If this is a particular hobby horse of yours, that companies produce shorter-lived and shoddier products than they “could” … explain housing, and the modern car. Explain oil rigs. Explain school buildings. Explain professional photographs. Explain Advil.
In the intellectual climate we seem to be operating in, the most likely answer to these I would expect to see on a college campus is, “those are mistakes/anomalies.”
The part I can’t shake about these arguments about evil corporations planning obsolescence is to consider one very common complaint about the modern food industry: packaging and preservatives. Explain THAT.
I can give you the conspiracy theorists view on packaging and preservatives.
The Supermarket system with its large network of distribution hubs and local stores requires 60 days to process any item through the system. Preservatives exist for benefit of the suppliers.
We can even accept that and not be alarmed, no? Why would “the suppliers” do this? Would our food have a better chance of getting to us fresher without such a system? Whoa to the middleman, our modern Shylocks.