Nowadays, some things are simply not made the same quality as they used to be. Take clothing, for instance; that pair of jeans your dad has been wearing for what feels like a decade now would never have survived this long if it was produced by one of the fast fashion brands we see plenty of today. Granted, such situations depend on many different factors, from the item itself and the materials used to who the manufacturer is.
To be fair, the same goes for things the quality of which seems to be only getting better, such as modern technology, for example, developed in leaps and bounds nowadays. Redditors recently discussed the products that, in their eyes, have gotten better over the years after the user ’esreveR_Psychology78’ started a thread on the topic. The netizens’ answers covered all sorts of matters, from shoelaces to car exhaust systems, pointing out that not everything is going in the direction of quantity over quality (which consumers seem to care for more than the price). Scroll down to find their answers on the list below and see what other things redditors feel optimistic about.
Below you will also find some thoughts from ‘esreveR_Psychology78’, the curious user who started the thread, which they shared with Bored Panda in a recent interview.
#1
Cancer research. My mom was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer 2 years ago— we were looking at months. A year of chemo and radiation and she got into a clinical trail with immunotherapy. Cancer free last year.
AMAZING.
Image source: Street_Roof_7915, Artem Podrez/pexels
#2
I have a rare disorder. When I was diagnosed 11 years ago at age 14, I went home and looked up what was going to happen to me. The Google results for lifespan was around 25-37 years old.
Now, most doctors will say the lifespan is fairly close to average.
Scans, medications, and research have all gotten better remarkably fast even for a disorder that has barely any funding towards fixing it. It’s so rare that I have to tell doctors what it is and what it effects every time I get a new specialist, because I’m always the first patient they’ve met with it.
And yet still, the treatment has gotten so much better. So grateful.
Image source: Affectionate-Sea-697, Los Muertos Crew/pexels
#3
GPS, and maps in general. Old paper maps I could get a rough idea of where my house might be in a town. Now I can read the street signs in a city on the other side of the planet.
Image source: KiwiOld1627, cottonbro studio/pexels
#4
Frozen pizza. 20 years ago they were s**t, now they can actually be pretty good.
Image source: Mission_Chocolate599, daveynin/flickr
#5
Flashlights.
Maglights were 27 lumens. Now an everyday carry flashlight might have 4500 lumens of light.
Join us at r/flashlight
Image source: naturelover47, Markus Tacker/flickr
#6
Automotive brakes. ABS has saved lives.
Image source: skaote
#7
The quality of sexual health information that young people can access online. Obviously there are good and bad things about the internet. But a nervous 17 year old kid having a pregnancy scare or a concern about an STI has access to good information online that didn’t exist when I was that age in the 1990s.
Image source: reddit.com, cottonbro studio/pexels
#8
As a lactose intolerant person: DAIRY FREE/PLANT-BASED ANYTHING. dairy free milk, dairy free butter, dairy free cheese, dairy-free icecream/yogurt. Everything’s delicious now!! Same goes for vegan meats imo
Image source: man_idkkkk, Martin Lewison/flickr
#9
Shoelaces.
When I was a kid, they broke if you pulled on them too hard, and then you had to knot them up and tie them short. As an adult, I don’t think I’ve ever had a pair break on me.
Image source: Calamity-Gin, yawning hunter/flickr
#10
Range of makeup for different skin tones.
Image source: CosyPotat, Ron Lach/pexels
#11
Mental health awareness and advocacy. When I first got help ten years ago, it was super hush hush and nobody talked about it. Now mental health is an everyday conversation, people are outspoken about their conditions. Even stickers that say things like “live, laugh, Lexapro” make my heart warm because recovery is finally becoming a part of society.
Image source: milklvr23, Alex Green/pexels
#12
Brussel sprouts and broccoli. They’ve been bred to be less bitter.
Image source: spatchi14, Anastasia Ilina-Makarova/pexels
#13
menstrual products
Image source: toetotipsnowpea, Vie Studio/pexels
#14
Non alcoholic drinks, in particular beer and cider. Wine is still getting there I think, but even just the amount of choice is amazing compared to what there used to be.
Image source: jesuseatsbees, Henry Söderlund/flickr
#15
Small technology. Cameras, smartphones, headphones to name a few. You can purchase a very cheap piece of technology that works equal to the super expensive technology from a few years before.
Lightbulbs are my favorite. Going from incandescent to compact florescent was great because it was a couple years rather than months between bulb changes. Now with LEDs I can’t remember changing a bulb, I usually buy new bulbs only when I buy a new lamp.
Image source: verminiusrex, Duy Nod/pexels
#16
Cheap guitars. You can buy one for a few hundred bucks that absolutely blows away the one I started on like 25 years ago.
Image source: ChunLi808, Madalin Grigore/pexels
#17
Oh, no question: Garbage bags. WAY better than they used to be.
They used to be super flimsy, back in the 70s and 80s. Garbage-bag commercials would always show “the competitors'” brands tearing and spilling garbage all over. I literally can’t remember the last time that happened.
Image source: Alaska_Jack, Anna Shvets/pexels
#18
Vegan replacements!
Image source: lordctm, Grooveland Designs/pexels
#19
Sneakers. I cannot imagine trying to go play basketball in a pair of Chuck Taylors at this point. Or running on the original Nike waffles.
Image source: jekelish3, Arthur Ogleznev/pexels
#20
Apples are much better now. It used to be the standard was a mealy red delicious, but there are new breeds like Fuji, gala, honey crisp etc that are sweeter, tarter, and have better texture (crisp, firm). This changed in the last few decades.
Image source: Ill-Line7794, Kampus Production/pexels
#21
Environmentally friendly products. Especially soaps and the like. Apart from the benefits I find myself preferring a lot of them over big brands.
Image source: supacalafraga, Polina Kovaleva/pexels
#22
Car exhaust systems. That’s why do don’t see all the muffler shops that used to be around.
Image source: biscobingo, Malte Luk/pexels
#23
Geographic Information Systems (GIS).
Image source: Right-Ad-5647, Geographic Information Systems/pexels
#24
Cars are astronomically better
Image source: HalfTheTimeAlways, Pixabay/pexels
#25
All PC components. They’re way easier to install and generally last longer. And the software and bioses/firmware that ensure they’re compatible. And tweaking, at least at a high level, is tons easier and safer. Time was, you needed to understand jumpers, ram allocations, manual bios flashing. Bonus if you could solder. Nothing was shrouded, so you could easily short something or knock off a capacitor. And even still, you’d run into compatibility issues or blow outs.
Image source: fulthrottlejazzhands, Andrey Matveev/pexels
#26
Cash readers on vending machines and self checkout. I can remember a time when they barely worked without constant cleaning. You’d have to put the same note in over and over before it would take.
Image source: reddit.com, Sharon Hahn Darlin/flickr
#27
Pistachios. They’re now much easier to shell than 10-20 years ago. This goes across many food/produce products. Oranges are easier to peel, Brussels sprouts are tastier, apples crisper, etc etc.
Science is making food so much better.
Image source: ReturnedAndReported, Sarah Chai/pexels
#28
Airplane engines… Growing up you would hear the planes and sometimes had to stop your conversation. Nowadays, it never ever happens
Image source: KarmaWhoreRepeating, Ahmed Muntasir/pexels
#29
Diet Soda Pop. I’m just talking about the taste here. Not interested in hearing about how it’s gonna kill you. The taste is light years ahead of how it tasted when I was a kid. Except maybe Diet coke still tastes like s**t but Coke Zero Sugar is pretty great. If you could go back 25 years you’d be surprised how much better diet soda is these days.
Image source: Valahiru, Phillip Pessar/flickr
#30
Coffee in America.. From Folgers and Yuban to now mega hipster stuff.
Image source: domenator2000, cottonbro studio/pexels
#31
Lay’s potato chips. Have you noticed the size of the individual chips is much bigger than 20 years ago and much less breakage. I swear as a kid that the “normal” size of a chip was about 1.5 to 2 inches in diameter and now it’s common to see chips that are 3+ inches in diameter
Image source: PissBloodCumShart, David Valenzuela/flickr
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