I’d be curious to read the whole article. To me he’s referring to several different issues. Lack of character and automation in mass manufacturing.
Economics and the industrial in industrial design is ultimately what is driving humans out of manufacturing. Unfortunately, I have a hard time seeing that trend going backwards. As much as people like character, I have a hard time imagining people wanting to pay 10x on everyday items. Not to mention the logistical nightmare of products being all unique. With that said with price being such a primary driver, it seems like finding any kind of product that’s built to last puts it in the premium category and that seems to be turning off a lot of people.
There is a trend bucking this with bespoke/maker/craft items where customers see value in the unicity of products. I’m not sure how much of it is trend vs turning your back a mass produced bland stuff.
On the flip side, I would agree with him that a lot of products seem to lack character. I think the main reason for this is high risk adverseness in corporation. I think there’s a failire to realize that marketing in many ways starts with the product. Selling your vanilla ice cream over everyone else’s vanilla ice cream is a race to the bottom when you could spend the resources upfront to make different flavors.
Minimalism may not have helped this situation. While I think successful minimal designs don’t lack character the style seems to give the licence to make some really soulless stuff.