I've been in this game for a long time and things are different now. They just are. 30 years ago I don't ever recall having a tire blow in any of the shops I worked in unless we missed something (i.e. spoke sticking through tape, thorn in tire, tube not seated properly, etc).

In the last year I have blown maybe 15 tubes. Just last week a bike that I'd been riding for a week just blew a tire sitting in my closet. A couple of months ago I blew three tubes in a row, all three blew at seam marks. These blown tubes aren't specific to one bike or tire brand/type either although they are generally all 700c tubes.

I haven't changed the way I change tubes but the quality of the tubes I've been buying has run the gamut from down right crappy to really good. Many of the good ones come from Thailand and many of the crappy ones come from Taiwan, but it varies. Price doesn't appear to have a big influence on tube quality it seems...nor does name brand either.

There is some truth to the situation here I think. It IS frustrating as I'm at the point now where I don't trust the tubes on a ride.