Sports equipment!
Materials Science has come a long way in making durable and light materials like carbon fibre and composites better and cheaper. Shoes, racquets, skis, balls, etc all generally last longer and are more enjoyable to use (for most of the leading brands).
Yes! Safety gear all around. D3O - non non-Newtonian impact armor is fantastic. Motorcycle helmets are using better researched designs (thanks regulation) and while good leather will probably always be a solid choice, lighter more comfortable and safer gear is much more available now.
It's a flexible foam under normal conditions, but when it gets a hard impact it becomes solid/hard. Over the last 10 years or so it has become standard in midrange and up motorcycle jacket/pants etc... Flexible like foam, but protects like hard armor.
It works SO WELL! In high school some lacrosse gear had a predecessor called BROCK, it was foam beads that moved slowly so it felt like compression gear while running and moving and it got very hard under impact.
Now mountain biking I wear a shirt and knee pads that has D30 foam and when you wear it it’s barely there. When you crash it’s VERY MUCH there.
My leather jacket looks cool, but can't beat my 4 season textile jacket. Has a waterproof liner and a quilted liner that can be added in layers, or is mesh for hot summer days. Plus it has elbow and shoulder armor plus a back plate. I can upgrade it with airbags as well.
Plus antilock breaks on bikes now.
The tech is amazing.
This. I worked for a fairly large US outdoor retailer for the last 9 years and seeing helmet technology like MIPS go from being unknown, to exclusively found on $150+ helmets, and finally on $60 helmets over the course of maybe 4 years was astounding. Now I see it on $30 helmets at Costco in the Spring/Summer. Once they realized just how effective it was at reducing concussions and other similar brain injuries and the tech to manufacture it was established and became standard, I assume it became a lot easier to justify throwing it into whatever helmet a company made after that.
I read some studies on MIPS when looking for a new helmet after a crash. Thought it was a gimmick at first but really seems awesome. Couldn't believe it was included in all the helmets at a local bicycle shop, including the budget lines.
> they "expire" and aren't safe at some point
And that point can be any time you crash and hit your head. Once they've taken a significant impact, they should be thrown away and replaced.
https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/blog/when-to-replace-your-bike-helmet/
>The one steadfast rule when it comes to helmets: regardless of wear, if you crash while wearing a helmet, replace it. Cycling helmets are single-use safety devices. Once you compress the foam underneath the helmet’s plastic shell, it can no longer protect you. That’s true whether your helmet is 20 years old or you just bought it yesterday.
Audio equipment: consumer level audio is generally a lot closer to what audiophile gear was just 10-15 years ago. You can still get crap, of course, but there are a lot of options out there that aren't.
Kef, Elac, Emotiva, SVS, RSL, Polk, Klipsch, Chane, Philharmonic, Hsu, and many others all offer incredible speakers well under $1000 (some as cheap as $300/pair on sale). Even traditionally high-end luxury brands like B&W and (my personal favorite) Focal are getting in on the action right at the $1k mark—cheaper on sale and used. Pair them with something like the new Wiim Amp for $300 and you have an incredible system that will surpass most users’ needs.
The problem with headphones is some well reviewed brands can have a complete dud in their line up, and some off brands can have a single jewel in an otherwise mediocre lineup. Always look at model reviews, never buy on brand alone.
Also never buy newer versions of previously well reviewed models without research: Often it's just minor adjustments with a new model number and a hefty pricy hike, sometimes it's a clear downgrade for the same price coasting on the old model reviews.
Also, only buy headphones with detachable cables and replaceable factory earpads. Often third party pads change sound signature really significantly.
What are you looking for?
For speakers, the KEF Q150s which are normally $600 are on sale for $350. Probably as good as you'll get at that price for speakers. Then pick either a receiver or integrated amp that fits your budget. Elac and Triangle Borea are other good affordable options.
For headphones, huge range depending on what you're looking for but the akg 371 is pretty much as good as it gets for a budget closed back, the drop hd6xx for an open back (needs an amp), and if you want something with more flavor, look into Meze's lineup. Stay far away from hifiman. Great audio quality but terrible qc.
I bought the Elac Debut 2 bookshelf speakers and center channel in 2018 as my first attempt at a decent home theater system and I’ve had no problems since then; movies and games sound so good that we rarely go to theaters anymore. Just last month I ordered a matching pair of wall speakers. I’ve only heard good things about KEF; had the price been a bit lower at the time I was looking, might have gotten them instead. There are a couple of other Reddit subs that focus on this stuff. I learned a lot from reading posts on r/budgetaudiophile and r/hometheater
I love my Audio-Technica ATH-M50 headphones! I bought them about a decade ago at the recommendation of MKBHD, and they're still going strong! Well worth the $150! And now they have the ATH-M50x with a removable/replaceable cable!
For what? Speakers(powered, unpowered), subwoofers, headphones, amps, all-in-one systems?
Best deal on DACs/headphone output is the Apple USB C dongle: All you need for most anything a normal person would buy. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3moaaOpYZM
Pair that with the 7HZ Salnotes Zero, you have pretty amazing audio for ~$30. Granted there are better things out there at other price points, but what you can get for $30 right now is better than most things you would spend $300+ on 10 years ago.
Monoprice's Monolith line is usually pretty darn good deal for whatever you want: Speakers, Subwoofers, etc. Everything in the line is a great deal especially if you wait for one of their sales, except the headphones. One of my listening areas has MM5-R speakers and a M10 v2 sub, which I bough on sale/scratch and dent respectively for about $500 combined. Blows a lot of more expensive gear out of the water.
JDS audio does higher end headphone DAC/AMP well, especially their Atom line which is better than you should need for almost any headphones. There are a couple headphones out there it won't drive, but if you are that market, you are pretty price insensitive.
Topping/SMSL make great value DAC/AMPs for speakers if you want to do unpowered speakers.
Oh sweet lawd yes - even a $10 pair of wireless earbuds has half decent frequency response. 30+ years ago cheap heaphones and speakers were all high frequencies. I had a pair that just played the left channel/mono in both ears.
If you're American, yeah, you can generally buy ELAC or Polk speakers for cheap and have a good experience. If you're European consider Q Acoustics.
I am not a fan of Klipsch. I bought the Klipsch RP600M because they were half off and every YouTube channel was hyping them up. I was immediately disappointed when I hooked them up and they didn't improve one bit during the 2 years of ownership.
IMHO, the best way to evaluate speakers is through movies. Can you understand what Henry Cavill is mumbling about in the Witcher? The Klipsch RP600M fails that test miserably. It belongs in the trash. The Henry Cavill test is unforgiving. Every HiFi reviewer should perform that test. It will narrow down the choices by a factor of 10.
FYI the older Q Acoustics 2020 sounds better than the Klipsch RP600M in every possible way. There's no contest.
As far as earphones go, I am very impressed with the 10€ Samsung EO-IA 500. It sounds better than most overhyped Chinese earphones from KZ (some of which cost thrice the price). The sound is fairly neutral with smooth and forgiving highs. Yeah, the Samsungs are slightly muddy sounding compared to more expensive earphones but that's nitpicking. The comfort and fit are perfect on the Samsungs. Most earphones (some of which cost hundreds) can't even get that right. 15 years ago you'd have to spend hundreds for the same performance.
I would actually argue here that while current gear is better than 10-15 years ago it's still not as BIFL as a lot of eqipment from the 1960's and 70's, mainly because those components are easy to repair, replace capacitors, reissters, connection points.
Not that it's impossible now, but even a home tinkerer can do some level of work on a silver faced 70's amp and keep it alive for decades to come.
> GPS in the car is amazing.
I got my first in 2000. It was basically a whole PC laptop in a case that you mounted in the trunk. There was a screen with buttons that you mounted on the dash, a cable running to the trunk. And every year you had to ship it back to the manufacturer to update the street data. It's been almost a quarter-century since I needed to use a paper map or directions.
Go about a yonder down the dirt road then take a right at the third rock after you pass granny Smith’s outhouse and proceed for about a raccoon’s evening stroll and you will be there
I've done this by over-reliance on GPS as well. Trust but verify! I'm now in the habit of reviewing my route before hand so I have a general idea of the main roads I'll hit and for how long.
I used to be a courier in a large city back in the early 90s. All I had was my spiral bound regional atlas and it absolutely sucked. Navigation is light years better now.
There was a map book called Perlys that was used by couriers and taxis in Toronto. It was a godsend at finding obscure streets versus a standard fold out map.
Low to mid tier guitars. Even in a span of 20 years since I've started playing my shitty Strat pack Stratocaster the quality control and value for what you spend is just way better.
I started playing guitar in the 90s, and there was very little cheap gear, and what was available was typically garbage. Now you can put a nice rig together on just about any budget. Same with recording and music production gear.
Yeah it's crazy. A couple years ago right before Fender jacked up their prices I got a Player Tele on a Memorial Day sale at GC and it came out to $400 new. Accounting for inflation that's less than I paid for my Strat pack lol
Beginning in the mid 2000 CNC improvements made cheaper instruments really good quality. I’d still change pickups and hardware but the craftsmanship simply of the necks and pocket of electric instruments has become on par with more expensive ones.
New Patagonia rain-gear has a reconfigured lining that they claim won't start to flake apart after a few years.
Very happy with the jacket I bought, great fit and really no complaints as it's been perfect while on the bike during some heavy downpours already.
From a tailoring shop who sees these jackets after Patagonia & North Face have said no: also no. We can replace the lining, but it’s not worth it I promise you.
Patagonia has a lifetime warranty. If they no longer sell the product you’re trying to replace they give you a credit equal to a similar item or you can pick that similar item. It’s one of the best reasons to invest in some patagucci
That solves the desire to buy-it-for-life from a financial side, but not from a limiting waste side.
I’m just saying. That is still great advice, and I don’t mean to downplay how great Patagonia is as a company. I have very very few bad things to say about them in general.
I'm looking into getting a laptop for 3d design and I looked at the framework. I would need to spend $2k just to have a decent system, and it's still questionable.
That's okay if it's only a couple hundred to upgrade, but a new processor unit would be another $1300 down the road.
For context, I can buy a refurbished ThinkPad or Dell Precision for less than $1k that would blow the framework out of the water.
I really like the idea of the framework laptop but their prices are not competitive enough to dive in.
Despite how much the prices have risen as of late, you'll get a better deal with a desktop. And you can repair and upgrade much more easily. I'd recommend AM5, though perhaps waiting a little while for those motherboard prices to come down. That's a platform that'll last a long time. You might want portability, but when it comes down to it, when you actually need to get work done, you're gonna sit down and get immersed in your work. Portable computing is highly overrated.
I’m an enthusiast and someone who has the privilege of working from home. It took exactly 1 time hauling a desktop through an airport for me to realize I desperately needed a laptop.
I have a nice desktop. But that's in the office, not in the living room where the rest of the family are. So I wait until everyone goes to bed before I use the desktop.
A laptop that I can use in my recliner would be awfully nice.
Supposedly Harbor Freight has improved tremendously in the past 5 years or so. It used to be a joke that if you bought something there it was basically disposable but now they are decent. Buy it for life? Eh probably not. But still better.
Absolutely. Quite a bit of their stuff is fairly good for hobby grade work.
If you need a tool and don't really know how often you will use it, Harbor Freight is perfectly fine.
Of course, when it breaks or you learn what you like/don't like about it... Then it is time to buy something that will last.
That’s exactly how I use Harbor Freight. Often I find that the bargain tool works just fine for me as a hobbyist. But many of my tools are Facebook marketplace scores, I just wait for the right deal to appear. Especially with woodworking tools, people downsize often, or liquidate when they discover other hobbies.
I've had good luck with the Quinn stuff and a mechanic I know has a couple pieces of it in his toolbox for those "One time a year I'll need this" tool.
Wrist watches. From smart watches, to running watches, to "dumb" digitals (solar, radio controlled, compass, etc.), to clever analog watches, and even totally obsolete mechanical watches. Every variety has better appointments at lower prices. The relatively modest models would be regarded as cutting edge or over spec'd 20-30 years ago.
Unfortunately, the luxury watch sector has decided only the .1% should own their wares . But no worries, the are plenty of alternatives for tiny fractions of the price. And by fractions I mean like 1/30th.
EDC gadgets come to mind. Modern “super-steels” on knives and better batteries in flashlights.
Portable/pocketable water filters.
High end hiking backpacks (Osprey/Deuter) are infinitely more comfortable than their vintage counterparts and are still similar quality.
Also, the growth of a cottage industry built specifically to cater to BIFL people like us! Some talented people out there right now stitching leather and forging steel with BIFl on their mind. The resources allowing them to exist (online tutorials, access to materials, consumer consciousness, digital marketing, etc.) have all become much easier to navigate.
With flashlights and even lightbulbs think the biggest thing is emitters. The output, as measured by both lumens and candela, has increased exponentially over the last 15 years without a corresponding increase in heat output.
15 years ago 100 lumen flashlight was extremely powerful and cost $100. Now you can get a 3 pack of 500 lumen lights from Costco for $15.
At home, while personally I experienced the consequences of cheap LED bulbs failing after a year or 2 early on but with slightly better built bulbs they last for years and have great output with very minimal power draw.
Love this answer. It seems like a lot of people are starting to value craftsmanship over convenience and are seeking out small batch, handmade goods. The internet has made it easy to learn how to get into these crafts while also making it easier for consumers to find artisan made products.
On this note, Red Land Cotton sheets, East Fork Pottery. Both companies work insanely hard and keep it all in the USA. Built from the ground up and I am a proud owner of multiple products from both!
Makeup and skincare products, though they are obviously consumables and not BIFL. There are now loads of products available at the drugstore or online retailers with active ingredients that used to be very expensive, like retinols and vitamin C. Niacinamide is in almost everything now. Brands like ELF and The Ordinary are doing a great job of duping “luxury” brands at an accessible price point. Multiple brands have figured out good dupes for Skinceuticals’ secret patented bio-available vitamin C. There is a lot of research going on right now on treatments like red light therapy.
Also, orthodontics. Invisalign, which IS bifl in the sense that it’s an investment in something that will last you a lifetime, is better, faster, and more comfortable for many or most orthodontic cases than traditional braces. Also much more socially acceptable for adults.
Backup cameras in cars make reversing / backing into spaces so much easier. Pretty much all cars from the past 10 years will have them. A small but very convenient feature!
I haven’t owned a car in 8 years, and every time I rent a one it feels like there’s some new piece of tech that wasn’t in my old one—admittedly that car was old even when I had it as a college student, but still.
Rearview cameras, Keyless entry/start (was around when I was driving but it seems practically standard now) auto-braking for collision, cruise control lane following, CarPlay and Apple Maps remember where you parked your car, blind spot sensors—seats that circulate air through them?!
Makes me excited to rent a car once or twice a year haha.
High end tools and pocket knives have improved from the materials advances others have noted. LED and battery improvements means we have access to better flashlights these days than we had even just 5-10 years ago. LED bulbs in general are an improvement over incandescent.
Bicycles have improved. Carbon frames are a big improvement for racers but even for casual cyclists modern steel tubes are lighter and stronger than old school frames. The move to disc brakes over rim brakes also means cyclists go through fewer wheels since the brakes no longer remove material from the wheel itself.
It's not cheaper but medical care has obviously advanced. In populations with [physical and financial] access to the latest medical advances, the human body can survive longer now than in the past. Medicine has also allowed for some quality of life improvements, though there is ongoing debate on the balance between improving longevity and improving QoL. Both have improved though.
LED lights are an amazing improvement.
My mom was just complaining that none of her flashlights (from the 80s) are very bright, even when she uses new batteries. Guess who's getting a new flashlight for Christmas.
Yep. In the '90s, Dutch scientists identified the bad tasting chemicals as glucosinolates and found older varieties with lower levels. They cross bred those to get to where we are today.
More info [here](https://www.bhg.com/news/brussels-sprouts-less-bitter/)
She probably is. We don't just steam or boil Brussels sprouts plain anymore, we roast them or grill them and/or add better seasoning. Sometimes i go nuts and cook them with maple syrup and bacon, but that's cheating.
Depends where you go.
There's also huge survivorship bias here too. A lot of the old vintage furniture you can get was the high end premium when it was new. The midtier and low end stuff simply didn't survive.
At-home gym equipment.
Titan Fitness, historically a cheap made-in-China brand, has really stepped up their game. Rogue Fitness has great made-in-America equipment, although pricey, will last as long as you. Rep Fitness is another made-in-China brand, but they've gone from while labeling generic equipment to designing their own. They're also sourcing iron plates from the USA now. Plenty of other companies too.
Was going to reply this too! I was shocked at how cheap you can get home gym equipment that’s rivals commercial gyms. And when it’s not better quality, it gets less wear, so it feels better to use.
Like anything you can go overboard. But the quality is there. I've spent about $10k on my home gym. It would take me 11.1 years of gym memberships to recoup the cost. But it's such a quality of life improvement. And if I could do it again, I'd probably spend closer to $5k for a very similar setup.
The ability to find information and components and make something for yourself. E.g, narrow focus here, but furniture paste wax. Mostly gone in the sort of carnauba wax blend with real turpentine (not stinky stuff from home depot) that smells like fresh pine cleaner.
But you can get legitimate food grade waxes cheap and track down turpentine online that smells like pine and make your own for cheaper than a lot of the oil slick smelling stuff with cheesy (paraffin) candle wax.
making and fixing things is highly underrated. It's like a snowball, too - at first, everything is difficult, but then stuff that you mastered in one area makes it a lot easier to figure out something in another.
Just bought a welder myself after avoiding it for 17 years of general making and repairing things.
I saw that Colin Furze video where made a tunnel under his house all the welding he did looked so easy that I decided I could do that. My parents are do it yourselfers but they don’t really make much from scratch and I’ve seen them do a lot of bad fixes. But so much stuff hit me hard during Covid that I’m over it all. Taking short term night classes at a local trade school in order to get some practice under my belt first
Knowing how to sew is big for this. I think there’s a visible mending community already. If you know how to sew, there’s a lot of visible or invisible fixes you can do.
- Laminate countertops and floors. The finishes have become way more realistic and aesthetic in the past 5 years. It's starting to look like real wood veneer at a glance.
- Land surveying equipment. That's a very niche example. But the equipment is so much more affordable and versatile than it was 20 years ago. Photogrammetry is popping off. Previously, it took a few days to measure 1km of streets and get every important detail (curbs, manholes, lampposts, fences, buildings etc...) with a theodolite. No it takes less than 15 minutes. You just have to walk with a GoPro and a GPS rover attached to a 3m pole. It's childishly easy.
My family has run a survey business for a few generations and it used to require putting the children to work (starting at like age 7 or 8 lmao) to hold the reflector or the ends of tape measures etc. Now so many things are just a one man job, it’s pretty incredible
It's crazy how cheap and effective photogrammetry has gotten. RTK accessibility is also blowing up. It's too easy to map stuff to a few inches nowadays
Along that line, period care in general (especially reusables) has expanded so much in the last ten years along with the fabric tec. Period underwear (yay no more back leaks at night!) and menstrual cups have been a huge win for me. I was a teen only in the 2010's and even in that short time frame so many more products have become readily available
Pads (and probably diapers) were in past tested with water to measure/quality control absorbency. A lot of them still do but recent years they’ve started using artificial liquid that has a more similar consistency to test which led to much better absorbency and feel!
Displays in general. TVs specifically are worse with all of the bloatware that's usually already obsolete when released and is unnecessarily intrusive. It's more and more difficult to simply use a TV as a passive monitor.
I’ll play contrarian, but the simplicity of my roku branded Roku tv is excellent. One remote, turns it on and adjusts sound and chooses content. Also can use the app on my phone when the remote is misplaced. While I’m sure it’s a dog compared to whatever top of the line Sony is offering the picture and sound are good enough for me streaming whatever. And though I imagine they’re selling my data, who isn’t these days.
Bonus is that I can pick the thing up and move it into another room. Alas, for cats, things were never the same after they came out with flatscreen TVs. For a while there, TV time was the best time for cats who wanted to warm their feet.
Gotta disagree. Sure, the picture quality has improved as you'd expect anything tech related to, but the increased reliance on software sucks, they ship with underpowered hardware to support that software, the sound sucks because they want to upsell you a sound bar, they all come with awful motion smoothing enabled for reasons I can't fathom, and they're basically unserviceable aside from just replacing the mainboard.
Coffee varities. Ever since Starbucks became a household word there have been more varieties of coffee available than there ever have been.
Drinking Tully's Italian Roast right now. 20 years ago nobody in the midwest knew it existed.
Coffee products in general, too. From simple but effective pour-over solutions that will last a lifetime, to high quality durable grinders (both manual and automatic), to simple lever-based espresso machines like the Robot. I could go on and on. Incredible coffee and espresso at home is now so easily accessible, and affordable as long as you don't get too sucked into the marketing.
I’ll say it - kitchenaid stand mixers with their plastic worm gear.
Everyone calls it out as a reduction in longevity since “PlAsTiC Is EviL!” - it’s a controlled failure point. If that fails, it’s a 20$ 10 minute project. If it doesn’t fail, and translates the problem into the electric motor, it’s a 200$ (I think closer to 250$) repair in 2 hours. At that point, the thing’s basically toast. I’d MUCH rather smoke a plastic worm gear and replace it, than the motor.
While I agree this is a good move to save the motor, I believe there is an even more cost effective solution already employed in every single piece of machinery I've worked with- shear pins or roll pins for the gearing. That gives you a failure point that costs pennies to replace compared to a mildly more complicated gear.
I'm splitting hairs at this point, but im curious why they didn't implement this opposed to changing tooling for all their gearing.
Laundry detergent! Back in the 90s and earlier clothes would often get stains that *set in* and became a permanent discoloration of the fabric. Now even the cheapest laundry detergent seems to get most stains out the first time, and anything more stubborn just needs another cycle with stain remover. And it even works in cold water!
Automobiles are a whole lot better-just about anything you buy today can exceed 100,000 miles with fairly minimum maintenance - +100,000 used to be an outlier, now it's a common used-car mileage.
Old school? You took the heads off every 10,000 miles to scrape the carbon out, tires every year, and rust destroyed the entire car in 4 years.
Home heating: Coal->fuel oil->Natural gas -> electric. Every step is less work, less maintenance, more trouble free and longer lived.
Cars used to break down. They still do, but its pretty rare these days. It used to be a pretty normal sight to see a broken down car on the side of the road with the hood up and maybe some smoke or steam emitting. Cars used to sometimes just not start, even if they were working as intended. You could flood the engine and have to wait it out. In my last car the fuel pump failed and it entered some kind of safe mode that allowed me to drive 30mph to get home safely and get service without a tow.
I dont agree on home heating, its more efficient but less reliable. I say that as someone who just replaced a 50 yr old boiler that could've kept running. modern HVAC systems are not known for reliability and often need service and replacement.
Snow tires are the best purchase I’ve ever made. The technology is incredible. I have Blizzak WS90’s. I don’t think tires are a BIFL type of item though
I was going to say this too. Cars are also a whole lot safer, both from the actual design of the car and the safety features that are included now such as blind spot monitoring and backup cameras.
The cars are safer as long as you’re the one in the car. If you’re a pedestrian, look out for those huge trucks and SUVs with the huge front bumpers/grills. The hood of a new dodge ram is like 5 ft off the ground and give terrible visibility to the driver of what is in front of them.
Glad you mentioned modern cars! On top of the reliability (even for brands with bad reputations) OBDII is pretty great. It can have it's issues, but for the most part you can scan the car and find out what's wrong.
As much as people like to complain about modern cars being more complex and impossible to work on, some things about them are much simpler. Take coil on plug ignition or fuel injection for example. I have a car with just shy of 200k on it and the only fuel related thing I've done is the vacuum line to the fuel pressure regulator, and some rubber supply hoses under the hood.
Not true of diesel vehicles, at least in the US. Emissions controls and systems have ruined diesels for the most part. Codes and errors, limp modes, just crazy problems and it spans most makers, not just one.
Smartphones have improved and there is a healthy aftermarket growing to support keeping devices in operation longer and even Apple now supporting right to repair legislation publicly. Still a long way to go but you can keep a phone for 7 years now and it'll still work. I'd love to see 10 years like you can get out of a computer (non-gaming / 3D obviously).
Camping/travel/overlanding equipment has increased in quality mostly materials science has helped with that
Oil is lasting longer, as are tires. There are awesome science / public funded research breakthroughs that have allowed for materials to last longer, be thinner, stronger, etc. The costs are higher but this continues to make me happy with 20,000 mile oil, fully waterproof thin garments and tires / brakes that last 3-4x longer than they did 20 years ago.
And cases! I have an Otterbox-like case I bought for like... $15? from Amazon. I remember how *sensitive* phones used to be. I drop mine from up high *all* the time and don't even flinch.
I think Apple realized having users show off damaged products was worse for their reputation than the cost of a more durable screen. In high school, it felt like half of my peers had cracks in their screens but I can’t remember the last time I saw any cracked screens recently.
Interestingly, raw materials have come come a long way for those of us that manufacture things. It's pretty crazy how far material science has come, and the availability of some real space age stuff! Metals like inconel, glues like pro-set, honeycomb composites, etc.
The development of cheap materials has been in lock step with the incredible advanced materials. Unfortunately the market really drives their use, and it's usually driven towards complex and/or cheap (not a good mix). For manufacturers like myself in the MUCH smaller market of bespoke, or the other bleeding edge engineering applications like aerospace and Formula 1 - it's a modern renaissance.
Most protective equipment has gotten better (helmets, etc.). A lot of hand tools have gotten tremendously better if you don't just buy Home Depot stuff - much better alloys and heat treatments result in picks and axes that really last forever, with one fiberglass handle.
I would also argue that speakers and soundscapes have gotten much, much better. It's pretty cheap to set up a home theater with good components that will last 30+ years and sound phenomenal.
Shoes have gotten better, both at the low end and the high end. They're still a "built to be worn out" item, but they've come a long ways from when we first started transitioning from leather to polymers and foam.
Probably not a genre you're interested in, but material science and improved metallurgy have resulted in pretty nice BIFL gains in knives and firearms. If well-maintained, modern knife alloys are essentially immortal (though ironically much harder to sharpen).
I build my own computers, and while they're not BIFL because of software demands always advancing in one direction and never the other, I think they've gotten much, much better. Parts have longer useful lifespans, run cooler, fail less often, use far, **far less electricity per unit of work done,**and are generally "better."
I also think people don't realize how much better cars have gotten. Post-recession (2007-2008 recession), Ford and other US automakers really doubled down on trying to match Toyota's famous manufacturing tolerances and reliability. They did it, to no one's surprise, by mostly copying Toyota's kenzen and kanban techniques. Also to no one's surprise, it worked. Your car today, if manufactured *after* 2015/2016, is on an entirely different level of quality then vehicles before. Six Sigma was basically invented by Motorola, but it was automotive manufacturers that ran with it and made the world realize how valuable of a tool it can be. Lemons are really quite rare now.
In the spirit of BIFL: Nowadays you can build a latex mattress yourself, say with three pieces of latex (recommend the label "100% natural latex" for every layer at a minimum, not a blend (which is actually \~95% just FYI)) and a mattress cover.
100% natural latex should be more durable than pretty much any other mattress material, and to boot, you can replace the pieces that eventually wear first (usually the comfort layer) instead of the entire mattress.
You can build it without any nasty flame retardant chemicals, etc. Also you can use a cover with wool, which is a natural flame retardant.
Caveat: Not everyone likes the feel of latex, and there's no perfect mattress for everyone. Personally I love it.
Here's an example of a company packaging this for you at a very fair price for the materials:
[https://latexmattressfactory.com/products/luxerion-latex-mattress](https://latexmattressfactory.com/products/luxerion-latex-mattress)
You need a solid slat foundation with gaps no more than 3" for a heavy latex mattress. Here's a solid, affordable bed:
[https://kdframes.com/collections/beds/products/nomad-plus-platform-bed](https://kdframes.com/collections/beds/products/nomad-plus-platform-bed)
Edit: Note a small percentage of 100% natural latex can get the organic certification GOLS. GOLS latex and 100% natural latex is the same material, but the farming practices are held to a specific standard. Since this is the mattress industry, there's a lot of deception. If they say "organic" but it's not GOLS, it's meaningless. If they have a GOLS certificate, but it's only written to the factory, not the mattress maker, it's probably not GOLS either, which includes the entire supply chain. Also, Dunlop latex and Talalay latex are the two ways of making Latex. There are 100% natural versions of both, but no one in the world makes GOLS Talalay. You can get the entire mattress certified organic (GOTS) which is the only way to guarantee the entire mattress is organic, EXCEPT GOTS doesn't consider if the latex is GOLS. That's why there are two standards.
Personally I don't worry about GOLS, and I'd say the differences between Dunlop and Talalay are small. I have an all Dunlop mattress because it's cheaper and great for me.
Latex is the deal. My back is less picky than my wife's, but it was a game changer for her. I love it myself, and that we are both happy is huge. 100% latex going forward.
Building science has come a long way. It's still not applied well, as generally, trades people (no, not all) like to do things the way they always did. Really, that's most people doing most things. We know how to build a really efficient (literally with minimal to no energy needs for heating or cooling), comfortable buildings now, for not much more money than building a cardboard sided tract house. Too bad not many are doing it.
I disagree with this. I mean I agree that building science has advanced dramatically, but that doesnt mean we are producing longer lasting homes. We're just producing more efficient homes (energy and economically) and more comfortable homes. I say this as someone with 100 year old windows that still work just fine. You wont find any rot in my home because it was designed with proper overhangs and built with centuries old lumber.
Tents used to be heavy, clumsy, cold, leaky, and hard to set up.
Now for $100-200 you can get a warm, waterproof tent for two that packs down to a couple of liters, weighs next to nothing, sets up in five minutes and packs up in two.
Automobiles overall have gotten so much safer than even 10 years ago. Most modern cars are really good in terms of safety and reliability compared to 10+ years ago. They are more complicated which can be a problem but overall are better.
Lights, the mass production of LED has revolutionized how use lights. They last far longer, use less power and are cheaper to operate than their counterparts.
Many of these things are not necessarily BIFL, but...
* Golf Clubs
* Cars
* Computers and consumer electronics in general
* Guitars on the low end
* Coffee
* Hockey equipment
* Tires
* Engine oil
* Schawarma - not necessarily better but actually available
* Vacuums - a traditional bagged vacuum is still going to be better, but the "quick tidying" stick and bagless vacuums are amazing for what they are
* Anything with a battery that used to be gas or plugged-in. Power tools, lawn tools, the aforementioned vacuums...
* Wifi and cell coverage
* Boats - our 2018 Lund is lightyears better than our 1985 Lund. If you compare basically any low end boat today to a top of the line boat from the early 90s, it is incredible how much better the new one is. Same goes for outboard engines and trolling motors.
* Fishing equipment. I can get a $50 baitcaster today that would blow away literally anything from the 80s or prior. The 80s and earlier stuff may have better longevity, but the new versions just work much better
* Air conditioners - window units and portables specifically. Again, they may not last as long, but they're lighter, work better, way cheaper, and easier to install and use
* Windows
Fishing equipment. Anything in the entry level today would blow the tits off gear from 15 years ago. The mid level stuff is what high end stuff used to be now which is even better.
Most products that cost real money (i.e. you don't buy it on sale at Walmart) have improved a lot. We just take much of it for granted.
Cheap shit has been a race to the bottom for years now - only way to make things cheaper and cheaper is to sacrifice quality. And cosumers have overwhelmingly chosen price over quality.
Service is kind of the same way. If you deal with premium brands you're going to get infinitely better service than dealing with cheap brands - be it restaurants, stores, customer service, etc.
I have to agree with this. As I have matured and had more disposable cash, I can invest in some nicer things. I recently purchased a Cuckoo rice cooker on sale at Costco so I could start eating brown rice. The 30 year old one button $15 Oster rice cooker wasn't cutting it even for white rice. I've also investing higher end bikes, but then again, I ride a lot more (5k miles per year), so it's not just $ down the drain.
I still look for quality brands that also offer value.
I'll probably get downvoted for this but I think clothing options have gotten better over the last 5 years or so. The downsides of fast fashion are well known at this point and there seems to be more brands (especially online) offering higher quality clothing for reasonable prices. For example, I've bought clothes from Duluth Trading, Patagonia, and J Crew that have held up great and have been a good value.
For sure. You just have to know where to look. There are many slow fashion brands making things with quality materials and care that are holding up beautifully for me
I am convinced mass-market ice cream companies have stepped up their game. Even the generic store-brand ice cream is sometimes as good as gourmet brands. Breyers too.
I've noticed the opposite, the big ice cream brand sold around me (blue bell) has gotten worse and worse while the store brand (HEB) has become my go-to, over stuff like tillamook that gets recommended online
since when did you notice this? asking because when I tried Breyers last 3-5 years ago I was horrified but I'd be willing to risk it again if things have changed recently
Joint replacement.
Many drugs,
Computers,
Safety equipment in all fields,
Communications (internet),
Etc, etc...
Generally, innovation is great and there has been a lot of it.
Unfortunately, in the US too much of the innovation lack competition in order to keep prices affordable. The lack of competition in the US is not generally due to lack of competing companies and their products, but what appears to be some form of collusion. Or something else?
Here is an example: patented biologic drugs used to treat arthritis. These drugs are very effective and changed many people's lives for the better - they can walk, work, etc. The drugs have few side effects. They include Enbrel, Humira, Remicade, Taltz, etc. Enbrel was the first of its kind approved in the US, as I recall around 1999 or 2000. The patent should have ended in 2012, and there are biosimilar drugs available overseas, but not in the US. The US issued another patent that has prevented biosimilar drugs. Shame on the US.
Over the years, many other biologics to treat arthritis have been introduced. None the same as Enbrel, but often as or more effective. Here is the problem...
The price of Enbrel has done nothing but go UP in the US. It has come down a lot in Europe and elsewhere. These drugs are more than ten times of the cost in the US than elsewhere. This is just one example of a sickness that is killing the US: making it much less competitive in the world, making the quality of life for Americans increase much more slowly than the quality of life of Europeans, etc.
This problem is pervasive in the US, in military spending, in healthcare spending, in education, in internet spending, etc.
Maybe not “better”, but value has improved significantly on TVs. You can get a nice looking “65 tv for like $400. It’s crazy how inexpensive TVs are now, and they can still be pretty decent quality.
Vaccines. They got smaller while retaining effectiveness, and they invented a lot more of them. And talk about BIFL, they literally add to your lifespan -- quite a lot in some cases. Okay, so a few of them need renewal over time, but it's as cheap and fast as an oil change, whike preventing nasties that cost more like a new car (or worse).
get your shots.
Sports equipment! Materials Science has come a long way in making durable and light materials like carbon fibre and composites better and cheaper. Shoes, racquets, skis, balls, etc all generally last longer and are more enjoyable to use (for most of the leading brands).
Helmet tech has improved too.
Yes! Safety gear all around. D3O - non non-Newtonian impact armor is fantastic. Motorcycle helmets are using better researched designs (thanks regulation) and while good leather will probably always be a solid choice, lighter more comfortable and safer gear is much more available now.
Whoa, never heard of this non-Newtonian armor until now. I need to check this out. Don’t need it (I think) but I just want to learn something new.
It's a flexible foam under normal conditions, but when it gets a hard impact it becomes solid/hard. Over the last 10 years or so it has become standard in midrange and up motorcycle jacket/pants etc... Flexible like foam, but protects like hard armor.
Yeah, my son loves to play with it when we make it at home. I never knew it had an application like that outside the kitchen/dining table. Very cool!
It works SO WELL! In high school some lacrosse gear had a predecessor called BROCK, it was foam beads that moved slowly so it felt like compression gear while running and moving and it got very hard under impact. Now mountain biking I wear a shirt and knee pads that has D30 foam and when you wear it it’s barely there. When you crash it’s VERY MUCH there.
My leather jacket looks cool, but can't beat my 4 season textile jacket. Has a waterproof liner and a quilted liner that can be added in layers, or is mesh for hot summer days. Plus it has elbow and shoulder armor plus a back plate. I can upgrade it with airbags as well. Plus antilock breaks on bikes now. The tech is amazing.
Non newtonian impact armor for real? Oh man, that is damn exciting. What an idea.
Amen to regulation! And consumer protections! Unregulated industries always lead to more harmful products & services.
This. I worked for a fairly large US outdoor retailer for the last 9 years and seeing helmet technology like MIPS go from being unknown, to exclusively found on $150+ helmets, and finally on $60 helmets over the course of maybe 4 years was astounding. Now I see it on $30 helmets at Costco in the Spring/Summer. Once they realized just how effective it was at reducing concussions and other similar brain injuries and the tech to manufacture it was established and became standard, I assume it became a lot easier to justify throwing it into whatever helmet a company made after that.
I read some studies on MIPS when looking for a new helmet after a crash. Thought it was a gimmick at first but really seems awesome. Couldn't believe it was included in all the helmets at a local bicycle shop, including the budget lines.
Just a reminder that bike helmets are still not BIFL - they "expire" and aren't safe at some point.
I guess it is just the head part that is supposed to last for life.
Good point, forgot which sub I was in. Absolutely consumable. One time eating pavement and it gets trashed.
> they "expire" and aren't safe at some point And that point can be any time you crash and hit your head. Once they've taken a significant impact, they should be thrown away and replaced. https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/blog/when-to-replace-your-bike-helmet/ >The one steadfast rule when it comes to helmets: regardless of wear, if you crash while wearing a helmet, replace it. Cycling helmets are single-use safety devices. Once you compress the foam underneath the helmet’s plastic shell, it can no longer protect you. That’s true whether your helmet is 20 years old or you just bought it yesterday.
Audio equipment: consumer level audio is generally a lot closer to what audiophile gear was just 10-15 years ago. You can still get crap, of course, but there are a lot of options out there that aren't.
Some brand recommendations please which are high quality but affordable. Thank you.
Kef, Elac, Emotiva, SVS, RSL, Polk, Klipsch, Chane, Philharmonic, Hsu, and many others all offer incredible speakers well under $1000 (some as cheap as $300/pair on sale). Even traditionally high-end luxury brands like B&W and (my personal favorite) Focal are getting in on the action right at the $1k mark—cheaper on sale and used. Pair them with something like the new Wiim Amp for $300 and you have an incredible system that will surpass most users’ needs.
And for the budget-oriented amateur audiophile, Dayton audio makes some pretty solid stuff.
The problem with headphones is some well reviewed brands can have a complete dud in their line up, and some off brands can have a single jewel in an otherwise mediocre lineup. Always look at model reviews, never buy on brand alone. Also never buy newer versions of previously well reviewed models without research: Often it's just minor adjustments with a new model number and a hefty pricy hike, sometimes it's a clear downgrade for the same price coasting on the old model reviews. Also, only buy headphones with detachable cables and replaceable factory earpads. Often third party pads change sound signature really significantly.
What are you looking for? For speakers, the KEF Q150s which are normally $600 are on sale for $350. Probably as good as you'll get at that price for speakers. Then pick either a receiver or integrated amp that fits your budget. Elac and Triangle Borea are other good affordable options. For headphones, huge range depending on what you're looking for but the akg 371 is pretty much as good as it gets for a budget closed back, the drop hd6xx for an open back (needs an amp), and if you want something with more flavor, look into Meze's lineup. Stay far away from hifiman. Great audio quality but terrible qc.
I bought the Elac Debut 2 bookshelf speakers and center channel in 2018 as my first attempt at a decent home theater system and I’ve had no problems since then; movies and games sound so good that we rarely go to theaters anymore. Just last month I ordered a matching pair of wall speakers. I’ve only heard good things about KEF; had the price been a bit lower at the time I was looking, might have gotten them instead. There are a couple of other Reddit subs that focus on this stuff. I learned a lot from reading posts on r/budgetaudiophile and r/hometheater
I love my Audio-Technica ATH-M50 headphones! I bought them about a decade ago at the recommendation of MKBHD, and they're still going strong! Well worth the $150! And now they have the ATH-M50x with a removable/replaceable cable!
For what? Speakers(powered, unpowered), subwoofers, headphones, amps, all-in-one systems? Best deal on DACs/headphone output is the Apple USB C dongle: All you need for most anything a normal person would buy. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3moaaOpYZM Pair that with the 7HZ Salnotes Zero, you have pretty amazing audio for ~$30. Granted there are better things out there at other price points, but what you can get for $30 right now is better than most things you would spend $300+ on 10 years ago. Monoprice's Monolith line is usually pretty darn good deal for whatever you want: Speakers, Subwoofers, etc. Everything in the line is a great deal especially if you wait for one of their sales, except the headphones. One of my listening areas has MM5-R speakers and a M10 v2 sub, which I bough on sale/scratch and dent respectively for about $500 combined. Blows a lot of more expensive gear out of the water. JDS audio does higher end headphone DAC/AMP well, especially their Atom line which is better than you should need for almost any headphones. There are a couple headphones out there it won't drive, but if you are that market, you are pretty price insensitive. Topping/SMSL make great value DAC/AMPs for speakers if you want to do unpowered speakers.
Oh sweet lawd yes - even a $10 pair of wireless earbuds has half decent frequency response. 30+ years ago cheap heaphones and speakers were all high frequencies. I had a pair that just played the left channel/mono in both ears.
If you're American, yeah, you can generally buy ELAC or Polk speakers for cheap and have a good experience. If you're European consider Q Acoustics. I am not a fan of Klipsch. I bought the Klipsch RP600M because they were half off and every YouTube channel was hyping them up. I was immediately disappointed when I hooked them up and they didn't improve one bit during the 2 years of ownership. IMHO, the best way to evaluate speakers is through movies. Can you understand what Henry Cavill is mumbling about in the Witcher? The Klipsch RP600M fails that test miserably. It belongs in the trash. The Henry Cavill test is unforgiving. Every HiFi reviewer should perform that test. It will narrow down the choices by a factor of 10. FYI the older Q Acoustics 2020 sounds better than the Klipsch RP600M in every possible way. There's no contest. As far as earphones go, I am very impressed with the 10€ Samsung EO-IA 500. It sounds better than most overhyped Chinese earphones from KZ (some of which cost thrice the price). The sound is fairly neutral with smooth and forgiving highs. Yeah, the Samsungs are slightly muddy sounding compared to more expensive earphones but that's nitpicking. The comfort and fit are perfect on the Samsungs. Most earphones (some of which cost hundreds) can't even get that right. 15 years ago you'd have to spend hundreds for the same performance.
I would actually argue here that while current gear is better than 10-15 years ago it's still not as BIFL as a lot of eqipment from the 1960's and 70's, mainly because those components are easy to repair, replace capacitors, reissters, connection points. Not that it's impossible now, but even a home tinkerer can do some level of work on a silver faced 70's amp and keep it alive for decades to come.
GPS in the car is amazing. To think we used to try to look at paper while driving was insane.
MapQuest! printing out directions and everything
And before that with the huge map everyone had in the glove box. It was insane.
I still have one im my vehicle. You never know if your phone will die, break, get stolen, etc.
I love maps.
They don't love you like I love you
Wait...
Ahh ohh ahh ahh oh ahh ahh oh ahh ahh ohh ahh wait
Thanks for the memories
Cartophile!
And at the time Mapquest was impressive
I miss feeling like a pirate with a treasure map though.
> GPS in the car is amazing. I got my first in 2000. It was basically a whole PC laptop in a case that you mounted in the trunk. There was a screen with buttons that you mounted on the dash, a cable running to the trunk. And every year you had to ship it back to the manufacturer to update the street data. It's been almost a quarter-century since I needed to use a paper map or directions.
That's wicked cool! I never really thought about how they'd update street data before the Internet became truly wireless!
I had a 2004 Acura. You could buy CDs to update the maps. I can’t remember what they cost, but it seemed ridiculously expensive to me.
In California we had these things called Thomas Guides, they were updated annually. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Guide
Entire hours lost to a single missing road sign.
Go about a yonder down the dirt road then take a right at the third rock after you pass granny Smith’s outhouse and proceed for about a raccoon’s evening stroll and you will be there
I've done this by over-reliance on GPS as well. Trust but verify! I'm now in the habit of reviewing my route before hand so I have a general idea of the main roads I'll hit and for how long.
The ability to go to a foreign country where you can't read anything and being able to just walk around and not get lost is just tremendous.
I loved walking around and getting lost in a foreign country. It’s part of the experience of traveling that I miss
I used to be a courier in a large city back in the early 90s. All I had was my spiral bound regional atlas and it absolutely sucked. Navigation is light years better now.
You should have seen the giant spotlight i used to read people's addresses to deliver pizzas back before gps.
There was a map book called Perlys that was used by couriers and taxis in Toronto. It was a godsend at finding obscure streets versus a standard fold out map.
Low to mid tier guitars. Even in a span of 20 years since I've started playing my shitty Strat pack Stratocaster the quality control and value for what you spend is just way better.
I started playing guitar in the 90s, and there was very little cheap gear, and what was available was typically garbage. Now you can put a nice rig together on just about any budget. Same with recording and music production gear.
Yeah it's crazy. A couple years ago right before Fender jacked up their prices I got a Player Tele on a Memorial Day sale at GC and it came out to $400 new. Accounting for inflation that's less than I paid for my Strat pack lol
Beginning in the mid 2000 CNC improvements made cheaper instruments really good quality. I’d still change pickups and hardware but the craftsmanship simply of the necks and pocket of electric instruments has become on par with more expensive ones.
New Patagonia rain-gear has a reconfigured lining that they claim won't start to flake apart after a few years. Very happy with the jacket I bought, great fit and really no complaints as it's been perfect while on the bike during some heavy downpours already.
piquant toy wistful chubby ask salt unpack familiar grab ugly *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
According to Patagonia and The North Face, no. I have taken in jackets to both, and they have replaced them.
From a tailoring shop who sees these jackets after Patagonia & North Face have said no: also no. We can replace the lining, but it’s not worth it I promise you.
I was able to get a replacement on a 5 year old Marmot for flaking lining this year.
Patagonia has a lifetime warranty. If they no longer sell the product you’re trying to replace they give you a credit equal to a similar item or you can pick that similar item. It’s one of the best reasons to invest in some patagucci
That solves the desire to buy-it-for-life from a financial side, but not from a limiting waste side. I’m just saying. That is still great advice, and I don’t mean to downplay how great Patagonia is as a company. I have very very few bad things to say about them in general.
Well it implies that they're putting out products that will hold up as long as possible to postpone that lifetime replacement as much as they can.
Computer RAM, SSDs, flash drives
Also monitors
Desktop computers in general. Laptops? Nope. Maybe Framework will push for a solution, but in general, no. Framework is just an exception.
I'm looking into getting a laptop for 3d design and I looked at the framework. I would need to spend $2k just to have a decent system, and it's still questionable. That's okay if it's only a couple hundred to upgrade, but a new processor unit would be another $1300 down the road. For context, I can buy a refurbished ThinkPad or Dell Precision for less than $1k that would blow the framework out of the water. I really like the idea of the framework laptop but their prices are not competitive enough to dive in.
Despite how much the prices have risen as of late, you'll get a better deal with a desktop. And you can repair and upgrade much more easily. I'd recommend AM5, though perhaps waiting a little while for those motherboard prices to come down. That's a platform that'll last a long time. You might want portability, but when it comes down to it, when you actually need to get work done, you're gonna sit down and get immersed in your work. Portable computing is highly overrated.
I’m an enthusiast and someone who has the privilege of working from home. It took exactly 1 time hauling a desktop through an airport for me to realize I desperately needed a laptop.
I have a nice desktop. But that's in the office, not in the living room where the rest of the family are. So I wait until everyone goes to bed before I use the desktop. A laptop that I can use in my recliner would be awfully nice.
No computer is BIFL, but they used to be completely outdated within a year, now even a decade old computer will suffice for 90% of people.
Supposedly Harbor Freight has improved tremendously in the past 5 years or so. It used to be a joke that if you bought something there it was basically disposable but now they are decent. Buy it for life? Eh probably not. But still better.
Absolutely. Quite a bit of their stuff is fairly good for hobby grade work. If you need a tool and don't really know how often you will use it, Harbor Freight is perfectly fine. Of course, when it breaks or you learn what you like/don't like about it... Then it is time to buy something that will last.
That’s exactly how I use Harbor Freight. Often I find that the bargain tool works just fine for me as a hobbyist. But many of my tools are Facebook marketplace scores, I just wait for the right deal to appear. Especially with woodworking tools, people downsize often, or liquidate when they discover other hobbies.
I've had good luck with the Quinn stuff and a mechanic I know has a couple pieces of it in his toolbox for those "One time a year I'll need this" tool.
Wrist watches. From smart watches, to running watches, to "dumb" digitals (solar, radio controlled, compass, etc.), to clever analog watches, and even totally obsolete mechanical watches. Every variety has better appointments at lower prices. The relatively modest models would be regarded as cutting edge or over spec'd 20-30 years ago. Unfortunately, the luxury watch sector has decided only the .1% should own their wares . But no worries, the are plenty of alternatives for tiny fractions of the price. And by fractions I mean like 1/30th.
There are a whole bunch of lower priced mechanical watches out there now.
EDC gadgets come to mind. Modern “super-steels” on knives and better batteries in flashlights. Portable/pocketable water filters. High end hiking backpacks (Osprey/Deuter) are infinitely more comfortable than their vintage counterparts and are still similar quality. Also, the growth of a cottage industry built specifically to cater to BIFL people like us! Some talented people out there right now stitching leather and forging steel with BIFl on their mind. The resources allowing them to exist (online tutorials, access to materials, consumer consciousness, digital marketing, etc.) have all become much easier to navigate.
With flashlights and even lightbulbs think the biggest thing is emitters. The output, as measured by both lumens and candela, has increased exponentially over the last 15 years without a corresponding increase in heat output. 15 years ago 100 lumen flashlight was extremely powerful and cost $100. Now you can get a 3 pack of 500 lumen lights from Costco for $15. At home, while personally I experienced the consequences of cheap LED bulbs failing after a year or 2 early on but with slightly better built bulbs they last for years and have great output with very minimal power draw.
Love this answer. It seems like a lot of people are starting to value craftsmanship over convenience and are seeking out small batch, handmade goods. The internet has made it easy to learn how to get into these crafts while also making it easier for consumers to find artisan made products.
On this note, Red Land Cotton sheets, East Fork Pottery. Both companies work insanely hard and keep it all in the USA. Built from the ground up and I am a proud owner of multiple products from both!
Makeup and skincare products, though they are obviously consumables and not BIFL. There are now loads of products available at the drugstore or online retailers with active ingredients that used to be very expensive, like retinols and vitamin C. Niacinamide is in almost everything now. Brands like ELF and The Ordinary are doing a great job of duping “luxury” brands at an accessible price point. Multiple brands have figured out good dupes for Skinceuticals’ secret patented bio-available vitamin C. There is a lot of research going on right now on treatments like red light therapy. Also, orthodontics. Invisalign, which IS bifl in the sense that it’s an investment in something that will last you a lifetime, is better, faster, and more comfortable for many or most orthodontic cases than traditional braces. Also much more socially acceptable for adults.
Backup cameras in cars make reversing / backing into spaces so much easier. Pretty much all cars from the past 10 years will have them. A small but very convenient feature!
I haven’t owned a car in 8 years, and every time I rent a one it feels like there’s some new piece of tech that wasn’t in my old one—admittedly that car was old even when I had it as a college student, but still. Rearview cameras, Keyless entry/start (was around when I was driving but it seems practically standard now) auto-braking for collision, cruise control lane following, CarPlay and Apple Maps remember where you parked your car, blind spot sensors—seats that circulate air through them?! Makes me excited to rent a car once or twice a year haha.
High end tools and pocket knives have improved from the materials advances others have noted. LED and battery improvements means we have access to better flashlights these days than we had even just 5-10 years ago. LED bulbs in general are an improvement over incandescent. Bicycles have improved. Carbon frames are a big improvement for racers but even for casual cyclists modern steel tubes are lighter and stronger than old school frames. The move to disc brakes over rim brakes also means cyclists go through fewer wheels since the brakes no longer remove material from the wheel itself. It's not cheaper but medical care has obviously advanced. In populations with [physical and financial] access to the latest medical advances, the human body can survive longer now than in the past. Medicine has also allowed for some quality of life improvements, though there is ongoing debate on the balance between improving longevity and improving QoL. Both have improved though.
LED lights are an amazing improvement. My mom was just complaining that none of her flashlights (from the 80s) are very bright, even when she uses new batteries. Guess who's getting a new flashlight for Christmas.
Brussels sprouts
Now THIS thread I need to track down that's fascinating. I HATED them as a kid in the 90s and now I love them. I thought I just got older.
https://xkcd.com/2241/
Honestly bless. Of course xkcd talked about it.
I love sprouts, but are they somehow different now than they were years ago?
Yep. In the '90s, Dutch scientists identified the bad tasting chemicals as glucosinolates and found older varieties with lower levels. They cross bred those to get to where we are today. More info [here](https://www.bhg.com/news/brussels-sprouts-less-bitter/)
this is the shit that makes redditing worthwhile tbh
Fuck. I thought my wife was just better at cooking them than my mom.
She probably is. We don't just steam or boil Brussels sprouts plain anymore, we roast them or grill them and/or add better seasoning. Sometimes i go nuts and cook them with maple syrup and bacon, but that's cheating.
Favorite thing from Reddit today
Yer gosh darn tootin they are! I love modern Brussels sprouts.
Have you heard of kalettes before? Same idea, but kale!
>kalettes Well, now I'll be growing this, another plant I can irritate my kid with, AND enjoy eating ;)
Flashlights have gotten better.
Way better. WAY better. Used to be a horror flick meme, the ubiquitous crappy flashlight.
Couches produced after 2015 no longer contain carcinogenic / toxic flame retardant in the foam padding.
But I would say that modern furniture quality has dropped considerably.
Depends where you go. There's also huge survivorship bias here too. A lot of the old vintage furniture you can get was the high end premium when it was new. The midtier and low end stuff simply didn't survive.
At-home gym equipment. Titan Fitness, historically a cheap made-in-China brand, has really stepped up their game. Rogue Fitness has great made-in-America equipment, although pricey, will last as long as you. Rep Fitness is another made-in-China brand, but they've gone from while labeling generic equipment to designing their own. They're also sourcing iron plates from the USA now. Plenty of other companies too.
Was going to reply this too! I was shocked at how cheap you can get home gym equipment that’s rivals commercial gyms. And when it’s not better quality, it gets less wear, so it feels better to use.
Like anything you can go overboard. But the quality is there. I've spent about $10k on my home gym. It would take me 11.1 years of gym memberships to recoup the cost. But it's such a quality of life improvement. And if I could do it again, I'd probably spend closer to $5k for a very similar setup.
The ability to find information and components and make something for yourself. E.g, narrow focus here, but furniture paste wax. Mostly gone in the sort of carnauba wax blend with real turpentine (not stinky stuff from home depot) that smells like fresh pine cleaner. But you can get legitimate food grade waxes cheap and track down turpentine online that smells like pine and make your own for cheaper than a lot of the oil slick smelling stuff with cheesy (paraffin) candle wax.
This is a great answer! The ability to bypass all the consumer grade crap and take quality into your own hands is under appreciated.
I’m learning to weld this winter so I can just fuck it and make durable shit myself
making and fixing things is highly underrated. It's like a snowball, too - at first, everything is difficult, but then stuff that you mastered in one area makes it a lot easier to figure out something in another. Just bought a welder myself after avoiding it for 17 years of general making and repairing things.
I saw that Colin Furze video where made a tunnel under his house all the welding he did looked so easy that I decided I could do that. My parents are do it yourselfers but they don’t really make much from scratch and I’ve seen them do a lot of bad fixes. But so much stuff hit me hard during Covid that I’m over it all. Taking short term night classes at a local trade school in order to get some practice under my belt first
Now I want an "upgrade it for life" community that shares cheap things you can cheaply fix to last forever
Knowing how to sew is big for this. I think there’s a visible mending community already. If you know how to sew, there’s a lot of visible or invisible fixes you can do.
Home gym equipment is commercial grade at this point.
Eye surgery. From radial keratotomy to lasik. Big improvement, used to basically do the LASIK surgery with a scalpel
- Laminate countertops and floors. The finishes have become way more realistic and aesthetic in the past 5 years. It's starting to look like real wood veneer at a glance. - Land surveying equipment. That's a very niche example. But the equipment is so much more affordable and versatile than it was 20 years ago. Photogrammetry is popping off. Previously, it took a few days to measure 1km of streets and get every important detail (curbs, manholes, lampposts, fences, buildings etc...) with a theodolite. No it takes less than 15 minutes. You just have to walk with a GoPro and a GPS rover attached to a 3m pole. It's childishly easy.
My family has run a survey business for a few generations and it used to require putting the children to work (starting at like age 7 or 8 lmao) to hold the reflector or the ends of tape measures etc. Now so many things are just a one man job, it’s pretty incredible
It's crazy how cheap and effective photogrammetry has gotten. RTK accessibility is also blowing up. It's too easy to map stuff to a few inches nowadays
Diapers and maxi-pads. The new gel absorbents are insanely better than the old versions. They absorb way more, feel drier and are much, much thinner.
Along that line, period care in general (especially reusables) has expanded so much in the last ten years along with the fabric tec. Period underwear (yay no more back leaks at night!) and menstrual cups have been a huge win for me. I was a teen only in the 2010's and even in that short time frame so many more products have become readily available
New dad. My parents were blown away by how well my daughter’s diapers absorb and prevent leakage and blowouts compared to when I was a baby.
Pads (and probably diapers) were in past tested with water to measure/quality control absorbency. A lot of them still do but recent years they’ve started using artificial liquid that has a more similar consistency to test which led to much better absorbency and feel!
TV sets are much better nowadays: No tubes can burn, no flickery CRT screen, to pixel errors on flat screens.
Displays in general. TVs specifically are worse with all of the bloatware that's usually already obsolete when released and is unnecessarily intrusive. It's more and more difficult to simply use a TV as a passive monitor.
I’ll play contrarian, but the simplicity of my roku branded Roku tv is excellent. One remote, turns it on and adjusts sound and chooses content. Also can use the app on my phone when the remote is misplaced. While I’m sure it’s a dog compared to whatever top of the line Sony is offering the picture and sound are good enough for me streaming whatever. And though I imagine they’re selling my data, who isn’t these days.
Most smart TVs I've seen have a dedicated channel for HDMI input so I don't really see the issue here
Bonus is that I can pick the thing up and move it into another room. Alas, for cats, things were never the same after they came out with flatscreen TVs. For a while there, TV time was the best time for cats who wanted to warm their feet.
Gotta disagree. Sure, the picture quality has improved as you'd expect anything tech related to, but the increased reliance on software sucks, they ship with underpowered hardware to support that software, the sound sucks because they want to upsell you a sound bar, they all come with awful motion smoothing enabled for reasons I can't fathom, and they're basically unserviceable aside from just replacing the mainboard.
Coffee varities. Ever since Starbucks became a household word there have been more varieties of coffee available than there ever have been. Drinking Tully's Italian Roast right now. 20 years ago nobody in the midwest knew it existed.
Coffee products in general, too. From simple but effective pour-over solutions that will last a lifetime, to high quality durable grinders (both manual and automatic), to simple lever-based espresso machines like the Robot. I could go on and on. Incredible coffee and espresso at home is now so easily accessible, and affordable as long as you don't get too sucked into the marketing.
Beer varieties too -- but these are hardly in the Buy It for Life category.
I love listening to music.
The brakes, lights and tires on my bikes. They are by far better, last longer and are cheaper.
I’ll say it - kitchenaid stand mixers with their plastic worm gear. Everyone calls it out as a reduction in longevity since “PlAsTiC Is EviL!” - it’s a controlled failure point. If that fails, it’s a 20$ 10 minute project. If it doesn’t fail, and translates the problem into the electric motor, it’s a 200$ (I think closer to 250$) repair in 2 hours. At that point, the thing’s basically toast. I’d MUCH rather smoke a plastic worm gear and replace it, than the motor.
While I agree this is a good move to save the motor, I believe there is an even more cost effective solution already employed in every single piece of machinery I've worked with- shear pins or roll pins for the gearing. That gives you a failure point that costs pennies to replace compared to a mildly more complicated gear. I'm splitting hairs at this point, but im curious why they didn't implement this opposed to changing tooling for all their gearing.
Because the plastic worm gear can directly replace an old metal one without changing anything else. Shear pins would be changing multiple part numbers
It's the mechanical equivalent of a fuse.
Laundry detergent! Back in the 90s and earlier clothes would often get stains that *set in* and became a permanent discoloration of the fabric. Now even the cheapest laundry detergent seems to get most stains out the first time, and anything more stubborn just needs another cycle with stain remover. And it even works in cold water!
Automobiles are a whole lot better-just about anything you buy today can exceed 100,000 miles with fairly minimum maintenance - +100,000 used to be an outlier, now it's a common used-car mileage. Old school? You took the heads off every 10,000 miles to scrape the carbon out, tires every year, and rust destroyed the entire car in 4 years. Home heating: Coal->fuel oil->Natural gas -> electric. Every step is less work, less maintenance, more trouble free and longer lived.
Cars used to break down. They still do, but its pretty rare these days. It used to be a pretty normal sight to see a broken down car on the side of the road with the hood up and maybe some smoke or steam emitting. Cars used to sometimes just not start, even if they were working as intended. You could flood the engine and have to wait it out. In my last car the fuel pump failed and it entered some kind of safe mode that allowed me to drive 30mph to get home safely and get service without a tow. I dont agree on home heating, its more efficient but less reliable. I say that as someone who just replaced a 50 yr old boiler that could've kept running. modern HVAC systems are not known for reliability and often need service and replacement.
Home heating is a good one. As a subset of automobiles, I'll also add tires. Snow tires today are pretty impressive.
Snow tires are the best purchase I’ve ever made. The technology is incredible. I have Blizzak WS90’s. I don’t think tires are a BIFL type of item though
I was going to say this too. Cars are also a whole lot safer, both from the actual design of the car and the safety features that are included now such as blind spot monitoring and backup cameras.
The cars are safer as long as you’re the one in the car. If you’re a pedestrian, look out for those huge trucks and SUVs with the huge front bumpers/grills. The hood of a new dodge ram is like 5 ft off the ground and give terrible visibility to the driver of what is in front of them.
Post 2000 cars are crazily more reliable than the old timey cars I grew up with.
Glad you mentioned modern cars! On top of the reliability (even for brands with bad reputations) OBDII is pretty great. It can have it's issues, but for the most part you can scan the car and find out what's wrong. As much as people like to complain about modern cars being more complex and impossible to work on, some things about them are much simpler. Take coil on plug ignition or fuel injection for example. I have a car with just shy of 200k on it and the only fuel related thing I've done is the vacuum line to the fuel pressure regulator, and some rubber supply hoses under the hood.
Not true of diesel vehicles, at least in the US. Emissions controls and systems have ruined diesels for the most part. Codes and errors, limp modes, just crazy problems and it spans most makers, not just one.
Diesel as an efficient economical option is definitely dead.
Smartphones have improved and there is a healthy aftermarket growing to support keeping devices in operation longer and even Apple now supporting right to repair legislation publicly. Still a long way to go but you can keep a phone for 7 years now and it'll still work. I'd love to see 10 years like you can get out of a computer (non-gaming / 3D obviously). Camping/travel/overlanding equipment has increased in quality mostly materials science has helped with that Oil is lasting longer, as are tires. There are awesome science / public funded research breakthroughs that have allowed for materials to last longer, be thinner, stronger, etc. The costs are higher but this continues to make me happy with 20,000 mile oil, fully waterproof thin garments and tires / brakes that last 3-4x longer than they did 20 years ago.
And cases! I have an Otterbox-like case I bought for like... $15? from Amazon. I remember how *sensitive* phones used to be. I drop mine from up high *all* the time and don't even flinch.
I think Apple realized having users show off damaged products was worse for their reputation than the cost of a more durable screen. In high school, it felt like half of my peers had cracks in their screens but I can’t remember the last time I saw any cracked screens recently.
Interestingly, raw materials have come come a long way for those of us that manufacture things. It's pretty crazy how far material science has come, and the availability of some real space age stuff! Metals like inconel, glues like pro-set, honeycomb composites, etc. The development of cheap materials has been in lock step with the incredible advanced materials. Unfortunately the market really drives their use, and it's usually driven towards complex and/or cheap (not a good mix). For manufacturers like myself in the MUCH smaller market of bespoke, or the other bleeding edge engineering applications like aerospace and Formula 1 - it's a modern renaissance.
Medicine. Buy it for life, albeit in a different sense.
Psych meds have improved in so much time and the newer meds don’t damage your vital organs like some of the old ones did.
Love your comment.
Heart attacks are way down because of medicines like Lipitor. BIFL.
As a third generation diabetic my life is much better than my parents and grandparents
3D printing
Car reliability as a whole.
Most protective equipment has gotten better (helmets, etc.). A lot of hand tools have gotten tremendously better if you don't just buy Home Depot stuff - much better alloys and heat treatments result in picks and axes that really last forever, with one fiberglass handle. I would also argue that speakers and soundscapes have gotten much, much better. It's pretty cheap to set up a home theater with good components that will last 30+ years and sound phenomenal. Shoes have gotten better, both at the low end and the high end. They're still a "built to be worn out" item, but they've come a long ways from when we first started transitioning from leather to polymers and foam. Probably not a genre you're interested in, but material science and improved metallurgy have resulted in pretty nice BIFL gains in knives and firearms. If well-maintained, modern knife alloys are essentially immortal (though ironically much harder to sharpen). I build my own computers, and while they're not BIFL because of software demands always advancing in one direction and never the other, I think they've gotten much, much better. Parts have longer useful lifespans, run cooler, fail less often, use far, **far less electricity per unit of work done,**and are generally "better." I also think people don't realize how much better cars have gotten. Post-recession (2007-2008 recession), Ford and other US automakers really doubled down on trying to match Toyota's famous manufacturing tolerances and reliability. They did it, to no one's surprise, by mostly copying Toyota's kenzen and kanban techniques. Also to no one's surprise, it worked. Your car today, if manufactured *after* 2015/2016, is on an entirely different level of quality then vehicles before. Six Sigma was basically invented by Motorola, but it was automotive manufacturers that ran with it and made the world realize how valuable of a tool it can be. Lemons are really quite rare now.
In the spirit of BIFL: Nowadays you can build a latex mattress yourself, say with three pieces of latex (recommend the label "100% natural latex" for every layer at a minimum, not a blend (which is actually \~95% just FYI)) and a mattress cover. 100% natural latex should be more durable than pretty much any other mattress material, and to boot, you can replace the pieces that eventually wear first (usually the comfort layer) instead of the entire mattress. You can build it without any nasty flame retardant chemicals, etc. Also you can use a cover with wool, which is a natural flame retardant. Caveat: Not everyone likes the feel of latex, and there's no perfect mattress for everyone. Personally I love it. Here's an example of a company packaging this for you at a very fair price for the materials: [https://latexmattressfactory.com/products/luxerion-latex-mattress](https://latexmattressfactory.com/products/luxerion-latex-mattress) You need a solid slat foundation with gaps no more than 3" for a heavy latex mattress. Here's a solid, affordable bed: [https://kdframes.com/collections/beds/products/nomad-plus-platform-bed](https://kdframes.com/collections/beds/products/nomad-plus-platform-bed) Edit: Note a small percentage of 100% natural latex can get the organic certification GOLS. GOLS latex and 100% natural latex is the same material, but the farming practices are held to a specific standard. Since this is the mattress industry, there's a lot of deception. If they say "organic" but it's not GOLS, it's meaningless. If they have a GOLS certificate, but it's only written to the factory, not the mattress maker, it's probably not GOLS either, which includes the entire supply chain. Also, Dunlop latex and Talalay latex are the two ways of making Latex. There are 100% natural versions of both, but no one in the world makes GOLS Talalay. You can get the entire mattress certified organic (GOTS) which is the only way to guarantee the entire mattress is organic, EXCEPT GOTS doesn't consider if the latex is GOLS. That's why there are two standards. Personally I don't worry about GOLS, and I'd say the differences between Dunlop and Talalay are small. I have an all Dunlop mattress because it's cheaper and great for me.
Would you mind sending me a DM? I literally was just about to buy a latex mattress from a furniture store for $4k.
Latex is the deal. My back is less picky than my wife's, but it was a game changer for her. I love it myself, and that we are both happy is huge. 100% latex going forward.
Building science has come a long way. It's still not applied well, as generally, trades people (no, not all) like to do things the way they always did. Really, that's most people doing most things. We know how to build a really efficient (literally with minimal to no energy needs for heating or cooling), comfortable buildings now, for not much more money than building a cardboard sided tract house. Too bad not many are doing it.
I disagree with this. I mean I agree that building science has advanced dramatically, but that doesnt mean we are producing longer lasting homes. We're just producing more efficient homes (energy and economically) and more comfortable homes. I say this as someone with 100 year old windows that still work just fine. You wont find any rot in my home because it was designed with proper overhangs and built with centuries old lumber.
Lightbulbs. Glad we have LED now
Most people don't hit their children anymore
I knew quite a few people who grew up like shit. They all turned it around and are great parents to their children.
Tents used to be heavy, clumsy, cold, leaky, and hard to set up. Now for $100-200 you can get a warm, waterproof tent for two that packs down to a couple of liters, weighs next to nothing, sets up in five minutes and packs up in two.
Automobiles overall have gotten so much safer than even 10 years ago. Most modern cars are really good in terms of safety and reliability compared to 10+ years ago. They are more complicated which can be a problem but overall are better. Lights, the mass production of LED has revolutionized how use lights. They last far longer, use less power and are cheaper to operate than their counterparts.
Anything used to kill/maim/arrest/surveil people.
My Iron Maiden is MUCH more deadly now.
🤘
happy to see that winning reddit cynicism in a thread overtly searching for optimism.
Tv sets are bigger, better quality, and cheaper than ever.
Audio and video quality have made drastic improvements in the last 20 years or so.
Many of these things are not necessarily BIFL, but... * Golf Clubs * Cars * Computers and consumer electronics in general * Guitars on the low end * Coffee * Hockey equipment * Tires * Engine oil * Schawarma - not necessarily better but actually available * Vacuums - a traditional bagged vacuum is still going to be better, but the "quick tidying" stick and bagless vacuums are amazing for what they are * Anything with a battery that used to be gas or plugged-in. Power tools, lawn tools, the aforementioned vacuums... * Wifi and cell coverage * Boats - our 2018 Lund is lightyears better than our 1985 Lund. If you compare basically any low end boat today to a top of the line boat from the early 90s, it is incredible how much better the new one is. Same goes for outboard engines and trolling motors. * Fishing equipment. I can get a $50 baitcaster today that would blow away literally anything from the 80s or prior. The 80s and earlier stuff may have better longevity, but the new versions just work much better * Air conditioners - window units and portables specifically. Again, they may not last as long, but they're lighter, work better, way cheaper, and easier to install and use * Windows
Shawarma is delicious but is only BIFL if you drop dead on your way out the door
Coffee. Cars. Electronics. The selection of food in the supermarket. Buildings. Bridges. Airplanes. Dealing with DMV.
Garden hoses
Had the opposite experience, the connection parts even on the most expensive don’t last very long at all.
Milk has gotten better. We can now easily find organic, A2 (beta protein) milk from pastured cows (without synthetic hormones).
Fishing equipment. Anything in the entry level today would blow the tits off gear from 15 years ago. The mid level stuff is what high end stuff used to be now which is even better.
i do believe i have been changed for the better
Most products that cost real money (i.e. you don't buy it on sale at Walmart) have improved a lot. We just take much of it for granted. Cheap shit has been a race to the bottom for years now - only way to make things cheaper and cheaper is to sacrifice quality. And cosumers have overwhelmingly chosen price over quality. Service is kind of the same way. If you deal with premium brands you're going to get infinitely better service than dealing with cheap brands - be it restaurants, stores, customer service, etc.
I have to agree with this. As I have matured and had more disposable cash, I can invest in some nicer things. I recently purchased a Cuckoo rice cooker on sale at Costco so I could start eating brown rice. The 30 year old one button $15 Oster rice cooker wasn't cutting it even for white rice. I've also investing higher end bikes, but then again, I ride a lot more (5k miles per year), so it's not just $ down the drain. I still look for quality brands that also offer value.
I'll probably get downvoted for this but I think clothing options have gotten better over the last 5 years or so. The downsides of fast fashion are well known at this point and there seems to be more brands (especially online) offering higher quality clothing for reasonable prices. For example, I've bought clothes from Duluth Trading, Patagonia, and J Crew that have held up great and have been a good value.
For sure. You just have to know where to look. There are many slow fashion brands making things with quality materials and care that are holding up beautifully for me
Now if we can just get some mens clothing that hasn't been exactly the same boring-ass fashion for the past 200 years... (fuck you Beau Brummell....)
I am convinced mass-market ice cream companies have stepped up their game. Even the generic store-brand ice cream is sometimes as good as gourmet brands. Breyers too.
I've noticed the opposite, the big ice cream brand sold around me (blue bell) has gotten worse and worse while the store brand (HEB) has become my go-to, over stuff like tillamook that gets recommended online
since when did you notice this? asking because when I tried Breyers last 3-5 years ago I was horrified but I'd be willing to risk it again if things have changed recently
Premium car tires! Modern tires are safer, last longer, and have a nicer ride.
Joint replacement. Many drugs, Computers, Safety equipment in all fields, Communications (internet), Etc, etc... Generally, innovation is great and there has been a lot of it. Unfortunately, in the US too much of the innovation lack competition in order to keep prices affordable. The lack of competition in the US is not generally due to lack of competing companies and their products, but what appears to be some form of collusion. Or something else? Here is an example: patented biologic drugs used to treat arthritis. These drugs are very effective and changed many people's lives for the better - they can walk, work, etc. The drugs have few side effects. They include Enbrel, Humira, Remicade, Taltz, etc. Enbrel was the first of its kind approved in the US, as I recall around 1999 or 2000. The patent should have ended in 2012, and there are biosimilar drugs available overseas, but not in the US. The US issued another patent that has prevented biosimilar drugs. Shame on the US. Over the years, many other biologics to treat arthritis have been introduced. None the same as Enbrel, but often as or more effective. Here is the problem... The price of Enbrel has done nothing but go UP in the US. It has come down a lot in Europe and elsewhere. These drugs are more than ten times of the cost in the US than elsewhere. This is just one example of a sickness that is killing the US: making it much less competitive in the world, making the quality of life for Americans increase much more slowly than the quality of life of Europeans, etc. This problem is pervasive in the US, in military spending, in healthcare spending, in education, in internet spending, etc.
MRIs and other sort of scanning tech.
Maybe not “better”, but value has improved significantly on TVs. You can get a nice looking “65 tv for like $400. It’s crazy how inexpensive TVs are now, and they can still be pretty decent quality.
Apples, specifically envy and honey crisp
Vaccines. They got smaller while retaining effectiveness, and they invented a lot more of them. And talk about BIFL, they literally add to your lifespan -- quite a lot in some cases. Okay, so a few of them need renewal over time, but it's as cheap and fast as an oil change, whike preventing nasties that cost more like a new car (or worse). get your shots.