"They design things so that they will almost definitely break in however many years. So whoever bought it has to buy a new one, and the company makes more money. Especially if it's something relatively cheap, and not a fancy expensive tool like thaumoscopes. I'm not actually sure how extensive this strategy is, but I'm pretty sure it happens at least a little."

"That's terrible," she says indignantly.

"I know. The Higher Ups are much more willing to do terrible things if non-terrible things aren't making enough money. And then they get yelled at and boycotted for doing terrible things and shape up. And then they decide they aren't making enough money again. It's sort of cyclic."