[aintgonnatakeit]

This explains the growth in the low end but not the lack of decent mid-range options. We no longer have good/better/best. We only have shitty/best and one is 10x the price of the other. Of course Joe Blow isn’t going to spring for the 10x option; he can’t afford it. In the min-maxing of profit margins, we’ve lost the pretty ok. Also I didn’t blame the corporations man; I specifically blamed market consolidation, greedy investors, and the output of HBS.

[listenallyall]

> We only have shitty/best and one is 10x the price of the other.

Such as? Every product I've considered buying in the past few years has more price points and options than ever before. Yes many of them are ultra-cheap, but plenty of mid-priced options as well. For example a new top of the line GoPro Hero11 is $550. However you can easily find other action cams anywhere from under $99 to $450, some of which are other GoPro products.

[propogandist]

gopro is commodity hardware with a lot of marketing and branding to try and command a premium purchase price

[s1artibartfast]

I think it's the opposite of Market consolidation. It is Market diversification to the point where most brands mean nothing. When you have a hundred or a thousand brands for a good, being Middle Market means very little.

[dnissley]

Either you need the item onceish so you buy the cheap option, or you use it a lot so you buy the expensive option. Those in between can find a used expensive option on marketplace/craigslist/etc. Not a lot of demand left in between after that.