Same experience I have. I have a Boston Acoustics Recepter clock radio which must be close to 20 years old. It's the best sounding music device of its size I've ever heard, and a remarkably excellent radio, but it can only be bought used. Those 20 years are meaningless if 20 years are already used up the moment you buy it.

The opposite is true of the Aiyima A08 Pro. It has amazingly sound quality, but people might reject it out of hand because it's made in China, even though it uses American chips. Worse for this subreddit is it's only a year or so old. So despite the high quality of the device, there is no telling if it has longevity despite its high apparent quality.

And as for production changes over time, Red Wing has come out with cheaper footwear. There are implicit trade offs for the lower price and more immediate comfort of materials like foam, versus more leather for more longevity at greater cost.