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TechnologyELI5: Why do mobile phones, TVs and computers advance so much but domestic appliances don't?

(self.explainlikeimfive)

submitted by SnooWords8869

I mean, brands of electronics launch so many models of smartphones, tablets, computers and TVs with different RAM and storage capacities, inputs like HDMI and USB, screen sizes and so on that we can't decide which one to buy.

But as I observed, domestic appliances like washing machines, dishwashers, ovens, fridges, irons, vacuum cleaners and so on nearly stay the same and not many of them are launched so often. Their main functions approximately have stayed the same, except detergent adjusting and less water consumption for washing machines, for example. And ovens adjusting time of cooking according to type of dish. And robot vacuum cleaners. And appliances with Wifi connection

Like the capacity of washing machine doesn't bother us, for example, but we're disappointed when buying a smartphone with 4GB RAM and 64GB storage but seeing another one with 8GB RAM and 256GB storage.

Plus, we don't change domestic appliances as often as smart devices, like I had a washing machine bought in 1997 working until 2022 but changed 9 mobile phones since 2006 to this day.

Why is there such a difference?

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[–]davidgrayPhotography 1025 points1026 points  (130 children)

A lot of the advancements are things you don't realize, or don't particularly care about. Think about a washing machine. It might have a newer motor design inside that'll make it spin for longer before needing a service. Or your gas oven might have a better burner design so that the heat is more evenly spread.

Nobody is going to care if there's a big sticker on the microwave saying "Improved design! 10% fewer cold spots!", or if your combo washer / dryer has a redesigned control panel that makes setting a timer easier.

And the majority of people don't want a wifi enabled fridge or a blender with a 3.2" touch screen or a zigbee powered toaster that flashes your lights when done. So appliance manufacturers just bank on people needing a new washer every 10 years or so, and finds ways to cut manufacturing costs.

[–]jghaines 451 points452 points  (58 children)

More likely the advances are using fewer and cheaper materials to lower the cost of production.

[–]Heya_Andy 178 points179 points  (53 children)

And realistically if they can make a motor that doesn't quite last as long (and not under warranty), then it is a benefit for the company.

[–]nommabelle 165 points166 points  (38 children)

I legit chuckled at the idea companies might try to make their products built to last in 2023. That's not how a company makes money, and that's not how the world works these days. Love the idea though, and I wish we operated that way

[–]pbkoden 21 points22 points  (1 child)

But they will design to reduce warranty issues/claims. Those take a financial hit on the company's bottom line. Once past the warranty period, they will not add any significant cost to extend the product life.

[–]YoungDiscord 67 points68 points  (11 children)

I remember a tv repairman a few years ago rant about new samsung tv's being designed in a way for certain components that shouldn't be subjected to heat, to be right next to specific components that heat up in order for those components to break faster shortening the longevity of samsung tv's by an average of 2 years

[–]nommabelle 32 points33 points  (7 children)

I had a plumber visit this week to fix several things. 3 were leaky faucets, 1 was a malfunctioning dishwasher (sometimes the pump doesn't turn on). The response to all 4 of these were "replace them"

(fortunately the toilet was fixable, lol)

[–]ATS_throwaway 35 points36 points  (3 children)

As a person that frequently falls into the trap of repairing these things, they were probably right. The faucets can be quickly and easily swapped out in ~10 minutes each. The internal parts of the faucet is usually specific to the manufacturer, and sometimes even the model. They cost nearly as much as the a whole faucet, and can be a hassle to find/buy, especially if you don't have access to a supply house. Ripping apart the existing one and rebuilding takes as much, if not more time than swapping. As for the dishwasher, those pumps are generally part of a whole assembly, which is ridiculously expensive to buy, and significantly more work to swap out than it is to replace the whole thing. If you're not doing the work yourself, you're probably paying the repair person a significant amount of money, which will bring the cost up over replacement of the dishwasher most likely. Add to that, most plumbers won't do appliance repair, doing such repairs generally voids warranties, and in some jurisdictions can even void homeowner/renter's insurance if there is a leak. In many places, any retailer that will sell you a dishwasher will deliver, install, and haul away for free.

[–]nommabelle 12 points13 points  (2 children)

Thanks. Just a shame our society perpetuates this mentality of creating things that aren't maintainable and repairable, wasting resources on constant replacements. But hey if we don't constant consume and replace, what happens to economic growth?!

Anyways that's a talk for a different subreddit, lol

[–]ATS_throwaway 18 points19 points  (1 child)

It's not that they're not repairable, it's more that the parts that fail are the bulk of the cost of the items, they're designed to be extremely easy to install, and the cost of skilled labor to repair is high.

[–]Shogobg 6 points7 points  (0 children)

At least the plumber didn’t complain about your electronics needing replacement.

[–]zigzag86 1 point2 points  (1 child)

Why would you have a plumber diagnose an electrical appliance?

[–]SNRatio 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Guess why a lot of ovens fail now - computers that can't handle high temperatures put in a place where they will definitely get hot.

One thing I've been wondering about: during the pandemic, car manufacturers cancelled lots of orders for ICs. Chip manufacturers closed those factories, since those types of chips while very robust to harsh environments (vibration, hot/cold cycling) were usually big and slow. When car manufacturers started ordering again, chip manufacturers had retooled to make modern, faster, smaller chips - that can't handle harsh environments.

I'd guess the same thing happened for appliances, to some extent. Modern CPUs are cheap and give you all sorts of features, but unlike older microcontrollers will die if you actually use the self cleaning cycle.

[–]pzkenny 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Fortunately manufacturers can be fined by European Union if they find out that they have parts made in this way.

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    [–]Aukstasirgrazus 9 points10 points  (1 child)

    That's why Right To Repair movement is gaining speed and EU is making it a legal requirement for many appliances, like they must be repairable and parts must be available. In a couple years all new phones here will be required to have a user-replaceable battery.

    Also, there are products which are built to last, but you're not going to buy a $2000 Liebherr fridge when Samsung makes seemingly the same thing for $400.

    [–]Megalocerus 2 points3 points  (0 children)

    Samsung makes $2000 and up fridges.

    I just looked up Liebherr. Golly. But selling durability is tough--I've had things break on me that were supposed to last a long time. You don't know you screwed up until you are 10 years in, and it breaks when the Samsung would have broken.

    [–]bigfatfurrytexan 11 points12 points  (4 children)

    It should be legislated for environmental reasons. If companies had to pay fees for their production in units created you might find them trying to balance actual consumer value into the equation, even if not on purpose.

    [–]GermaneRiposte101 3 points4 points  (3 children)

    I did not see a /s so I will answer straight.

    Europe has done the Legislation.

    Google <> right to repair european union </>

    [–]bigfatfurrytexan -1 points0 points  (2 children)

    I'm a typical American.

    [–]thatistoomany 7 points8 points  (0 children)

    So, do you have to be sheared at regular intervals? Your fur on top of your fat must bring you some difficulty in the unrelenting heat of Texas in the summer.

    [–]teh_fizz 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    Username definitely checks out.

    [–]Dudesan 2 points3 points  (0 children)

    Corporations have been colluding to make designed-to-fail products since at least a century ago. Anyone who doubts that this is happening now is not paying attention.

    [–]viliml -1 points0 points  (10 children)

    Why doesn't anyone disrupt the market by offering products that last 10x longer than competitors?

    [–]someone76543 7 points8 points  (6 children)

    They do. But they are much more expensive, so don't sell as well. That means that they don't have the economies of scale, which makes them even more expensive. They are niche, high end products.

    [–]viliml -2 points-1 points  (5 children)

    Why are they more expensive? The premise is that corporations are making their products bad on purpose, not to save on production costs but to make revenue on repairs and replacements. That implies that making them last longer should cost the same if not less.

    [–]someone76543 5 points6 points  (0 children)

    Well, the premise is wrong.

    Those electronic components placed right next to a heat source, to "reduce their lifetime"? That was probably done to save money. Either it made the design quicker and easier by not caring about that, or - more likely - it saved some cents by allowing a smaller circuit board. What's more, there are ways to counteract the heat problem. You can buy higher quality capacitors that are rated to a higher temperature, or rated for a longer life, from a better manufacturer that does more thorough quality control, or use a different type of capacitor that's less sensitive to heat, or just have big metal heatsinks and airflow to keep things cool. All those things cost money.

    [–]vargo17 7 points8 points  (2 children)

    They aren't making their products "bad" on purpose. In the appliance world, they were responding to consumer behaviors.

    What started the "planned obsolescence" snowball was a bunch of consumer research that showed that the average consumer was replacing their appliances every 5-7 years, regardless of the functionality of said unit.

    So if the majority of your consumers are going to throw your appliance in the trash in 5-10 years anyways, the manufacturer can get a price advantage by reducing costs and building a unit that lasts 5-10 years instead of 20+.

    The problem is, is that consumer behaviors are changing. We want our stuff to last longer than previously, and all the shit that's available to buy is designed to be disposable.

    [–]PeterGator 1 point2 points  (1 child)

    I'm curious if people really want it to last longer. At least 10-15 years ago the customer absolutely preferred flashiness and reduced life vs a product that lasted longer.

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      [–]Shitting_Human_Being 1 point2 points  (0 children)

      They exist in some markets. E.g. in household appliances Miele is a brand that has a reputation to make sturdy long live stuff. If they start making appliances that break after 5 years like Samsung does, they can no longer charge double/tripple the price.

      And consumer conception plays a big role in this. Samsung used to make cheap phones that were slow from the start, and that reputation stuck. You can ask any apple user how they feel about samsung.

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          [–]SierraPapaHotel 36 points37 points  (9 children)

          Meh, not particularly. Low end brands probably do this, but at a certain point brand reputation matters. If you Google a brand name and every review says the motor stops working after 3 years, you're not going to buy it. And that lack of sales hurts more than the savings on materials could gain.

          [–]grant10k 20 points21 points  (1 child)

          Even if you do buy yourself and the motor stops working after 3 years, if you opt to replace it, you're probably not going to replace it with the same brand.

          So they're helping their competition if they design it to break down. Or hoping that the consumer goes from Whirlpool to Maytag without checking if they're the same company.

          [–]porncrank 4 points5 points  (0 children)

          Yep. Never buying a Samsung fridge again after two failed in the space of two years and were considered non-repairable by Samsung’s own techs. The first was replaced under warranty, the second time I took a cash refund and bought something else (Frigidaire). It’s working great seven years later.

          That said, I love my Samsung TVs.

          [–]moleratical 3 points4 points  (2 children)

          True, but if it last 9 years instead of the expected 10 are most people going to write a review about it?

          [–]goblingoodies 14 points15 points  (0 children)

          Mechanical parts can't really be designed to break down at a specific point because they don't know how hard and often the customer will use it or environmental factors like temperature and humidity. It's more likely that they give it a range like five to ten years or something like that.

          [–]BlackWindBears 4 points5 points  (0 children)

          Averages are not what gets measured. Mechanical parts don't break in a controlled, defined way, when all of your userbase treats it differently, it's all in different parts of the country with different temperature changes and humidities.

          If you're designing to last 9 years rather than 10 (because of the way normal curves work) that might mean that you have 4x as many breaks before year 5, and you can be sure that every one of those people write a review.

          [–]Internet-of-cruft 1 point2 points  (1 child)

          Except that still doesn't stop people from buying them.

          There's loads of review online about big brand names being terrible with their appliances, and that doesn't seem to stop people from actually buying them.

          [–]wheres_my_toast 5 points6 points  (0 children)

          Cost. Quality brands can be a good deal more expensive, making them more difficult for lower income households to save up for or justify purchasing. You might be perfectly aware that you have a choice between two bags of shit, but at the end of the day you still need a functional bag of shit, so you get what you can and hope for the best.

          [–]wufnu 0 points1 point  (0 children)

          Low end brands probably do this

          Samsung

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            [–]IssyWalton 2 points3 points  (0 children)

            Except for in countries where, as decided by the court, many white goods should last at least 6 years In line with consumer law.

            Making a better motor that lasts longer and is more expensive, being priced to include that longevity, is a BIG consumer plus. I’ve bought too much buy cheap buy twice, or thrice, plus untold hassle.

            e.g. A refrigerator whose compressor is guaranteed for 10 years gets my money. Long term the manufacturer makes more as they gain customer traction with repeat purchases and brand satisfaction driving new purchases.

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              [–]Fagobert 4 points5 points  (0 children)

              And using less energy.

              [–]Jobambi 1 point2 points  (0 children)

              Yes, cost engineering is a thing. But r&d isn't usually bothered with that. R&d usually searches for three next edge over the competitors flagship. Currently a lot of research is done to make stuff more efficient, silent and 'smart'

              [–]BigCommieMachine 32 points33 points  (15 children)

              The whole issue too is that adding a feature is another thing that can go wrong. And is having a screen on your fridge or Wi-Fi your washer worth it? I mean I can start my washer remotely, but it doesn’t load itself or move the clothes from the washer to dryer.

              It is worth a note: We DO see new feature. The a Convection Oven/Air Fryer feature has nearly added universally to new stoves. Ice markers are a FAIRLY new addition to refrigerators.

              [–]Rain1dog 8 points9 points  (3 children)

              I’ve had ice makers being a part of the fridge from way back in the 90’s. All my friends did too. We loved sliding that cup and pressing the level and having the ice shards/or cubes tumble into the cup with filtered water nozzle right next to the ice.

              It was fantastic on hot summer mornings on the Gulf Coast.

              I’ve seen them everywhere since the late 80’s early 90’s.

              I’m not sure if you are in the US or not, though and how that would change things.

              [–]SnooWords8869[S] -4 points-3 points  (7 children)

              There are washers, dishwashers, aircons and fridges with Wifi connection made by Vestel, a Turkish appliance maker, here's how to make a Wifi connection with a fridge.

              [–]WoodSheepClayWheat 23 points24 points  (5 children)

              And for most people, those are not "advancements" but shittification. There is no need and no improvement for those appliances to be controlled by a mega-corp remotely, instead of a knob right in front of you when you're physically putting the dishes into the washer anyway.

              Adding internet to things that don't need it is a BAD thing.

              [–]SnooWords8869[S] -2 points-1 points  (4 children)

              This is what that company advertises its appliances with Wifi (video in Turkish). The guy in the ad says he is washing dishes while he's at the pool, washing clothes while he's on an ATV, makes pasta and cheese while he's in a convertible.

              [–]WoodSheepClayWheat 19 points20 points  (0 children)

              All of those things need to be initiated by physically putting object A into or onto object B. Whoever does that can press "go" as well.

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                    [–]homeboi808 30 points31 points  (11 children)

                    Yeah, the “advancements” are incorporating tech like you mentioned, which most don’t need. However, ovens have induction tops now, which are great.

                    I think it’s Samsung which just announced a camera inside an oven so that social media chefs can videotape their food cooking…

                    [–]XauMankib 7 points8 points  (2 children)

                    I think the most interesting design was a cooker oven combo that had a wireless sensor you can insert into the food, you select a program and the internal computer does the rest.

                    The main reason a lot of appliances are still as we know them is because usually are made to be good at a certain thing, and with so much simplicity and efficiency 99% of the people see no reason to spend more to have side tricks on them.

                    [–]homeboi808 4 points5 points  (0 children)

                    As far as temperature sensors, a cool one I saw has multiple sensors on the stem, and it uses them to figure out where the center of the meat is in case you poked too far or are in a fat pocket.

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                      [–]YoungDiscord 0 points1 point  (6 children)

                      Why not design a heat-proof camera people can buy?

                      Most people won't buy an oven with a built-in camera, it sounds like a luxury feature that most couldn't afford

                      Now a heat resistant camera you can put in any oven? I can see way more people buying that

                      [–]homeboi808 10 points11 points  (0 children)

                      Trust me, rich people will buy it; just like people buy the $5k LG fridge where you knock to see thru it (yet you have a shelf there for condiments so it blocks the inside view anyway). Or you have the fridge with a built-in water pitcher, or the water dispenser can fill any size cup to the brim.

                      But I’m sure the camera body is integrated so that only the lens is exposed. Heat resistant cameras on the market are large and expensive.

                      [–]saltycathbk 3 points4 points  (3 children)

                      I installed a $15,000 oven in someone’s home a few years ago. Two people with college aged kids that didn’t live in the house anymore. The parents both drove Hondas and it was not a house that you expect to see with anything more than Lowe’s level appliances. People will buy it.

                      [–]meneldal2 1 point2 points  (0 children)

                      There is an actual use case for cameras inside an oven beyond posting it on Youtube, it is cooking time adjustments. You can put your stuff in the oven and it will shut off just before it starts to burn so you get perfect cooking every time.

                      You probably don't need more than an infrared camera for that tbh but that is one use case that could be worth for some people.

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                        [–]GalFisk 7 points8 points  (1 child)

                        My washing machine has a big sticker announcing that the brushless motor for the drum has a 10 year warranty. The only fault it has had in about 8 years is a glitch in the electronic controller, that went away after a power outage.

                        [–]iamtehryan 6 points7 points  (0 children)

                        This is pretty much spot on. Developments and enhancements to major appliances tend to be things that make them longer lasting, or larger capacity without increasing exterior dimensions. Or, turnstile-less upright washing machines. Or door within a door fridges. They've put things like tv screens, wifi and tablets into appliances, but the public in general has no use or desire for them and they eventually go on clearance to get rid of them. And the one thing that some people do want, like remote controlled cooking for stoves and ovens is pretty hard to achieve due to safety issues and people needing to be present when things like heat are activated.

                        Source: was an appliance buyer for a major retailer for many years and worked on developments with all of the big manufactures

                        [–]YoungDiscord 4 points5 points  (1 child)

                        RGB toaster here we goooo

                        [–]bullybullybully 3 points4 points  (0 children)

                        Yeah, a lot of the improvements have been around efficiency and less flashy things because the general function of most of these appliances has been figured out pretty well. They do pretty much one main thing and do it within a pretty good margin of error, so everything else is just slight improvements. With Matter, a lot of the “improvements” (quotes because it is subjective whether this is really better in most cases) are around integrating devices into smart home systems. At CES this year there were a bunch of connected home collections that do all sorts of things that seem pretty silly. Like, I don’t really need to be able to browse Reddit on my fridge… but I digress. This is all different from personal computer/phone/tablet technology because these items all function as “everything tools” rather than having a focused, relatively solved function.

                        [–]thephantom1492 2 points3 points  (2 children)

                        Also, there is the law of dinimutive return. A blender from the 1960 is like 80% optimised. Later on they make a better motor, and bring it to 90%. Then a better blade and you are 95% optimised. Now, any improvement cost a crapton of money to do, will cause the device to skyrocket in price, and will only do what... Save a quarter of a second of blending? It is not something that the user will notice.

                        Oven. It is a box that heat what is inside. You can always make it better, but... If you make it more insulated (less power usage) then you need to add a thicker insulation, which mean smaller oven space to cook. Users want bigger space so that would be a bad idea. You can add a fan to make it a convection oven, but look at the sale amount, it is pretty low. People don't want it so forget the fan. They already moved from analog to digital for the temperature control, which isn't something that was a big deal really and is kinda more marketting than functionality. So what else is there to optmise or upgrade?

                        But the main reason is: cost. All upgrade cost more. And guess what, the "high tech" ones just don't sell. People just want basics appliances. They don't break and do the trick. And they are relativelly inexpensive and last forever.

                        [–]tarkinlarson 1 point2 points  (2 children)

                        I'd love a smart fridge that scanned the things when you put them with the BB date and then tells me what I need to eat up or generates recipe ideas for what I do have.

                        [–]Ananvil 1 point2 points  (0 children)

                        I was recently staying in an apartment for a month for work, and it didn't have a toaster. I went to Target and Walmart and could not find a basic toaster with no added bullshit features. I just want a spring loaded thing to make my bread hot, thank you. Ended up having to buy one online.

                        [–]SNRatio 1 point2 points  (0 children)

                        A lot of the advances are government mandates improvements in efficiency. Which is great, especially if you live someplace where electricity or nat gas is expensive, or water is expensive/drought limited.

                        But (initial measured) efficiency and longevity are often tangential goals at best. Apparently the past few years of LG's "linear compressor" refrigerators are all in landfills now.

                        [–]bigfatfurrytexan 0 points1 point  (0 children)

                        New washers break much more frequently than older ones.

                        [–]old_man_curmudgeon 0 points1 point  (0 children)

                        "Think about a washing machine. It might have a newer motor design inside that'll make it spin for longer before needing a service"

                        They are actually designed to break faster.

                        [–]Cr3s3ndO 0 points1 point  (3 children)

                        Hol up…..there are toasters like this? I need a link….for science….

                        [–]Titan-uranus 1 point2 points  (0 children)

                        I can find toaster ovens, but not toasters

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                          [–]d31uz10n -1 points0 points  (0 children)

                          I really want vacuum cleaner with USBs :D

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                            [–]Dry-Influence9 148 points149 points  (7 children)

                            "Their main functions approximately have stayed the same."

                            Most modern appliances are significantly more efficient than the older ones, for example older fridges, dish washers and washing machines may consume 2 to 4 times more electricity and water. There is also many new features that you only see in the mid to high end appliances, they cut so many corners in the cheap ones that the square might as well be round.

                            [–]biggsteve81 14 points15 points  (6 children)

                            An exception is electric stoves/ovens. Aside from induction stoves (which definitely have their drawbacks - my Club Aluminum pots won't work on them), they are already 100% efficient at turning electricity into heat. What more do people want from them?

                            [–]cbf1232 4 points5 points  (4 children)

                            I would like a stove where the entire surface is covered with induction emitters so I can put any size of pot on it and it'll just work. And if I move the pot it'll adjust the active emitters to follow the pot.

                            I would like to be able to set a desired temperature and have the stovetop kick in full blast until it gets to that temp and then just keep it there.

                            How about a device that can keep food refrigerated until it's time to cook it, and then switch over to cooking the food? And if it's not removed by a certain time it would switch back to refrigerating the cooked food?

                            [–]BKayTheGreat 3 points4 points  (3 children)

                            The first one is probably not a thing because I could see that being a fire/injury hazard.

                            The second could be done, but I think it would probably require and overhead IR temp reading device.

                            The third is interesting, but seems too niche/impractical. Most food requires prep anyway and I don’t think the time of transferring the food from the cold to hot environment is the limiting factor for most people

                            [–]Hazelberry 2 points3 points  (2 children)

                            Induction stoves don't get hot, you can put your hand on it and it'll be cool to the touch. So it wouldn't be a fire/injury hazard.

                            [–]BKayTheGreat 0 points1 point  (1 child)

                            Huh til only things made of iron will get hot. Ty for correcting me

                            [–]Buuhhu -1 points0 points  (0 children)

                            Dont know if you're trying to be sarcastic or if you genuinely thanked him, but what the guy means is that induction doesnt just make the whole area hot when on, it makes it hot once it comes into contact with an induction compatible cookware, that's why not any old cookware work on them.

                            so if you when to an induction stove turned it to max, but didnt put anything on it, it wouldnt be hot if you touched it.

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                              [–]SamyMerchi 55 points56 points  (1 child)

                              It's because miniaturization doesn't help kitchen appliances. Making a cooktop or a refrigerator smaller doesn't benefit anyone. Conversely, miniaturization benefits computing devices greatly, because they can fit much more information processing into the same form factor. The development of tech recently (if not always) has largely been the development of miniaturization, and that benefits information processing far far more than heating.

                              [–]lemlurker 140 points141 points  (44 children)

                              What do they need to advance for? They do everything they need to and do it well.

                              [–]cyankitten 1 point2 points  (8 children)

                              Quieter so they don’t wake up babies and pets for eg.

                              [–]lemlurker 8 points9 points  (4 children)

                              Only so quiet a spinning drum can be, and again, has improved massively

                              [–]cyankitten 2 points3 points  (2 children)

                              So they’re quieter compared to the past? That’s good.

                              [–]lemlurker 7 points8 points  (1 child)

                              Much, dryers and washing machines are also more water efficiennt

                              [–]cyankitten 0 points1 point  (0 children)

                              That’s excellent news!

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                                [–]BigBobby2016[🍰] 3 points4 points  (1 child)

                                I'm renting a place with a Bosch dishwasher and I wish the thing was louder. So many times now it was on and I didn't know so I opened the door

                                [–]cyankitten 1 point2 points  (0 children)

                                😂 or even if you could somehow turn the noise up or down

                                [–][deleted] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

                                If I could get a damn microwave oven with a silent feature I’d be so happy.

                                [–]jghaines 0 points1 point  (24 children)

                                How about cheaper to purchase and cheaper to run?

                                [–]ShutterBun 81 points82 points  (10 children)

                                That are both of those things, by leaps and bounds. A washer and dryer in the 50s or 60s would cost several MONTHS salary for a typical worker.

                                [–]Kyadagum_Dulgadee 29 points30 points  (6 children)

                                Yeah. Back in the day most people paid for appliances in installments and TVs were so expensive a lot of people rented them. I imagine buying any of those things outright was something only rich people did.

                                [–]PhysicallyTender -3 points-2 points  (4 children)

                                oh man, i would love to trade places with those from the yesteryears.

                                at least housing was more affordable then. those appliances can wait.

                                edit: why do all the replies assume i'm white and from the US?

                                [–]Kyadagum_Dulgadee 6 points7 points  (1 child)

                                Pretty great if you're not a woman or gay or a minority.

                                [–]jake_burger 7 points8 points  (0 children)

                                Or a straight white guy but with alternative views, or funny looking, or mentally ill, or disabled,

                                [–]manyck 1 point2 points  (1 child)

                                The more affordable average house back then were so small, and lacking so many features modern homes have; that they are illegal to build today because they are not considered houses anymore, you’d probably be classified as homeless. Only the very well built ones that rich people lived in have survived until today, but they’re not the average old house, planes with holes in their wings and all.

                                [–]PhysicallyTender 1 point2 points  (0 children)

                                probably only applicable to the US (which i'm not from).

                                where i'm from, what the west commonly refer to as "commie blocks" is the more common housing option (believe it or not, there are countries outside of the former communist block that do build these). And these buildings do stand the test of time better than the housing that you're referring to.

                                and since these buildings are usually surrounded by decent amenities (refer to this video on what i mean), the older flats are usually bought over for redevelopment and thus, the owners are compensated enough to move to newer flats.

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                                    [–]OkTower4998 20 points21 points  (8 children)

                                    They're already very cheap. An average washing machine price is 3rd of a modern smartphone

                                    [–]IniNew -2 points-1 points  (7 children)

                                    Does that mean they’re cheap, or smart phones are expensive?

                                    [–]Gusdai 4 points5 points  (4 children)

                                    It means the commenter ignores for dramatic effect that there are plenty of cheap smartphone models that are cheaper than all these appliances (maybe not a toaster).

                                    You can even buy old reconditioned models (battery changed notably) on certain sites like backmarket.com (buying old phones brings up certain issues in terms of safety though).

                                    [–]ImBonRurgundy 2 points3 points  (1 child)

                                    Sure but you can also buy reconditioned washing machines too for much less. I’ve even seen 2nd hand working washing machines for literally a few dollars/pounds

                                    [–]Gusdai 4 points5 points  (0 children)

                                    True. The commenter talked like modern phones were $1,000, so it was an argument against that, but it is not relevant to comparing phones to washing machines.

                                    My point still stands: unless you compare the cheapest washing machine to the most expensive phones, a phone is not three times the price of a washing machine, because you can get smartphones for $100-$200 even without getting some trash Chinese brand.

                                    [–]jake3988 2 points3 points  (0 children)

                                    Aside from the latest and greatest iphone that retail for like $1000, most smartphones can be bought for approx $100. I bought mine for $120, for example. Best buy has a whole array of them that are unlocked.

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                                        [–]lemlurker 4 points5 points  (0 children)

                                        Heat is heat... they've gotten much more efficient over the years (hence efficiency scales now being a++++ as the scale shifted up). They're also much much much cheaper than they were

                                        [–]ManyCalavera 4 points5 points  (0 children)

                                        They are already manufactured to minimize cost for a long time.

                                        [–]V_es 2 points3 points  (0 children)

                                        Ehh.. they are? You know why Americans used laundromats for so long? Most families can afford a washing machine now.

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                                            [–]Murdash 15 points16 points  (7 children)

                                            There are 30 years old microwave ovens that are better at heating up food than new ones. I guess the technology is just stagnating because it's already good enough / can't be significantly improved further. There is no great demand for a microwave that can heat up your food 10% faster when it's already only a minute.

                                            There is a high demand for the improved performance of mobile phones, tvs and computers tho because they have super important use cases.

                                            [–]TengamPDX 9 points10 points  (1 child)

                                            Not to mention heating your food 10% faster would really skew box instructions.

                                            [–]meneldal2 2 points3 points  (0 children)

                                            The real problem is while it's not difficult to make a 2000W microwave (outside of potential power supply limitations), you would just get food that is burning on the outside and cold on the inside.

                                            If you're reheating something pretty large, you should stir if possible and if not just run it longer at 300W for even heating.

                                            [–]adudeguyman 2 points3 points  (4 children)

                                            I have a five or six year old microwave that just went out today. My previous one of the same brand lasted 20+ years. My replacement microwave is going to be a similar microwave that will likely last only five or six years.

                                            [–]Appropriate_Lack_727 2 points3 points  (3 children)

                                            I remember my parents had the same microwave from when I was just a kid until long after I graduated college. Similar situation with their washer and dryer. My dad might have had to replace a belt or something every now and again, but that was it. They truly don’t make them like they used to.

                                            [–]biggsteve81 1 point2 points  (1 child)

                                            They also don't cost nearly as much as they used to. In 1985 the average microwave was about $250, which is over $700 adjusted for inflation.

                                            [–]XihuanNi-6784 1 point2 points  (0 children)

                                            This is, probably, due to offshoring production to China and SE Asia.

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                                              [–]SafetyMan35 13 points14 points  (2 children)

                                              Back when they were first introduced they changed a lot. The first washing machines didn’t have a spin dry cycle so you would have to run the clothes through a roller to wring out the water. Then came fully automatic, then different cleaning cycles, clean sensing technologies and more. Washing machines and other appliances are extremely mature. The first washing machine was created in the 1850s, over 160 years ago.

                                              Compare that to a cell phone. The first cell phone was made in 1973. The first iPhone was released in 2007, but the number of features has slowed down and the big changes are more memory or a slightly faster processor, but back in 2007, the technology jump was huge from year to year.

                                              [–]armchair_viking 1 point2 points  (1 child)

                                              Yeah. I wonder if cell phones 10-15 years from now will be much different. I can’t really think of anything they don’t do now that I wish they did, aside from having easily replaceable components.

                                              [–]SafetyMan35 1 point2 points  (0 children)

                                              I think voice communication via in ear speakers (like hearing aids), augmented reality glasses and watch with more features combined with AI. Something similar to Tony Shark’s technology. I want a portable computing device that I can easily display on an external display at home or at work. I want facial recognition so when someone approaches me at a trade show, it runs facial recognition and pops up on my glasses Name, company and other statistics they want to share pull from my contacts.

                                              Companies have tried to get devices like this working, but the technology and features weren’t there yet.

                                              [–]throwtheclownaway20 53 points54 points  (13 children)

                                              They don't really need to. Computers, smartphones, etc. do a lot of stuff and are still relatively new, so they need to advance constantly to handle new technology. Appliances are basically just there to accomplish a single task and many of them have existed in some form for a few hundred years, so there's not a whole lot of room left to innovate. Irons are literally just a hot slab of metal, blenders are just spinning blades in a jar, etc.

                                              [–]BigBobby2016[🍰] 21 points22 points  (12 children)

                                              Also, they do try to innovate in really expensive models but the features fail to connect with the public. Most people only want them to perform their basic function very well

                                              [–]throwtheclownaway20 22 points23 points  (11 children)

                                              Yeah, most people have absolutely zero use for a fridge with a TV and WiFi, LOL

                                              [–]BigBobby2016[🍰] 11 points12 points  (10 children)

                                              TVs could be included in the discussion too. The last innovations like 3D have fallen flat

                                              [–]armchair_viking 5 points6 points  (2 children)

                                              Hell, I don’t even want a smart TV. I really just want a big monitor on the wall that I can hook up a roku, fire stick, ps5, or possibly a cable receiver to. I don’t need all the apps built in to the tv.

                                              You can’t really find that now, though, outside of a commercial grade signage display.

                                              [–]jake3988 3 points4 points  (1 child)

                                              Well 3D tvs were WAY more expensive than regular tvs (I remember them going for $4000) and almost nothing you could watch supported 3D.

                                              It was a chicken and egg thing. No one wanted to produce 3D stuff because no one had 3D tvs and no one bought 3D tvs because they're ungodly expensive and nothing was produced for it.

                                              So as a result, it quickly died out as a fad.

                                              [–]throwtheclownaway20 1 point2 points  (2 children)

                                              If they could figure out how to make a 3D TV that worked without glasses like the 3DS, I'd be all in

                                              [–]XihuanNi-6784 2 points3 points  (1 child)

                                              Personally I still don't find 3D to be an actual improvement, glasses or not. It's not more enjoyable or immersive, for me, if it's in 3D.

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                                                [–]Facelesss1799 33 points34 points  (8 children)

                                                What advances do you need? For your hob to make the food hotter? Or fridge to make the food colder? Or microwave plate to spin your food quicker?

                                                [–]cyankitten 10 points11 points  (7 children)

                                                Quieter vacuums/hoovers and things like that so they don’t wake babies and pets

                                                [–]Adversement 23 points24 points  (2 children)

                                                Which happened in the last decade or so?

                                                Largely after EU forced manufacturers to publish standardized measures of the loudness of the vacuum cleaners on their packages, as well as their actual suction efficiency over different floor types. Suddenly, there were ~500 W quiet vacuum cleaners that had more suction than the 1500+ W screaming “beast” of a few years back.

                                                Same also happened to quite a few washing machines (quiet spin), dishwashers (just overall a lot quieter), ...

                                                The difference is absolutely massive. Like, the devices are quieter to be next to than to have the old machine in the next room with a closed door between you and it.

                                                I haven't had a loud vacuum cleaner ever since... it is a massive improvement on the quality of life of the chore of vacuuming... I heavily recommend. Most brands will have such models.

                                                [–]ProvidentialFishpond 4 points5 points  (0 children)

                                                Fridges too. I was just looking for a fridge. Models from 4 years back are at just below 40db. The new ones from last year emit just 29db. This is perceived as half the noise the old one produces!

                                                Edit: aside from the newer one using only 2/3 of the energy the old one needs.

                                                [–]cyankitten 2 points3 points  (0 children)

                                                Excellent news! I’m pleased to hear this! I think compared to before it’s gotten a lot better. Though it could be even more so but there’s been it sounds like a lot of progress

                                                [–]Adkit 3 points4 points  (3 children)

                                                A Dyson is a lot less loud than an old timey corded vacuum.

                                                [–]cbrm9000 13 points14 points  (4 children)

                                                you tell me, you are the one buying new phones every year while keeping your old appliances for 20+ years

                                                [–]MarsssOdin 4 points5 points  (3 children)

                                                This is the right answer. People want a new phone every year, but they don't want a new dish washer every year.

                                                [–]PEPSICOLA123456 5 points6 points  (1 child)

                                                The thing is you don’t really care about advancements in things that only have one function. All I need the kettle to do is boil water. All I need the iron to do is get hot and pump steam. The only improvements you care about would be doing it faster

                                                [–]Cazzah 5 points6 points  (1 child)

                                                I think a lot of people have covered most of the other reasons, but here's another.

                                                It's not that other things don't advance, it's that electronics advances at an insane rate with no precedent in any other technology

                                                The advance of miniaturisation has been unprecedented and insane. Moores law saying that the number of transistors fitting into a microchip doubling every few months.

                                                It's not an exaggeration to say that if cars advanced the way microchips did, cars could now

                                                1. Travel around the world on a tank of gas.
                                                2. Travel at faster than the speed of sound.
                                                3. Fly.

                                                [–]Shamon_Yu 3 points4 points  (0 children)

                                                Quite unexpectedly, this technically means electronics is "easy" to research and develop. You need less money and engineering effort per performance gain.

                                                [–]redditorial_comment 10 points11 points  (1 child)

                                                Besides the newer fancier design stuff is crap. I just had to buy a new dryer after 15 years. alot of new designs out there so before i made my choice i visited the local repair place and asked them what was good to get. He said stay away from the new stuff that has computers and fancy unneeded features like texting you when your laundry is dry and yes that is a feature then he zhowed me his work lineup, all Samsung's. So i bought a nice simple amana

                                                [–]angryswooper 2 points3 points  (0 children)

                                                When my current ones die I'm spending the money and buying a dumb tech speed queen. I don't need a wifi enabled washer.

                                                [–]SeasonalFashionista 5 points6 points  (0 children)

                                                I guess the main reason not stated before is the exceptional generalist nature of PCs and smartphones. Lots of different user scenarios can be transformed in a stream of signals and processed. While all household devices solve one or two similiar problems and that's all (you can always get creative and fast dry socks using hairdryer but that's still a very limited set of possibilities)

                                                Had we a customer-grade offline appliance that could manipulate atoms or molecules it could progress at similiar rates.

                                                [–]Initialised 3 points4 points  (0 children)

                                                Oven: Pyrolytic cleaning, fan assist, air fryer, microwave

                                                Washer: integrated dryer, loads of programs, lower water usage

                                                Fridge: digital inverter, integrated ice makers/cool water, energy efficiency, smart fridges

                                                Hob: Induction, built in extractors

                                                Vacuums: cyclone/bag less designs

                                                Hi-Fi: Wireless connectivity, smart speakers, positional audio (Atmos)

                                                All of the electronics inside these have improved thanks to improvements in semiconductors, power efficiency and additional functionality is often associated with these improvements.

                                                Mostly though we don’t notice that a modern budget model has the capabilities of an older high-end model. It just doesn’t run on a 2-year-2x improvement like semiconductors.

                                                [–]remes1234 2 points3 points  (2 children)

                                                Most electronics are not getting new features. They are getting brighter, higher resolution screens, faster processors, more ram etc. But the last real shake up was the smart phone with a big touch screen. Laptops and tablets basically look exactly like they did 15 years ago. Tvs have not gotten a new form since flat screens came out. Computers do basically the same things they did 20 years ago. Just faster. No new things have happened in tech in a 10+ years. We have stuff like AR, AI, VR etc. But none of that is really ready to deploy. And some of it, like VR is going to go as well as 3d tv did. Streaming is 20 years old. Stuff like uber, vrbo, and delivery stuff is old news. Tech is stagnant.

                                                I started high school in 1992. Since i was a kid, all this happened: the vcr made it poasible to record tv, and watch stuff when you wanted. Home computers became common. The internet became a thing, gps showed up. Home printers. Cell phones you could walk around with, and then smart phones. Streaming showed up. Digital cameras and video. Home consoles and portable gaming.

                                                But all the big new stuff happened between 1985 and 2007ish. Nothing big since then.

                                                [–]SnooWords8869[S] -1 points0 points  (1 child)

                                                Smart TVs became the default, gaming computers with higher RAM and better video cards appeared, phone cameras started to work with AI (for example my phone detects a meal and an icon of spoon and fork appears) and so on.

                                                [–]remes1234 2 points3 points  (0 children)

                                                Those are all just minor inovations, not revolutionary. My smart tv in 2023 does not do anything that my roku could not do in 2013. And the camera ai thing? Not super impressive. And more ram is nothing new. Ram numbers have been creeping up slowly forever.

                                                [–]BaLance_95 4 points5 points  (5 children)

                                                A lot of it is because computers still had a lot of room to grow. "Had" because phones and computers have plateud. Not much to improve these days. Comparatively, other appliances have gone through this cycle already and are now mature. Compare a first generation microwave, to one from 10 years ago to now. The first two have improved a lot but not the last two.

                                                Plus there's all these marketing crap that smartphone makes push to make people buy new ones, and people are willing to buy because smartphones are a status symbol. If you're tech savvy, you will know that you barely any improvements have been made over the past 2 or 3 years.

                                                [–]cyankitten 0 points1 point  (4 children)

                                                For me it’s the hassle of moving ALL my photos etc to a new phone. Last time it took hours or a day.

                                                That’s one of the deterrents to me to upgrading

                                                [–]widowhanzo 2 points3 points  (3 children)

                                                Huh which phones do you use? I just got a Samsung Galaxy, and it came with a Smart switch app, which copied all the data I wanted from my old phone through a USB cable, all the photos, music, downloads... It took half an hour, but it took me just a few taps to select the folders I wanted to move. The only difficult part was moving the bank app (I had to call to get a code), and some 2FA apps. Otherwise it was pretty quick.

                                                [–]cyankitten 1 point2 points  (2 children)

                                                It might be different now cos this was probs at least 2 years ago that I last did it. I have an iPhone XS. I don’t remember what phone I was doing it FROM. An iPhone too, earlier model but I don’t remember which. I wanna say 6 but not sure.

                                                [–]widowhanzo 2 points3 points  (1 child)

                                                I'm not familiar with iPhones, but don't they make it the easiest to swap one iphone for another? Even back in the itunes days yoi just made a backup of one phone and restored it to the new one, and everything was there. Unless you switch between android/iphone, then there's a lot of manual copying involved.

                                                [–][deleted] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

                                                They do advance. My microwave is now also a air fryer. Fridges and washing machines are Wi-Fi enabled if you choose that type. My oven also has an air fryer feature. There’s fridges with LED doors that show what’s inside and washers that detect clothes loading sizes.

                                                [–]DBDude 1 point2 points  (0 children)

                                                Just take washing machine. In the 80s, in the US at least, it was a fairly small capacity top loader with a few mechanically run programs. The back and forth motion was done by a clutch that didn’t last all that long. A modern machine will be a very reliable direct drive front loader. It’ll have a bunch of electronic programs for pretty much anything you could need. It may also have a sanitize setting. It will also use a fraction of the water of the old one.

                                                And even dryers have gone to direct drive, and they will sense when your clothes are dry, from several levels of dry that you choose. They can also steam your clothes. If you leave your clothes sitting, they may even run it a bit to keep them from wrinkling.

                                                That’s a lot of advancement.

                                                [–]cyankitten -2 points-1 points  (5 children)

                                                I’ve notice this. And why are there for eg no silent vacuum cleaners/hoovers when for eg pets and babies HATE the sound? I think silent or very quiet dishwashers exist now though, which is good.

                                                [–]Captain-Griffen 5 points6 points  (3 children)

                                                And why are there for eg no silent vacuum cleaners/hoovers

                                                Silence is the absence of sound. Sound is vibrations in the air. A silence vacuum cleaner would need to not cause vibrations in the air. Given it works by sucking in air, that's essentially impossible.

                                                Having said that, they are generally a lot quieter than they used to be.

                                                [–]MiketheGinge 0 points1 point  (0 children)

                                                Needs vs wants. A fridge has to do a specific thing. Advances are usually around efficiency, and every now and then high end versions come up with an innovation to push out the next quarters product. A phone on the other hand is a fashion accessory, and for tablets and computers, software is evolving which forces it to improve.

                                                [–]259tim 0 points1 point  (0 children)

                                                The difference in things like smart devices isn't actually that big either. We are all falling for the hype when really more RAM or different CPU in a smartphone does not make a significant difference in usage unless your phone is like 6 or more years old.

                                                [–]Vanilla_Neko 0 points1 point  (0 children)

                                                Because a lot of things just can't really be improved upon

                                                Like an oven is still ultimately just an oven. You can add whatever digital timers or whatever but at the end of the day all you're really doing is just sending electricity through a heating element. There's only so much you can optimize this design or improve upon it

                                                [–]TheRealTinfoil666 0 points1 point  (0 children)

                                                All those things you mention have been around for many years. Early on, there WERE a lot of advancements and changes as the designers were able to tinker and discover better ways to do whatever the things did.

                                                After a while, everyone more or less settled on the best way, with only minor tweaks after that. Unless something unexpected happens, these things are thought to be sorted out. After that, changes are often largely cosmetic. We can think of these as ‘mature’ technologies.

                                                Once in a while, something new IS developed, and everyone reacts by doing the same thing, or going out of business. EVs have disrupted an otherwise stable gas-powered car market, and electronics have improved clothes washers, for example.

                                                But after a while, things settle out again, and the changes to those will slow down again.

                                                Look at the shapes of nearly every compact car today. If they didn’t have logos on them, I could not tell half of them apart. There seems to be one best shape for a car for fuel efficiency while carrying people, and everyone therefore does the same thing.

                                                Once smartphones have been around for another 40 years, we may find that they are not changing much year-over-year either.

                                                [–]penatbater 0 points1 point  (0 children)

                                                Some of the advancements in appliances relate to power consumption (reducing power required while maintaining the same or even better performance). For example, inverter aircons.

                                                [–]vegetariangardener 0 points1 point  (0 children)

                                                I'd argue that, besides minor internal changes, phones have been at a relative standstill for the past few years. I think every technology reaches a sort of maximum in its design, and minute alterations can be cute but aren't fundamental. The first iPhone compared to the flip phones of the time was pretty profound. Now, it's thinner bigger smaller faster whatever, but the fundamental rectangle touch screen has not changed much

                                                [–]Adkit 0 points1 point  (0 children)

                                                You've clearly never owned a modern automatic vacuum cleaner that talks to you and maps your house using AI.

                                                [–]ultimattt 0 points1 point  (0 children)

                                                There are many improvements in household appliances. For instance anyone growing up in the 80’s or 90’s can tell you how loud their dishwashers were - hell they’re still loud as hell in many places today.

                                                I’ve had a Bosch dishwasher for 5 years, and I still accidentally open it while it’s running to put something away because it’s so freaking quiet.

                                                Why don’t you hear about it? Well frankly it’s not sexy. It helps make life easier, sure, it doesn’t mean it’s all appealing.

                                                There are exhibit shows for the latest in household tech, but they’re usually industry show’s you won’t just go to to kill time.

                                                [–]sakatan 0 points1 point  (0 children)

                                                Domestic appliances are designed to do ONE THING and do it well. There are literally decades of development in these things.

                                                Also, these things are tied to chores, and most people don't care about the grandest features in a thing that is only directly used for a few hours every month. So there is a lack of innovation pressure.

                                                [–]yellowjacket4seven 0 points1 point  (0 children)

                                                They do advance! You can see in to your fridge without opening the door.

                                                I just bought the GE washer/dryer combo. It all happens in one machine. I never have to switch clothes out. It holds enough laundry detergent and fabric softener for 32 loads and I get a notification on my phone when it's done. That's some pretty major advancement!

                                                [–]MisterSpicy 0 points1 point  (0 children)

                                                I would think this has more to do with how much the consumers tolerate and interest in buying a new model of their appliances every year. This is pretty much accepted for many electronics like phones, laptops, TVs. While not everyone buys them, enough do to justify this practice.

                                                I'm pretty sure appliance makers would love to sell you a dryer every year but most people do not have an interest or need in these type of higher cost items and probably there isn't enough demand like consumer electronics to make a new model so often

                                                [–]spidereater 0 points1 point  (0 children)

                                                Appliances are fairly expensive and large and heavy. Most people won’t change their appliance to get any of these features because the features are not that useful. Computers and cell phones were replaced often because the new features allowed extra features. More ram and faster processors let you get higher frame rates. Some games/programs couldn’t run on older computers. Better camera, finger print scanner, face recognition. These features became available as phones improved. I just got a new oven. It has WiFi. I can turn the light on from my phone. It will tell me when it’s preheated. I can change the temperature remotely. This is kind of handy for a roast. For most things I want to look at the food before changing anything. The new features are not super useful/important. If my 20 year old oven didn’t break I would probably not have upgraded.

                                                Even today with computers and phones, improvements are becoming less important and people are settling into a cycle of only upgrading when their device dies. My desktop is 10 years old. Still runs windows 10 fine. My phone is 3 years old. No plans to upgrade.

                                                Things settle in to designs that solve consumer needs pretty well. Once they solve those problems. After that there are smaller changes to fine tune designs, improve reliability, reduce costs. There have been changes over the years. Refrigerators are much more efficient. Washers are less noisy and use less water. Appliances are cheaper than they used to be and pretty reliable. There are improvements but these are more to get people to buy when their ma give breaks rather than to buy to get the better features.

                                                [–]urmomaisjabbathehutt 0 points1 point  (0 children)

                                                The basic elements of the technology peaks and mature and every subsequent advance becomes incremental refining

                                                a toaster is a toaster maybe we could toast the toasts in a different more advanced way but the humble toaster does its job simply enough and the changes to the design done through the many decades since its invention make the thing pretty optimal for its price point

                                                an ice car explosion engine was designed a century ago, early on it started being optimized, many revolutionary designs through the drawing board, these days changes, optimization, efficiency increases, manufacturing cost reduction or whatever, may bring a few % here or there just enough to make any component redesign worthwhile

                                                Early computers went through dramatic advances early on from use of electronic tubes, punch cards and magnetic memory cores of the 50s and 60s mainframes to the microcomputer revolution of the 70s 80 with CPUs, ram, ...and CPUs from the early 8080s chip to the pentium 82586s and further till the 64bit designs of today but the jump in performance of the latter designs aren't as impressive as the earlier jumps because the technology matures

                                                the changes from early PDAs all the way to a more mature iphone/android smart phone of today were fairly impressive, the current generation changes from one generation to the next are small increments because they are a mature technology....

                                                but then, if breakthroughs happen on a technology that those products depend on, such as a newer battery capable of a week charge then it will impact the end product

                                                and then that new battery technology will undergo mostly fast changes early on until it becomes mature and then only small increments

                                                Incidently there are also changes in products such as newer materials or manufacturing technics that may make those products more affordable or durable but are less notifiable functionality wise to the end user

                                                [–]toastmn7667 0 points1 point  (0 children)

                                                As somone that spent years in appliance retail, the perfection of the mechanics came a long time ago. What we see now is the result of computerization already played out at the start of the millenium, when miniturization caught up. In other words, the advancement bubble already happened 20ish years ago. Minor improvement may come along. But major tech trends will take time like you see with vehicles as of now.

                                                [–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

                                                Because they don't need advancements. My washer and dryer are over 30 years old. They work perfect. My clothes come out clean and dry. I don't need wifi and a app to tell me they are done when I can hear them stop spinning. Sometimes simple is better. Especially from a longevity point of view.

                                                [–]NeighborhoodDog 0 points1 point  (0 children)

                                                The advanced appliances already exist but the only markets that care to pay for them are over seas. The US recently got an american version of the all in one washer dryer with heatpump and its 2k$.

                                                [–]kevinrules0405 0 points1 point  (0 children)

                                                The advancements must lead to customer paying more or a bigger market share, or the brands won’t do it. It’s more difficult to persuade consumers that that a new washing machine runs longer than competition, brands would rather spend money on advertisements

                                                [–]PD_31 0 points1 point  (0 children)

                                                What more would you want a fridge or washing machine to do? Being able to watch TV on a phone kind of makes sense so you can watch while you're away from home or if someone else is watching the main set, or if there's a sports game you want to keep an eye on while watching something else.

                                                You don't need other appliances to do anything else (I guess you could argue a TV screen on the fridge to watch something while cooking)

                                                [–]Ohjay1982 0 points1 point  (0 children)

                                                Phones in particular it’s more a marketing thing than anything else. The upgrades at this point aren’t adding a ton of value but they’ve marketed it in a way that people think you need them (some companies are actively programming older phones to work less effectively to drive home this, looking at you Apple). The only thing most modern couple year old phones need is a new battery but people have been acclimatized to just buy a new phone and then are happy again but really 90% of that satisfaction just comes from having a new battery.

                                                [–]asforem 0 points1 point  (0 children)

                                                Beyond making calls, we use our phones as mini computers, to run software(apps). Software is still advancing, getting larger and requiring more processing. Older phones run slower and can’t handle certain functions. We also use them as cameras and cameras are advancing and getting sharper, with better image stabilization, multiple lenses.

                                                On the other side of things, clothes aren’t getting dirtier. Food isn’t getting harder to cook.

                                                [–]OGBrewSwayne 0 points1 point  (0 children)

                                                Like the capacity of washing machine doesn't bother us, for example, but we're disappointed when buying a smartphone with 4GB RAM and 64GB storage but seeing another one with 8GB RAM and 256GB storage.

                                                A washing machine's load capacity might be relatively unchanged, but so are our laundry needs. I do roughly the same amount of laundry today as my parents did when I was a kid. But I can definitely use more storage space on my cellphone because photos, videos, music, apps, etc etc all take up space. The amount of data we keep on our phones continues to grow, so the need for more storage grows with it. Not to mention that apps themselves are far more robust and powerful today than they were just 10 years ago (because the phone's computing powers have improved), so they take up more space as well.

                                                Plus, we don't change domestic appliances as often as smart devices, like I had a washing machine bought in 1997 working until 2022 but changed 9 mobile phones since 2006 to this day.

                                                Why is there such a difference?

                                                For starters, no one wants to have to replace their household appliances every few years.

                                                Smartphones and computers have a shorter lifespan than other appliances because the tech that makes them function is constantly evolving. A smartphone or computer is likely to stop receiving OS updates around the 5 (+/-) year mark. This is because newer software (the OS and apps) requires more powerful hardware (the phone itself and the processor, storage, battery, and everything contained within). Once you get to the point where your phone is no longer capable of being updated, you will also begin to lose the ability to install new apps because developers will phase out their support for older devices as well.

                                                What it really comes down to, though, is function.

                                                A fridge is a fridge. It needs to keep your food cold and that's it. Washing machines need to clean your clothes. Microwaves need to heat up your food and irons need to remove wrinkles. Every appliance has a very specific use. And even if there was some sort of groundbreaking innovation made to any of these appliances, most people aren't running out to buy a new one as long as their existing unit is functioning just fine.

                                                Smartphones, on the other hand, are extremely versatile and they continue to add new functions and features on a regular basis.

                                                [–]goedips 0 points1 point  (0 children)

                                                The technology for the basis of TVs, phones and computers is relatively new just a few decades or so up to a century. So there is still lots of development to occur.

                                                The technology of washing clothes and cooking food is thousands of years old (make something hot to cook it, scrub your clothes in a river to clean it ) and there isn't really anything new to invent in the area of heat cooks stuff, cold preserves stuff, scrubbing cleans stuff.

                                                [–]FuxieDK 0 points1 point  (0 children)

                                                Washing machines have gone from 5kg to 7kg to 10kg per load, since I moved out from my parents. Dont say capacity doesn't matter/evolve. 🤷‍♂️

                                                Also, coffee machines have evolved into beasts that can do much more than brew a simple coffee. Some have direct water intake (like washing machines), some can do milk etc etc.

                                                But a simple water cooker, doesn't really leave room for much improvement.

                                                [–]zeiandren 0 points1 point  (0 children)

                                                They got better in that they are cheaper to make. This partially made them worse by making them more disposable but people used to get loans to buy a refrigerator like it was a new car, now they are just a couple hundred dollars and still last ten years (but not 30 years)

                                                [–]YesMan847 0 points1 point  (0 children)

                                                well frig and ac got inverters. this is a power electronic system that only uses as much power is necessary at any given point. this reduces electrical usage significantly. some ovens became very advance but are very expensive. japan created an oven that used the perfect amount of heat and humidity to toast a piece of bread and return it to oven fresh state. it's a toaster big enough for one large slice of bread but costs around 500 dollars. we have the ninja creamer, a new type of blender that can dice frozen liquids so smoothly that it comes out like ice cream consistency. some fridges have new methods of making ice. better insulation etc. the technology where we move freon to cause cold air is already the peak tech and nobody has been able to invent a better one. so the only thing left is to create efficiencies in other aspects of a refrigerator. as for cooking methods, we have things like the oil free oven that uses microwaves. we have new non stick coatings now. teflon once the peak in non stick tech now seems almost dangerous to your health because it can come off over time. there are new inventions all the time.

                                                [–]zeroG420 0 points1 point  (0 children)

                                                Part of it is an illusion of advancement. If you really stop and think about it, smart phones are not much different now than they were a decade ago. A couple extra pixels, higher resolution, whatever. These things make nice buzzwords.

                                                Better water management for your dishwasher or insulation technology for your oven just doesn't sound sexy in comparison. But the advancement in functionality is probably parallel.

                                                [–]Vo0d0oT4c0 0 points1 point  (0 children)

                                                The biggest reason, the input and output are constantly changing for smart phones, TVs, tablets, computers, etc… higher resolution requires better hardware. Applications are requiring more resources because graphics are improving, code is advancing, cameras are advancing, routers are advancing, etc…

                                                For appliances, the input and output are relatively the same. We don’t have some huge improvement in fabrics that requires innovation in washing them. There for what it needs to do hasn’t really changed much. Dishwasher is still washing dishes, fridge is still just keeping food cold.

                                                [–]one-happy-chappie 0 points1 point  (0 children)

                                                Mainly because the objects have hit their 'local maxima' where they can evolve a little here and there, but they will not go through a revolution where you need the latest version.

                                                IF you 'rethink' the washing machine, and invent something new which flips the industry upside down, you're then breaking that maxima and moving to a new product altogether. But spinning water and clothes can only get so far at washing.

                                                Think of the iphone. Before they got touchscreen and the Operating System right,all phones looked and acted basically the same (blackberry might stand out a bit, but they were the best of the existing format) with incremental and major upgrades in cameras as the digital camera revolution was happening. Once the iphone happened, the technology exploded with the smartphone revolution as people started to find new ways to mix and match the touch screens and Operating Systems. Up until now that is, we're hitting another 'local maxima' when it comes to smartphones. They aren't evolving as much as they use to on a physical factor. So unless something new comes up, it's possible that you might look back at phones in 10 years and see very little change - of course, that's hard to believe as so much is changing in the industry already, i see another revolution around the corner.

                                                [–]Marty_Mtl 0 points1 point  (0 children)

                                                you basically answered your own question : "Their main functions approximately have stayed the same". As other said, yes, changes in design for a sub-elements happened over time, but are not apparent to you the user. So apart from having a fridge able to send an alarm over wifi for a high internal temp, a fridge remains a fridge !

                                                [–]heyayush 0 points1 point  (0 children)

                                                I think it’s also because they are connected to the cloud? So you can provide the software updates easily and quickly.

                                                [–]Tall-Poem-6808 0 points1 point  (0 children)

                                                How often does the average person replace their phone / laptop, vs their washing machine or fridge?

                                                Phones, and laptops to a lesser extent, are "consumables", fashion statements, things that most people will replace every 2-3 years. So manufacturers need to crank out upgrades, new features, new styles to keep consumers coming back.

                                                Appliances are replaced when they break and it's no longer cost-effective to fix them.

                                                Having said that, brands still come up with new "features" on a regular basis, but the average person doesn't really care because see above.

                                                [–]fellipec 0 points1 point  (0 children)

                                                You may want to visit r/theinternetofshit to see some examples of when people decided that appliances should be "smart".

                                                I want to keep software away from my appliances. The simpler they are, the better. This means they are cheaper, easier to fix and more reliable. And better yet, don't need subscriptions, servers, Wi-Fi and can't spy on your activities to serve personalized ads. This doesn't mean that I don't like innovation of comfort from home automation, but I prefer that a small smart plug turn my coffee machine on than relying on a coffee machine that costs 3 times more and is unnecessarily complicated.

                                                And to be very honest, the drive for faster and more powerful phones and computers is in part created artificially, mainly on the need for web browsers and bloated apps, that keep running in the background collecting user information. It's not uncommon to people "resurrect" old laptops with a lightweight Linux distribution that have little bells and whistles, and more important, don't send "telemetry", and with a browser that ignores most of the ads and scripts that are not needed to you use a website. I'm still happy with a 2015 laptop, using it this way.

                                                Sorry for the rant, but I like to advocate to people try to fix and keep their belongings instead of throwing them in the rubbish and buying a brand new one.

                                                [–]ch1burashka 0 points1 point  (0 children)

                                                There's ovens and fridges which will turn transparent when you double-knock on the door.

                                                ...do you want that?

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