This is why we can't have nice things

Why HN readers recommended it

Commenters link it as the engaging go-to explainer on planned obsolescence and the lightbulb cartel.

This is a summary from the source dataset, not an endorsement by Hacker News or the video creator.

Video & recommendation details

Creator / channel

Veritasium

Topic

planned obsolescence

Format

explainer

Level

general

HN recommenders in dataset

4

HN mentions in dataset

15

Recommendation years in dataset

2021–2024

These counts and years describe the included Hacker News records; they are not YouTube views or the video’s publication date.

From the original HN conversations

Excerpts from the recorded comments. Follow each source for the full comment and surrounding discussion.

• Veritasium has an awesome video on planned obsolescence here. [1] The problem in many cases isn't that it costs so much more to make products that last, but rather that making products that break is just way more profitable when you can effectively control the …

• Veritasium made a video that reviews the history and presents the topic in an engaging way. "This is why we can't have nice things" - [VIDEO]

• This is a very good start. If they did the same for screens, I wouldn't be surprised if the phone sales dropped to half or even less. There is no way companies like Apple and Samsung will be OK with this. I expect big pushback …