of metal, blenders are just spinning blades in a jar, etc.
What advances do you need? For your hob to make the food hotter? Or fridge to make the food colder? Or microwave plate to spin your food quicker?
There are 30 years old microwave ovens that are better at heating up food than new ones. I guess the technology is just stagnating because it’s already good enough / can’t be significantly improved further. There is no great demand for a microwave that can heat up your food 10% faster when it’s already only a minute.
There is a high demand for the improved performance of mobile phones, tvs and computers tho because they have super important use cases.
Besides the newer fancier design stuff is crap.
I just had to buy a new dryer after 15 years.
alot of new designs out there so before i made my choice i visited the local repair place and asked them what was good to get.
He said stay away from the new stuff that has computers and fancy unneeded features like texting you when your laundry is dry and yes that is a feature then he zhowed me his work lineup, all Samsung’s. So i bought a nice simple amana
A lot of the advancements are things you don’t realize, or don’t particularly care about. Think about a washing machine. It might have a newer motor design inside that’ll make it spin for longer before needing a service. Or your gas oven might have a better burner design so that the heat is more evenly spread.
Nobody is going to care if there’s a big sticker on the microwave saying “Improved design! 10% fewer cold spots!”, or if your combo washer / dryer has a redesigned control panel that makes setting a timer easier.
And the majority of people don’t want a wifi enabled fridge or a blender with a 3.2″ touch screen or a zigbee powered toaster that flashes your lights when done. So appliance manufacturers just bank on people needing a new washer every 10 years or so, and finds ways to cut manufacturing costs.
you tell me, you are the one buying new phones every year while keeping your old appliances for 20+ years
A lot of it is because computers still had a lot of room to grow. “Had” because phones and computers have plateud. Not much to improve these days. Comparatively, other appliances have gone through this cycle already and are now mature. Compare a first generation microwave, to one from 10 years ago to now. The first two have improved a lot but not the last two.
Plus there’s all these marketing crap that smartphone makes push to make people buy new ones, and people are willing to buy because smartphones are a status symbol. If you’re tech savvy, you will know that you barely any improvements have been made over the past 2 or 3 years.
“Their main functions approximately have stayed the same.”
Most modern appliances are significantly more efficient than the older ones, for example older fridges, dish washers and washing machines may consume 2 to 4 times more electricity and water. There is also many new features that you only see in the mid to high end appliances, they cut so many corners in the cheap ones that the square might as well be round.
It’s because miniaturization doesn’t help kitchen appliances. Making a cooktop or a refrigerator smaller doesn’t benefit anyone. Conversely, miniaturization benefits computing devices greatly, because they can fit much more information processing into the same form factor. The development of tech recently (if not always) has largely been the development of miniaturization, and that benefits information processing far far more than heating.
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