My old expensive Panasonic cannister vacuum did a great job for over 30 years, but finally the hose started to split. I decided that after all these years, they have surely made vast improvements in vacuum cleaners like hepa filters, lighter weight, bagless, etc. So I gave the old Panasonic to the church tagsale and bought a cheap upright. Returned the cheap upright and got another. Returned that and got another. Now I'm stuck with the third try.

No, they haven't gotten better. In fact they suck poorly, have bad designs with plastic parts that fall off or break, spray dust when you empty the bagless cups, are awkward to maneuver despite being lighter, make a lot of noise, etc. But they're cheaper...

I guess what hasn't changed is that you get what you pay for.