[richardhod]

I think it's more that this is an American base and people in the United States seem to use antediluvian top loaders a lot, possibly because of a historical surfeit of space, and possibly never prevalence of shared machine rooms in apartment blocks.

Europeans visiting the United States are often bemused by the antiquated looking, advanced electronics-free top loading washing machines everywhere. I'm sure somebody has written a good article on why this remains the case largely in the United States.

If you want a really reliable, modern front loading washing machine, you buy German. Miele, Bosch really are the gold standard and are built to last 20-years rather than the planned obsolescence of most washing machines.