People Explain Which Products Have Gotten Better Over The Years

People often lament about the decline in quality from when they were younger, but is everything really getting worse?

Technology is all about advancement, so some things must be improving.

Rather than mourning the products of the past, we could celebrate what's good about the present.

Reddit user PoisonousChicken asked:

"What product has actually gotten BETTER over the years?"

Flashlights

"Flashlights. Maglights—the ultimate in flashlights at one time—were only 27 lumens."

"Now an everyday carry flashlight might have 4500 lumens of light."

~ naturelover47

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Cash Sensors

"Cash readers on vending machines and self checkouts.

"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."

~ bigdreams_littleduck

"Cash readers on vending machines were finicky as f*ck."

"'Oh you put it in upside down and backward? Get f*cked. Tiny dog ear? Eat sh*t'."

~ CptNonsense

"'Oh is that a tiny little wrinkle? No clue what this is, never seen it in my life'."

~ budderman1028

"'Tiny dirt smudge? Death to your first born. Piece of lint stuck to it? Plagues and famine for 7 years'."

~ JerpJerps

Shoelaces

"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."

~ Calamity-Gin

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Automotive Brake Systems

"Automotive brakes."

"The anti-lock braking system (ABS) has saved lives."

~ skaote

Cancer Treatment

"Cancer research and treatment."

"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."

~ Street_Roof_7915

"I have leukemia, we found out pretty late and I was originally told not to expect to be around more than a year."

"Fighting hard still, but that was years ago and I’m getting closer every day to finally beating it!"

~ noeagle77

"My mom was diagnosed with leukemia in 2006 and was only expected to live for about 2-5 months."

"18 years later she’s still volunteering several times a week and working at our performing arts center as an usher so she can see shows for free."

~ TeaWithKermit

Maps

"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."

~ KiwiOld1627

"I used to get lost ALL the time, GPS was a game changer for me."

"And add Google Maps into the fold and you can easily figure out where you want to go, and exactly how to get there."

Even walking around in cities with Google Maps on your phone literally pointing you in the right direction, it's amazing."

~ marktx

"My mom is in her 60’s and says it still kind of blows her mind that we have this tech, given how much trouble she sometimes had navigating when arriving in a new city."

~ fingerpaintswithpoop

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Computer Components

"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."

~ fulthrottlejazzhands

"When I first learned how to work on computers in the mid '90s, just hooking up a new mouse could take a couple hours if there were port or driver problems."

"Then came Plug and Play, which only seemed to work like 25% of the time."

"Now it's so reliable we barely even use the term anymore—it's not a feature, just basic functionality."

~ btt_honcho

Brussel Sprouts and Broccoli

"Brussel sprouts and broccoli."

"They’ve been bred to be less bitter."

~ spatchi14

"Safeway frozen microwaveable florets are legitimately the best broccoli I’ve had, and were $1.50 a bag from October to December. They’ve brought the price back to $2.50 or so but it’s very reasonable for what it is."

"Add some slap ya mama seasoning and baby you have a side going."

~ AdmiralAckbarVT

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Nonalcoholic Beverages

"Nonalcoholic 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."

~ jesuseatsbees

"Been sober for 11 years in February."

"Just moved to Portland, Oregon. I'm amazed at the amount of nonalcoholic beverages being sold/brewed here."

"There's nonalcoholic beer here that tastes good and not like p*ss."

~ Thewallmachine

Frozen Pizza

"Frozen pizza. 20 years ago they were sh*t, now they can actually be pretty good."

~ Mission_Chocolate599

"Just had Motor City Pizza Co. deep dish from Costco for the first time last night."

"Holy cow. I was impressed."

~ Remain-Calm

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Apples

"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."

~ Ill-Line7794

"Damn, they are coming out with new apple varietals quicker than new Pokemon!"

~ tragicallyohio

Garbage Bags

"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."

~ Alaska_Jack

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Consumer Electronics

"Practically every consumer electronics product."

"1993 high school me would not have been able to imagine the sorts of technology that we take completely for granted these days."

"Giant 4K televisions, the ability to stream practically any song or movie you want, powerful pocket computers with access to the world's information, the ability to talk for free to anyone, anywhere in the world, voice assistants that can control your entire home, the ability to take as many photos and videos as you want (and no waiting for film developing), and on and on and on."

"The very first TV I ever bought for myself was a 30" Toshiba CRT back in 1996/7."

"I loved it and it had (for the time) a great picture, but it was HUGE and took two people to HEAVE this thing into the specialized cabinet we had for it. Had to weigh well over 100 lbs, easily."

"That same size TV today I could probably spin on one finger."

~ Highfalutintodd

"TVs have improved to an absurd degree over the last 20ish years."

"I bought a 27" CRT TV in 2000 for just about the same money I spent on the 75" flatscreen I own now."

~ WONKO9000

Pistachios

"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..."

"Science is making food so much better."

~ ReturnedAndReported

"Also not dyed red anymore…"

~ GeorgeCabana

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3D Printers

"3D printers, the $200 printers are 10 times better then what I was using at work 10 years ago and it was $2500."

"Huge improvements over the last couple years and a lot of competition."

"It's hard to even choose what to buy because in a month or two there might be something you wish you got instead and cheaper."

~ Amel_P1

Some thing decline in quality over time, but people found all these things were getting better.

What products or services do you think have improved?