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
The thing is you don’t really care about advancements in things that only have one function. All I need the kettle to do is boil water. All I need the iron to do is get hot and pump steam. The only improvements you care about would be doing it faster
Needs vs wants. A fridge has to do a specific thing. Advances are usually around efficiency, and every now and then high end versions come up with an innovation to push out the next quarters product. A phone on the other hand is a fashion accessory, and for tablets and computers, software is evolving which forces it to improve.
I guess the main reason not stated before is the exceptional generalist nature of PCs and smartphones. Lots of different user scenarios can be transformed in a stream of signals and processed. While all household devices solve one or two similiar problems and that’s all (you can always get creative and fast dry socks using hairdryer but that’s still a very limited set of possibilities)
Had we a customer-grade offline appliance that could manipulate atoms or molecules it could progress at similiar rates.
I’ve notice this. And why are there for eg no silent vacuum cleaners/hoovers when for eg pets and babies HATE the sound?
I think silent or very quiet dishwashers exist now though, which is good.
The difference in things like smart devices isn’t actually that big either. We are all falling for the hype when really more RAM or different CPU in a smartphone does not make a significant difference in usage unless your phone is like 6 or more years old.
Because a lot of things just can’t really be improved upon
Like an oven is still ultimately just an oven. You can add whatever digital timers or whatever but at the end of the day all you’re really doing is just sending electricity through a heating element. There’s only so much you can optimize this design or improve upon it
I think a lot of people have covered most of the other reasons, but here’s another.
It’s not that other things don’t advance, it’s that electronics advances at an insane rate with no precedent in any other technology
The advance of miniaturisation has been unprecedented and insane. Moores law saying that the number of transistors fitting into a microchip doubling every few months.
It’s not an exaggeration to say that if cars advanced the way microchips did, cars could now
1. Travel around the world on a tank of gas.
2. Travel at faster than the speed of sound.
3. Fly.
Back when they were first introduced they changed a lot. The first washing machines didn’t have a spin dry cycle so you would have to run the clothes through a roller to wring out the water. Then came fully automatic, then different cleaning cycles, clean sensing technologies and more. Washing machines and other appliances are extremely mature. The first washing machine was created in the 1850s, over 160 years ago.
Compare that to a cell phone. The first cell phone was made in 1973. The first iPhone was released in 2007, but the number of features has slowed down and the big changes are more memory or a slightly faster processor, but back in 2007, the technology jump was huge from year to year.
That’s what the bourgeoisie use to deliver propaganda, that’s why everything is up in price except those items you mentioned.
All those things you mention have been around for many years. Early on, there WERE a lot of advancements and changes as the designers were able to tinker and discover better ways to do whatever the things did.
After a while, everyone more or less settled on the best way, with only minor tweaks after that. Unless something unexpected happens, these things are thought to be sorted out. After that, changes are often largely cosmetic. We can think of these as ‘mature’ technologies.
Once in a while, something new IS developed, and everyone reacts by doing the same thing, or going out of business. EVs have disrupted an otherwise stable gas-powered car market, and electronics have improved clothes washers, for example.
But after a while, things settle out again, and the changes to those will slow down again.
Look at the shapes of nearly every compact car today. If they didn’t have logos on them, I could not tell half of them apart. There seems to be one best shape for a car for fuel efficiency while carrying people, and everyone therefore does the same thing.
Once smartphones have been around for another 40 years, we may find that they are not changing much year-over-year either.
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