"Your backpack got worse on purpose" Most brands are owned by a handful of companies, and that's why everything is terrible now.

[zergling_man@sacred.harpy.faith]

@sarahdalgulls So you're opening a backpack-making business, right?

[superflippy@mastodon.xyz]

@sarahdalgulls Surprised the brand that makes my work backpack isn’t mentioned. Targus, what’s your excuse?

[vermaden@mastodon.bsd.cafe]

@omar @sarahdalgulls

Yes - they also have other models - even some waterproof ones.

[chloeg@mastodon.art]

@sarahdalgulls shame the article is written by an AI too.

[grumpyoldtechie@hostux.social]

@sarahdalgulls Seeing that were talking backpacks and brands I suggest looking at Lowepro. I've used them since the 1990s. My first one I gave away in 2010 to a struggling photographer friend. The second one was stolen in 2013. My current pne was bought in 2013 and shows a few scuffs and had a zipper transplant but otherwise it's perfect for daily use. 13 years is a long time and their quality may also have gone downhill but I doubt that it has.

[iddinev@mastodon.social]

@sarahdalgulls
Sounds like a localized (USA) problem - I am immensly happy with my Deuter backpacks and my Osprey 35L.

[gonzalo@neopaquita.es]

@sarahdalgulls you can get an original, durable, sustainable backpack made by a young designer here: https://daniel-chong.com/en-us/pages/mochilas

[ndw@toot.wales]

@sarahdalgulls It would be nice to have some legislation that required labeling to identify the ultimate corporate owner for all products. With care taken to prevent loopholes and teeth for violations. But the billionaires don't want that, so no.

[evoscale@c.im]

@sarahdalgulls Fossilizing from birth, is a form of #PlannedObsolescence.

Then again, my jokes aren't always blooming with effervescence.

[efscher@fedi.nyc.what.if.ua]

@sarahdalgulls Bellroy is still pretty good.  Not cheap, though.

[3janeta@beige.party]

@sarahdalgulls I thought this was my imagination but apparently not. That sucks.

[oddhack@mstdn.social]

@sarahdalgulls wondering if folks know of importers like Zenni (Chinese eyeglasses more or less direct), but that operate in the EU? Prices in Lisboa opticians, of which there seems to be one every block or two, are not quite as bad as the Former US, but still steep.

[rob_t_firefly@masto.hackers.town]

@Chloeg @sarahdalgulls It's by a Palantir employee. https://www.keyana.io I suppose working there does qualify someone as an expert on how and why things are getting fucking worse all the time.

[lywyn@mstdn.social]

@sarahdalgulls Planned Obsolescence is the subscription model for manufacturers goods.

[axeln@norden.social]

@sarahdalgulls @cstross Now it is called enshittification, in it earlier iteration they made a movie called „Wall Street“ about it. Endgame capitalism.

As for this iteration: it is exactly the same in the luxury brand segment – look up LVHM (Louis Vuitton)

[fazalmajid@social.vivaldi.net]

@sarahdalgulls It's called Quality Fade, and is pretty much standard operating procedure when Private Equity acquires a storied brand known for quality. Muffy Aldrich has a diagram that illustrates this:

https://saltwaternewengland.com/2023/03/the-lifecycle-of-clothing-companies.html

That said, it is also much easier for consumers to research and the time window for PE to milk a brand for all its equity while they run it into the ground is growing ever shorter.

[detritus@todon.eu]

@sarahdalgulls i wonder who’s behind this site. There’s no “about us” page or anything. Which is sus.

[drchaos@sauropods.win]

@iddinev @sarahdalgulls Deuter changed the product line in small bike backpacks a lot... I really liked mine, but the new ones don't have the same comfortable back. I have now switched to Osprey, it's slightly better than the new Deuter but not as good as the old one. My partner bought a used Deuter to replace the completely worn out one (I guess after about 20 years of daily use).

[inthehands@hachyderm.io]

@heymarkreeves @sarahdalgulls

Yeah, while agreeing with the larger socioeconomic point of the article, the post’s second sentence isn’t correct. My Tom Bihn is coming up on 20 years old and looks and functions almost like new. Take it as underscoring the article’s point, and pointing a way out: a small, independent company that’s not so growth-focused •can• do better, but it’s Dave vs Goliath.

[coldclimate@hachyderm.io]

@sarahdalgulls I have now bought to coats from Frahm which were big money, but no more than many luxury brands. The difference is that they are a tiny company who focus on quality. I wish there were more of them