This is a blog about crapulance. It is motivated by the seemingly endless examples of products that suck in one way or another, most particularly products that could be very much better if the manufacturer was motivated to make them any better.
Anyone who pays attention to product quality over time has surely noticed that product quality has been in a general state of decline for many years. This phenomenon has been mentioned by many previous commentators over the years, usually in the context of specific products. Some neologisms have even been created to describe this phenomenon, such as “de-contenting” (the engineered removal of material or processing). Probably the first neologism coined on this subject was the phrase “planned obsolescence”. In terms of functionality, one particularly pernicious phrase that came into currency during the 1990s is “Quality of Service”, which is a euphemistic term for measuring and describing intentional reductions in service quality. When you notice the long delays, random noise, and dropped calls that interfere with cell phone conversations, you are experiencing “Quality of Service”.
In any case, the point of this blog is both to document, and to complain about the ongoing trend toward quality reduction in products and services, which I call cumulative crapulance.
We need to start with some definitions. Here are some drafts:
Crapulant: (adj) Characterized by low quality of design, construction, materials, or any intentional or negligent absence of quality, durability, or functionality.
Crapulance: (adj) The state of being crapulant.
Crapulesence: (n) The process of degradation in quality or functionality.
General Examples:
1. When a product fails prematurely due to intentional or negligent mis-design, it is said to be crapulescent or crapulete. Typically applied to products that are designed to fail prematurely in order to maintain a replacement or upgrade market for the product. Examples include electronic equipment with substandard capacitors that will fail well before the other components of the system.
2. Products that are shipped in an incomplete state; appearing to function, but missing important features, functionality, or reliability. Software with a version number less than 3.0 usually fits this description.
3. Products that are designed to be difficult or impossible to repair, especially when high-wear or limited-lifetime parts are not accessible for service or repair. A well-known example of this case is automobile engines with timing belts located at rear of the engine; such that the engine must be removed from the automobile to replace or adjust the timing belt.
That’s enough for an introduction. I’ll start posting examples as I encounter them.