[Tanoc]

There's been a problem of lateral rather than forward progress in nearly all industries since the early 2000s. Lateral progress being a different way to do the same exact thing (a doorknob versus a lever latch for example), and forward progress being a new way to do a similar thing but in a much more efficient and modular way.

It's been bothering me for some time ever since I noticed it with the advent of IoT "smart" devices that have the same features as traditional appliances for twice the cost and technical debt. My washing machine still washes clothes and turns itself off, but now I need to set the wash type using my phone because lateral progress dictates a physical interface on the device itself is obsolete.