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Bored Panda

Entertainment

Gabija Palšytė

67 Products And Services That Somehow Got Worse While Getting More Expensive

Reddit Sony

“They just don’t make things like they used to!” Sentences like this often elicit rolled eyes from kids and teens, especially if they heard their parents say it. But once you’re an adult, you realize that they’re totally right. Despite the fact that technology is supposedly advancing, it seems like everything around us is getting worse…

If you’re tired of your phone battery draining immediately, the quality of clothing being way worse than it was when you were a kid, and every company cutting corners to save money, you’ve come to the right place, pandas. Here’s a list of relatable (albeit depressing) photos from an online community that calls out products and services that companies have actively made worse over the years.

#1 Enshittification And Corporate Greed Are Coming For Every Industry

#2 They're Editing Digital Books To Contain Ads Now

#3 EU Huge Step On Protection Of Consumers

In theory, things should constantly be improving. Scientists are always making new discoveries, and doctors are constantly updating their practices to help patients heal faster and fight off illnesses. So why, when we live in such a technologically advanced day and age, does it feel like everything is on the decline?

There’s actually a (somewhat crude) term for it, coined by technology critic and author Cory Doctorow in 2023. He came up with it to put a name to all of the ways that digital services have increasingly begun to dominate our lives, while simultaneously becoming worse and worse over time. For example, remember when Instagram had a chronological feed designed to help you see your friends’ posts? Now, it’s all ads and reels from influencers pushed by the algorithm, making it nearly impossible to see anything that your loved ones have shared.

#4 Anyone Still Watching The News?

#5 What A Time To Be Alive

#6 Cgi Is Actually Magnificent, As Long As You Allow The Time And Budget To Do It Properly

When it comes to the demise of online platforms, Doctorow writes, “first, they are good to their users; then they [take advantage of] their users to make things better for their business customers; finally, they [take advantage of] those business customers to claw back all the value for themselves. Then, they [are ruined].”

This can happen to anything from a social media platform to an app like Spotify. And often, it begins with companies hooking customers on a good deal (perhaps even a deal that’s too good to be true) while patiently eliminating all competition. Remember when Uber, Netflix, and Airbnb were considered cheap? Today, however, it’s almost impossible for anyone to compete with them, so they can set their prices as high as they want while simultaneously making their services worse.

#7 Self Checkout

#8 This Is Painful

#9 Can't Even Do My Laundry Without Dealing With This Nonsense

Of course, the reason behind this significant decline in quality can often be boiled down to greed. Investors expect 10,000% return on their investments, and they don’t care what the company has to do to make that happen. Betraying loyal customers isn’t a concern, especially if they are forced to use the service anyway when there’s no competition left in the market.

“Big tech, perhaps more than any other industry in recent history, has made robber barons out of the same ‘idealistic’ founders who sold us on a vision of a free, open, and bountiful internet enabled by their technologies,” Glow explains.

#10 I Can’t Delay Start My Dishwasher Without An App, And The App Sends Me Advertisements

#11 When Digital Menus Randomly Change To A 30s Advert, Making The Menu As A TV Pointless

#12 We've Reached A New Low, Ads On The Sinks In The Gym Bathroom

Unsurprisingly, many people around the world are not happy about the way that the internet has been changing for the worse. And in Norway, people are actually taking a stand. Earlier this year, The Guardian reported that the Norwegian Consumer Council launched a global campaign targeting the “gradual deterioration of digital products and services.”

“We wanted to show that you wouldn’t accept this in the analog world,” Finn Lützow-Holm Myrstad, the council’s director of digital policy, said. “But this is happening every day in our digital products and services, and we really think it doesn’t need to be that way.”

#13 The Enshittification Of Our Brains On Chatgpt

#14 Every Platform Speedrunning Its Own Downfall

#15 Purchased Movies Will No Longer Be Accessible, Thanks Sony!

The campaign urged policymakers in 14 countries to take action against the decline of these services, noting that it is not inevitable but rather the result of policy decisions. In the letters that were sent to officials, policymakers were asked to provide more power to consumers to control, adapt, repair, and alter the items that they already own. They also demanded that consumers be allowed to move more easily between different services.

“It’s not too late to turn the tide,” Lützow-Holm Myrstad said. “Services don’t need to be [made worse] if we have real competition, if you can choose as a consumer which services you use, and if the market will better regulate all these practices.”

#16 Hp Forces You To Replace Your Ink Cartridges After Canceling Your Subscription

#17 It Gets Worse. They Posted This And It Turns Out The Guy Gave The Money To The Person Who Lost It

#18 He's 76 Years Old Man

Fighting back against this rapid decline of products and services online can feel futile as a consumer. But if you have to sell products at work, you can definitely make a choice to go against the grain. ProdPad recommends obsessing over real value. Don’t simply fixate on engagement or vanity metrics; consider what your product can actually do for people. It’s also important to track ethical metrics. How do users feel after using your product? How is it impacting their lives? Listen to their stories.

#19 This Thinly Veiled Gambling Bull Directed At Kids

I know the "collect em all" tactic has been around since baseball cards but these godforsaken balls taking over toy aisle are especially egregious IMO. And expensive.

#20 No It Doesn't

#21 Can We Go Back To The Old Internet?

Something else companies can do to go against the grain is to simply be honest with their customers. Tell the truth about the downsides of your product or service, and don’t hide the friction and broken promises that you might encounter over time. It’s so rare nowadays for corporations to be transparent, so it will definitely stand out if you are. And if you gain the trust of consumers without betraying them later down the line, they’ll be customers for life.

#22 Reddit Now Shows Ads That Look Like Comments

#23 They Knew What They Were Doing

#24 When Did Hotels Get So Much Worse?

Pictured above- hotel removed refrigerator. I travel a bunch for work, although I’m currently an unpaid intern. I’ve noticed how much worse hotels have gotten in the last few years. Some of the stuff I’ve seen in the last few months include-
$25 charge every time you want to use a luggage cart
$16 a day for Wi-Fi, $20 a day for decent wi-fi
$20 a day for parking in a non-urban area
Removal of ice machines
No ability to do your own laundry on site
I need all of the above- and all of this seems pretty standard for a mid-priced hotel. Apparently not anymore. Now I’m just sad that my leftover Italian food I had for late night work is going to go bad.

Is this list filling you with rage, pandas? Keep upvoting the examples of companies making their services worse that you find incredibly relatable, and let us know in the comments if there’s anything else that you’re tired of seeing get worse. Then, if you’re interested in checking out another article from Bored Panda discussing similar themes, look no further than right here!

#25 The Visible Difference Between Old And New Pyrex

#26 Cottonelle What Are You Doing Babygirl

Left is old TP from another brand, right is new Cottonelle. I wonder if I'd have even noticed unless I saw them side by side like this inadvertently. Good luck to you if you have large hands, some of your fingers may be participating as well.