This.
It's a pretty easy job. The surround rubber takes about 15 minutes, plus the time it takes to clean up the bits of the old one.
The hard part about the plastic tray under the wipers is getting the wiper arms off.
Some come off easy. I had to use a small gear puller.
As for the rate of deterioration, I totally agree.
I just took a look at the plastic/rubber around the windshield on my Suburban, and it's almost mint.
The truck is 3 years older than the car and has probably spent 5 more years baking in the sun.
Hardly ever wash it. Never got near it with 303 or Gummi Pflege.