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 basic elements of the technology peaks and mature and every subsequent advance becomes incremental refining
a toaster is a toaster maybe we could toast the toasts in a different more advanced way but the humble toaster does its job simply enough and the changes to the design done through the many decades since its invention make the thing pretty optimal for its price point
an ice car explosion engine was designed a century ago, early on it started being optimized, many revolutionary designs through the drawing board, these days changes, optimization, efficiency increases, manufacturing cost reduction or whatever, may bring a few % here or there just enough to make any component redesign worthwhile
Early computers went through dramatic advances early on from use of electronic tubes, punch cards and magnetic memory cores of the 50s and 60s mainframes to the microcomputer revolution of the 70s 80 with CPUs, ram, …and CPUs from the early 8080s chip to the pentium 82586s and further till the 64bit designs of today but the jump in performance of the latter designs aren’t as impressive as the earlier jumps because the technology matures
the changes from early PDAs all the way to a more mature iphone/android smart phone of today were fairly impressive, the current generation changes from one generation to the next are small increments because they are a mature technology….
but then, if breakthroughs happen on a technology that those products depend on, such as a newer battery capable of a week charge then it will impact the end product
and then that new battery technology will undergo mostly fast changes early on until it becomes mature and then only small increments
Incidently there are also changes in products such as newer materials or manufacturing technics that may make those products more affordable or durable but are less notifiable functionality wise to the end user
Because they don’t need advancements. My washer and dryer are over 30 years old. They work perfect. My clothes come out clean and dry. I don’t need wifi and a app to tell me they are done when I can hear them stop spinning. Sometimes simple is better. Especially from a longevity point of view.
They do advance. My microwave is now also a air fryer. Fridges and washing machines are Wi-Fi enabled if you choose that type. My oven also has an air fryer feature. There’s fridges with LED doors that show what’s inside and washers that detect clothes loading sizes.
The advancements must lead to customer paying more or a bigger market share, or the brands won’t do it. It’s more difficult to persuade consumers that that a new washing machine runs longer than competition, brands would rather spend money on advertisements
The advanced appliances already exist but the only markets that care to pay for them are over seas. The US recently got an american version of the all in one washer dryer with heatpump and its 2k$.
What more would you want a fridge or washing machine to do? Being able to watch TV on a phone kind of makes sense so you can watch while you’re away from home or if someone else is watching the main set, or if there’s a sports game you want to keep an eye on while watching something else.
You don’t need other appliances to do anything else (I guess you could argue a TV screen on the fridge to watch something while cooking)
Most electronics are not getting new features. They are getting brighter, higher resolution screens, faster processors, more ram etc. But the last real shake up was the smart phone with a big touch screen. Laptops and tablets basically look exactly like they did 15 years ago. Tvs have not gotten a new form since flat screens came out. Computers do basically the same things they did 20 years ago. Just faster. No new things have happened in tech in a 10+ years. We have stuff like AR, AI, VR etc. But none of that is really ready to deploy. And some of it, like VR is going to go as well as 3d tv did. Streaming is 20 years old. Stuff like uber, vrbo, and delivery stuff is old news. Tech is stagnant.
I started high school in 1992. Since i was a kid, all this happened: the vcr made it poasible to record tv, and watch stuff when you wanted. Home computers became common. The internet became a thing, gps showed up. Home printers. Cell phones you could walk around with, and then smart phones. Streaming showed up. Digital cameras and video. Home consoles and portable gaming.
But all the big new stuff happened between 1985 and 2007ish. Nothing big since then.
Just take washing machine. In the 80s, in the US at least, it was a fairly small capacity top loader with a few mechanically run programs. The back and forth motion was done by a clutch that didn’t last all that long. A modern machine will be a very reliable direct drive front loader. It’ll have a bunch of electronic programs for pretty much anything you could need. It may also have a sanitize setting. It will also use a fraction of the water of the old one.
And even dryers have gone to direct drive, and they will sense when your clothes are dry, from several levels of dry that you choose. They can also steam your clothes. If you leave your clothes sitting, they may even run it a bit to keep them from wrinkling.
That’s a lot of advancement.
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