[twblalock]

I would compare safety razors to mechanical watches. When quartz watches hit the market, everyone ditched the old technology.

Now mechanical watches are popular again -- but a cheap mechanical watch manufactured today keeps far better time than a cheap one you could buy in the 1970s. This leads people who have only experienced modern mechanical watches to wonder why they ever went out of style.

Similarly, the market for safety razors today is far different than it was when cartridge razors were introduced. Back in the 1960s consumers could get their hands on just a few kinds of razors and blades, and the blades were not generally as good as the blades available today. There are simply far more, and far better, safety razors and blades available today than there ever were before.

Similar observations can be made about the fountain pen market.