Its simply human nature.
We are interested in lights....and, that puts us into a distinct minority.
Notice how many (Not all of course) of US have little or no interest in spending money on some OTHER specific items, as in we might spend 100X more on a flashlight than the average Joe Consumer...because the Joe Consumer doesn't THINK about flashlights...but he MIGHT have an expensive watch, or toaster, or fly rod, etc.
There are forums where people talk about toasters the way we talk about lights. The evenness of the browning, the speed, the quality, the pattern the grill makes, the color of the glowing heating elements, etc.
They have their own version of tint snobs, etc.
Why don't WE agonize over what toaster to get, and ask online about the shade of red the heating elements might obtain and what the pattern of grill marks on the toast would be etc?
Because we never thought about it...a toaster is an appliance, and we might buy it because it looks large enough for the planned number of slices, and is made by a brand we heard of that might be reliable...or its design/materials would go well with the kitchen decor.
A mechanic might spend thousands on snap on tools, but the toaster or flashlight is typically off his radar.
So, the bar is raised, and, a lot of the super crappy stuff has competition...so Joe consumer CAN accidentally buy something better....just like you might accidentally buy a decent toaster...but in reality, if the toast doesn't catch fire or come out cold, most assume that's "normal" and the base line for a toaster is "I put the bread in, I push down this lever, and, a few minutes later, browner bread comes out...what else WOULD a toaster DO?"
Which is akin to "I turn it on and light comes out, what else WOULD a flashlight DO?"
