Why is cost the #1 focus?  There was a time when quality was worth a few cents more.  Isn't paying a little more for something that lasts twice as long worth it?

And what about the fight between form and function.  Remember when a coffee pot may not have looked so great but it didn't wind up all over your kitchen counter.  Isn't all the coffee winding up in the cup more important than a new design?

It might be beneficial to look at how we've gotten into this extreme cost and form conscious mode and take a few steps back.  I was recently talking to a CFO of a large manufacturer and the ONLY point he wanted to talk about was cost.  Not something better, more innovative or superior in any way, shape or form.  Something cheaper that looks cool will sell ! What's happened to our country?

We used to stand for innovation and quality but now we crank out crap and fill our landfills with the stuff faster than anyone on the planet.  My answer to our economic and recycling problem is build more quality items.  Maybe those who ruminate on cost alone will not buy them but those who think about their total dollar outlay over an extended period of time as well as the associated costs of all the extraoridanry waste will realize it's the best value. 

Therefore I put forward that quality and function are cheaper in the long run and better for our society than our fixation on cost and form.  Time to turn back control to the engineers and scientists and take it away from the bean-counters and marketeers.  Realize this is a pie in the sky idea but one can only hope that some will listen to reason.