Ask HN: Anyone else tired of brands discontinuing your favorite everyday items?
Hi everyone, 1 I've run into the same problem over and over again. When an item wears out, I can't buy the exact same one anymore. It's been discontinued. Or it has been changed while keeping only the same name. 2 I assume this isn't only my problem. I've heard many stories about people not being able to buy the same shoes, T-shirt, perfume, or jacket again. 3 I understand why manufacturers do this. I have no questions for them. What matters more to me here is us — customers, or simply people. And I started wondering: what could be done to support a customer's choice for years? 4 This is where I want to bring concepts from software and hardware engineering into the clothing industry — LTS and APIs. What if we freeze the standard and support it? We already have things like SATA or CPU sockets. Why not build a similar concept for clothing? Then the API at the point of contact with the customer is divided into a physically immutable part (color, material, design) and a flexible part (logistics, ingredients). Let's start with the simplest base — a T-shirt. Why not give it LTS support? The idea is that the exact same T-shirt could be sold for 1, 5, or 20 years. 5 Where does my logic break down? What am I overlooking? Are there any similar projects? And would you become a customer of such a company? Thanks.