Does it really result in an objectively worse product, though? Subjectively, I can't but agree. But objectively?
Especially in an industry where we are constantly amazed by what people accomplished years ago. I question whether long term planning and acting is truly objectively worse.
Windows XP is my standard example. We remember them fondly, but things we take for granted today (WiFi, 64-bit, multiprocessor support, advanced power management including frequency scaling) all had to be kludged into XP because it was forced to stick around for so long, and was never as good at these things as Vista or 7. (I know we all hate Vista, but it did these things well)
A long lifecycle doesn't allow for the rapidly evolving hardware & software environments.
Especially in an industry where we are constantly amazed by what people accomplished years ago. I question whether long term planning and acting is truly objectively worse.