Actually not really. The author conflates "marketability" with "reliability." There is nothing malicious or underhanded about it, your neighbors are responsible and probably you are too.<p>All of the items the author mentions (mechanical parts, paint, controls) are under tremendous price pressure [1] and while they <i>could</i> pass along those charges to the consumer, it means that the market buys the "cheaper" machine which operates today, just as well as the "expensive" machine. I coined the term "Crapitalism" to describe this effect on PC power supplies in the 90's when you could not find a reliable supply anywhere.<p>The bottom line is that "reliability" is not something you can "sell" to the consumer.<p>[1] <a href="http://www.marketwatch.com/story/whirlpool-profit-margins-squeezed-by-raw-costs-2011-04-27" rel="nofollow">http://www.marketwatch.com/story/whirlpool-profit-margins-sq...</a>