Over the last few decades, technology has redefined almost every aspect of modern life. Smartphones put the world’s information at our fingertips, while convenience and accessibility fuel innovation. New technologies have transformed the world by changing how people create and consume. At the heart of these advancements is the idea that technology should make life more convenient. However, in the pursuit of convenience, new technologies have traded quality for ease. Technological advancements have left behind key elements that once existed in fields like music, video games, clothing, television, and photography.
Music
The rise of streaming has made music more accessible today than ever before. At any time, users can hear almost any song they please, and artists are free to drop new music that can instantly reach their audiences. By harnessing the power of digital streaming, musicians can easily connect with their fans and optimize the way they roll out music. Streaming breaks down barriers between artists and their fans, which has allowed some new musicians to step into the spotlight. However, the convenience of streaming has changed how individual listeners view and value music. Gone are the days when music was inconvenient to play. Streaming has replaced physical music ownership with easy temporary access.
While this makes it possible to play millions of songs at the click of a button, the convenience has changed music into something disposable. Listeners are inadvertently encouraged to move on from songs quickly as a song can be skipped in seconds if a user does not like what they hear. This discourages listeners from spending time with songs that do not speak to them right away. After all, why would a listener want to try something new when they have a seemingly unlimited number of other songs at their disposal? Streaming encourages this kind of surface-level engagement, which holds listeners back from continually revisiting songs and fully appreciating their artistic depth.
The fact that listeners are less likely to return to an album does have a broader impact on an artist’s output. Music streaming platforms like Spotify and Apple Music employ algorithms that are fueled by user metrics. When users treat music as disposable, the algorithms will favor songs that are alike and easily digestible while pushing songs that possess similar features. Songs that have catchy hooks, are two to four minutes in length, and contain easily recognizable sound bites will be pushed.
Artists know that users may not give their songs more than 10 seconds before moving on. As a result, streaming apps encourage artists to release songs that fit into an existing algorithm as algorithmic playlists fuel what is popular. This approach can lead to an increase in exposure, but focusing heavily on the algorithm comes at the cost of an artist’s individuality. This is not to say that there are no artists pushing musical boundaries today, but the streaming model actively discourages artists from doing so.
Furthermore, artists only earn a fraction of a cent per stream on major streaming platforms. This revenue model incentivizes artists to cater towards an algorithm as they need a large number of streams to receive an income, and most listeners today use the major streaming apps. Unfortunately, algorithms and revenue models employed by streaming apps do not encourage original and unique music, and, although these apps are convenient, they devalue the art form as a whole.
Video Games
With the advancement in video games, we have seen games become available online. This makes it more convenient for consumers to purchase games and play them right away.
Unfortunately, this ease takes away from the feeling of arriving at the game store with everyone else who is looking for the same games. With so many titles available, there is rarely a sole recognizable game that everyone is excited for.
The quality of the games has also declined. Developers have the ability to update the games as needed, creating a culture of unfinished games being released as “beta” versions. They are usually buggy, and it is up to the players to find and report the issues. When these are reported, the developers can then fix the issue, but with people spending upwards of $100 on a single game, they should expect to have a completed game from the start.
On older systems, you bought the game, inserted the disc or cartridge, and it immediately worked with much less prevalent issues. These games were not able to be updated, so developers worked to create a game that had clean code, would not crash, or make the game unplayable due to a bug.
The games were also simpler, which allowed almost anyone to pick up a controller and play the game with little to no experience necessary. Games today have become so complicated that unless you have prior knowledge or can afford the time to learn the skills necessary to play, it is almost impossible to pick up a controller and play in the same way. The convenience of buying games at home, downloading them, and updating them at home has allowed gaming companies to ignore the quality of what they put out, and it gives them an out on issues. They can allow buggy games to release with no repercussions other than providing bug fixes.
Clothing
The fashion industry has changed dramatically over recent years compared to other generations’ fashion cycles. The cycles are so quick now that if you do not hop on the train immediately, you are more than likely to miss it within a couple of months when everyone has gotten tired of the same pieces being seen everywhere.
As companies try to keep up with the demand for these new pieces of clothing, they have been producing them as quickly and as cheaply as possible. This creates poor-quality clothing that is not worn for more than a couple of months, and it is more likely to fall apart, or at least show some sign of distress, after a few washes. Older clothes were created with quality in mind and outlast many things that are created today as they have timeless silhouettes that never go out of fashion.
One example of this is the Levi 501s, an iconic model with a classic silhouette and better build quality. There are plenty of other examples, such as people who wore the same pair of jeans for decades with a few repair marks or patches that are still wearable today. These jeans also show the life of the owner, showing how they used their jeans. They may have wear on the knees or green spots, which everyone can recognize as grass. Their back pockets could have outlines of the wallet they used for decades, and the jeans immortalize anything else that someone carried around with them daily. You just do not see that nowadays, with clothes that only last for a period of one’s life rather than a piece of clothing that never leaves your closet or loses its cool factor.
Television
The convenience of streaming has fundamentally changed the at-home entertainment market when it comes to television shows. Streaming platforms like Netflix revolutionized how people consume TV shows. For a monthly fee, users can easily access a streaming service’s TV shows and movies on demand. Today, television options on streaming services are incredibly vast, and streaming platforms continue to grow their offerings by constantly adding an unending stream of original shows.
Despite the noise on these platforms, top shows in recent years have managed to deliver elite writing, action, and directing. Almost every major streamer is home to a few critically acclaimed shows. Hulu hosts the critically acclaimed “The Bear,” while Apple TV+ hosts the equally acclaimed “Severance.”
Past the standouts, however, there lies an overabundance of mediocrity indicative of the broader decline in TV show quality enabled by the convenience of streaming platforms. The rise of streaming platforms has created a content arms race where every major streaming company pumps out a massive amount of shows to attract or retain subscribers.
Some of these shows soar, but without the proper support, many fail. Shows are created on short timelines and released with little marketing. New drops are instantly lost to the endless content stream offered by these companies. The quantity over quality approach stifles the creation of original ideas as streaming companies focus on shows that possess algorithmic sameness over unique premises. Safe and proven concepts are turned into formulaic shows that fail to be interesting. For every success, there are a countless number of subpar offerings.
Furthermore, prioritizing quantity over quality ensures that promising shows are canceled before they get a chance to properly mature. Shows that fail to move subscriber curves in a timely fashion are quickly abandoned in favor of a new premise, regardless of the original show’s quality. When streaming companies cycle through shows so quickly, fans are left with unfinished stories, and talented creatives are unable to complete their vision.
For less developed shows, seasons are short and can feel incomplete, while episodes rely on cliffhangers to drive the plot. The constant stream of new shows devalues quality and encourages users to burn through stories quickly. Fortunately, some talented shows have been able to thrive on streaming platforms in spite of the downsides. However, the techniques used by streaming services make it hard to find success.
Photography
If you have ever seen yourself in a photo taken from a quality camera or a film camera and compared it to another photo taken by a phone, you may have noticed how much better it looked from a real camera versus the phone. Although it is convenient, as most people always carry their phone with them, the quality is not as good. If you zoom in too much, photos get blurry and you cannot make out what you were looking for. These issues are less prevalent on film. Even digital cameras have good zoom and post-photo zoom features. The flashes on real cameras are also more flattering upon their subjects and create a warmer vibe than the saturated phone photos.
Photos quickly pile up in one’s phone and are rarely looked back upon, but when people used film cameras, they had the photos developed and printed out. The photos were limited per roll, so there were rarely wasted photos, and each of them were taken for a reason—not just randomly. People would print these photos and create photobooks, logging their memories. With the emergence of cellphone cameras and digital libraries, this is done less and less. People do not value the photos they take as much, and, through this, they do not cherish or look back on them fondly very often.
Quality should be put at the forefront of a company’s products, as the products show what their brand represents. The collective effort of a quality product shows that the company cares about creating a lasting brand, and people will notice. No one should have to use their hard-earned money to purchase goods that last a short period of time. This constant consumerism seen in everyday life can be attributed, in some part, to the internet revealing how ever-changing fads are short, but the reality is that consumers are forced to constantly repurchase goods due to the declining quality of the products and services that are offered. When companies prioritize convenience over quality, they lose out on the crucial elements that once made those products special.