Conspiracy or no, today's consumer products are $hit, and I agree with Rich on this one.

Consider how ridiculous it is to implement technology that makes a fridge more efficient, for the sake of being "green," if the resulting hit in product longevity leads to 6x as many refrigerators being dumped into the ocean as would be with the old technology. Seems like a poor trade-off to me.

On the plus side, you can watch Netflix on your fridge while you cook....