I've had an idea for a thread like this for a long time.
Some new things or ideas are much better than older ones. However, the reverse can be equally true. Whether for philosophical discussion, earnest debate, or rants from humorous to bitter, here is a shiny new thread that I sneaked past the Thread Police while he was napping in the official GTXF hammock above a pile of empty RC Cola cans and Moon-Pie wrappers.
I'll start with a point/counterpoint example of a well-known consumer product. This is an example discussing a physical thing, but ideas, concepts, and traditions are fair game for conversation as well, from the serious to the absurd.
It just so happens I've chosen one product to mention as better in some ways before but better in other ways now. Subsequent posts do not need to follow this format.
New vs. Old:
Band-aids today are much better than when I was a kid. Today's stretchy fabric-like band-aids stay on when wet, unlike the old ones that fell off at the first hint of water, sweat, or humidity. Remember seeing used band-aids floating around near the filters in swimming pools as a kid? Disgusting - even then before coronavirus and HIV. I'm not in pools very often these days, but I'll bet that's not as common as it once was. And, today's band-aids come in shapes to fit knuckles and other specific body parts. New "high-tech" band-aids are much better than the old one-size-fits-all rubbery plastic ones we used to have.
Old vs. New:
Band-aids used to have a red string along one long edge of the rectangular envelope to let you easily rip open the wrapper with one hand and your mouth while blood poured from the other hand. Where did the red string go? It was a victim of corporate cost-cutting, no doubt. Now it takes both hands to open a band-aid envelope. Band-aids used to come in nice metal cans that could be reused indefinitely to hold not only band-aids but other stuff too. My wife and I still have an old metal band-aid can in our medicine cabinet, filled with modern band-aids sadly missing useful the red string. And why are there twenty different varieties now? I want the nice stretchy fabric-like ones I bought last time but can't remember the brand or the style I bought a couple years ago. There are just too many choices now, and not all of them are as good as the best ones are.