In 1974, an engineer for one of the top pump companies at the time, told me directly that they were redesigning their pumps completely. He outright told me that there company could not make profit producing pumps that would last for 30 years. All their pumps were being de-engineered to last an average of 5 years. Mineral oil lubricated ball bearings were removed and replaced with carbon plates. Brass impellers were switched to all plastic, etc., etc.
Anyone who has ever been privy to top level meetings in large corporations knows what I am talking about. The rest of us just don't believe that corporations would do that to us, and we just keep buying inferior built products over and over again.
Once quality was engineered out of our products, price became the only consideration. So now we shop for the lowest price instead of quality, because wether we admit it out loud or not, we realize quality is no longer available at any price.
I would pay much extra for a car with a stainless steel body. That is as long as they put in an engine without aluminum blocks, plastic timing gears, and short lived electronic controls. These kinds of cars are not available because we now only shop for price. You may think you are shopping for quality but, it does not really exist.
With things like cars, we pay extra for the cool factor. So they make it cool and make sure there are a few plastic gears with a certain short life expectancy, then we have to buy something cool again in short order.
I guess this is more evident to me than to others because, I have spent 15 years selling Cycle Stop Valves in the pump industry. You would not believe the lengths that pump and motor companies have gone to try and squash or discredit Cycle Stop Valves. Not because there is anything wrong with the CSV as a control but, rather because the CSV makes pumps last longer and use smaller tanks. Having had this hit me in the face everyday for years, has opened my eyes to the fact that it happens with almost every product we buy these days. The fact that most people do not realize or believe this is happening, keeps corporations laughing all the way to the bank.