Houses were already diminished in quality 30 years ago, at least around here. It seems like building quality started to drop off in the 70s. Cars were still crap in the 80s, I'd take my 2007 Toyota over any vehicle from 1985 in terms of build quality. I bought my first computer in 1986 for $2,200. It didn't even have a hard drive. It was pretty much useless after a few years. A decent computer today costs about 1/3 the price and will last twice as long.

I will agree that boats from the 70s and 80s were generally very well built, at least the ones that are still around today. Even my old C&C, which was not a high end build, is still very solid. Lot's of old Catalina's, CS and even some old Hunters are still great boats after 30 years.