I don't claim to be the original source of this conspiracy theory. I might have overheard it or discussed it in conversation and forgot all about it.
The companies that mass produce disposable razor blades seem to be on a quest to produce the most advanced disposable blade razors. The pinnacle of razor blade technology at the moment is debatably the Mach 3 razor produced by Gillette.
The reason for this quest seems obvious, each company must produce a razor that gives a cleaner, safer and all-round more satisfying shave than their competitor's razors. Fine. I can live with that. It is getting a tad silly. We have razors who's blades are sharpened by lasers, razors with one, two and even three blades, razors with a rubber "wipers", razors with lubricating strips of soap, razors with blades suspended on springs and razors with ergonomic contoured handles.
Whatever.
Here's the conspiracy theory bit. Razor companies must continue to support their older razors for people who are not early adopters. To encourage people to switch to their newer razors they deliberately impair the shaving experience of these older razors. They do this by either blunting the razor blades or changing the angle of the blades so they don't produce a good shave.
Do you honestly feel your latest and greatest razor gives as good a shave as your previous razor? Does the extra blade make much of a difference? Does the lubricating strip do anything at all? I think it's all one big hoax perpetrated by the razor manufacturers to generate extra sales of the new razor handles.