Rich and Strange Aeons

On a smaller timescale: This reminds me that I have the sense that craftsmen many decades ago were more likely to pay more attention to detail, in various subtle ways to make higher quality items. (Even with early software too.) I suspect there's some process of commoditization that depresses the workmanship of the median product. This is partly why I've always bought houses that were constructed well before I was born, I suspect everything is so metered now, margins so tight that, even if people would like to be building better, their job doesn't give them that room. However, at least with not-houses, my sample of historical comparison artefacts may well be considerably biased by what's survived for long enough for me to encounter it.