There's a confirmation bias aspect to this. There were a lot of things made in the 70s that did not keep working for fifty years. You don't think of them because they're already broken down for parts, recycled or buried in a landfill. There are some things that have kept working only because someone put regular care and maintenance into them.

There are a lot things made today that won't make it fifty years from now. There are some things that will.

If disposable culture concerns you, learn how to repair things (clothes, kitchen appliances, furniture, electronics, etc) and buy things that can be repaired (like the Framework laptop).

there are companies whose whole ethos is "buy company with good reputation for quality then use that to sell less quality stuff but we get richer then drive it into the earth and sell off the bones of the reputation we ruined for our personal profit" which is similar to enshtification but not the same thing because it was happening without a web layer.

with the web layer added into the equation it is even easier.

Back in the day there wasn't 56 versions of $product for cheap. There were maybe 3, and people talked. Products cost real money and we were concerned about quality and lasting power.

So yeah, we had better shit because reputation was a big deal.

Numerous examples: 1.Newer version of software mutating into buggy, crashy mess, while old versions worked perfectly. Forced upgrades and stealth upgrade that remove functionality(e.g. cloud-only/online-only service)

2.Newer versions of products dropped quality, even using cheaper materials. The subreddit /r/Chinesium has lots of these.

3.Websites redesigned to load much slower and waste tons of memory without any benefits, just because it fashionable to load 3-4MB of js framework code.

4.Websites breaking on older browsers and demanding latest Chrome/Firefox to run(Web Components,latest JS features), with functionality declining.

5.Companies intentionally crippling products and offering the older functionality as premium services.

6.Technology regressing towards simpler and more primitive forms because complexity requires quality(and its more expensive).

7.Software development regressing towards forms where its built by composing code copied from Stack Overflow and AI generation.

8.Environmental degradation increasing despite more stringent laws, regulation and enforcement. Microplastics, endocrine disruptors, even a regression in ozone layer due some Chinese factories.

The Sunbeam T-20 toaster from 1949 is the pinnacle of both engineering and design. You put the bread, or bagel, or pop tarts in, and everything comes out perfectly toasted. No buttons, no transistors, only a small knob to set preferred darkness. It knows it's ready when the radiated heat off the food causes a small bimetal component to expand at different rates, bend, and trip the release to raise the toast. Set it once on a piece of bread and it's the same level of toastiness for everything you put in there. And it looks space-agey and timelessly cool.

I have a secondhand Kenwood KA-3020SE amp on my desk from the 90s. PDF service manual containing the schematics and all. The thing is still perfectly usable, despite the relays for Output B needing replacement, and the input switching knob needing a good clean. The prominent, physical volume knob is a pleasure to use, and the 1/4 headphone jack's output power beats everything else in my house.

I have a problem though. It's absolutely massive, and I'm pretty constrained with desk space. But I haven't found anything remotely capable of replacing it. Given how I came to possess the amp in the first place, I'm pretty sure it's been through several owners before getting to me - and it'd be nice if the next owner had an interest in continuing to care for it.

If I do replace it though, I doubt the next one will last as long as this has, seeing how modern stuff these days isn't always built to last

Refrigerators, washers and dryers, dishwashers, stoves, shit even cars ALL used to be able to last a lifetime. Now though we have planned obsolescence and we pay the same price or more for shitty versions of the shit DESIGNED TO FAIL in like 20 years at best

My head canon fanfic of Earth history says humans originated on Mars, fucked it up like we are currently doing with Earth, escaped to Earth to start over with cleaner, biodegradable technology and that knowledge was lost over time. The reason evidence of such high technology has never been found is because it was made to return to nature in a short time.

There is an Antonov An-2 stationed at my city's airport. I checked the tail number - it entered service in the 50s and only recently had its engine changed.

My parent's clothes iron is a marvel. It feels and looks like a brick but it works ridiculously well. In fairness I'm comparing it against a $30 iron, but it was probably a similar investment for them when they first got it, when my dad was still at university

We certainly have lost spelling and punctuation.

Survivorship bias.

We didn't experience the numerous appliances and other detritus from the 70's that crapped out and died. The ones whose safety policy began and ended with the power of prayer.

I have no idea what 2024 will bring us. It feels like the entire world is shaking itself apart. But I can promise you with 100% certainty that in 2064 they'll be lamenting that their appliances aren't built as good as they used to.

To some degree that's a real thing. We do live in a more disposable society today. It seems worse than it actually is though. You don't see all the cheap crap from the 70s, because most of it is long gone, and there will still be stuff from today around in 50 years.

Collectively, the idea from meeting a long lost high tech society might originate from a time when roman works seemed built by "giants"

High chance that they didn't actually believed it was really built by humongous gentlemen, but often they were seen as someone with unparalleled technology at that age.

That could be one of the reasons why the Roman (and greek) classic civilizations where so much romanticized.

If your appliances are breaking within a short time, you really should buy second hand or if you want new ones you have to spend a bit more. Many of them you spend 50% more, but they last three times longer and more making it a bargain. You obviously need to take care of them, which mainly means keeping them clean. Other then that simple ones can be repaired relatively well, unless they are fridges or freezers. Those need some expertise.

40k isn't just some nerdy tabletop game, it is prophecy

I hate the "(checks notes)" deadbeat trope.