Yeah it’s the early version of enshittification. When the current product is too cheap and effective , make a newer “advanced” one with all of their “technology” and “precision”.

I’ve seen this in knives and tools. For much of woodworking all you need is a bench, saw, hammer and chisels, however today, people are convinced you need a hardware store’s worth of power tools to even think about building basic furniture.

Or in cooking, everyone tries to convince you to buy their stupid expensive set of fake Japanese knives with some thermo plastic resin handle and their special unbreakable stainless super steel.

Many modern knives are actually worse than their contemporaries because now they are designed for marketing. Big heavy oversized bolsters and super thick blades to market them as invincible, tough knives that can chop through a cinder block or some goofy shit. In reality you just need a thin knife and a small bolster, of which older chef knives had, because they were built for actual use.

I ALWAYS compare new products vs old, because oftentimes the new version only exists because it’s more profitable.