Planned obsolescence
Stumbled across this recent interview, Disposing with Disposability, on Utne which really struck a chord. It’s worth a read.
The electronics industry has become pretty trashy business. The Environmental Protection Agency cites estimates that 130 million cell phones are thrown out in the United States each year and 250 million computers will be out-of-date in less than five years. These figures aren’t surprising when you consider the races between companies to release faster computers, flatter televisions, and fancier cell phones as quickly as consumers can whip out their credit cards. Chalk it all up to “planned obsolescence,” the strategy of deliberately building a product that quickly loses its usefulness so that consumers will line up for the newer, better model. In a new book, Made to Break: Technology and Obsolescence in America (Harvard University 2006), Giles Slade traces the history of planned obsolescence in the United States from the throwaway paper shirt collars of the 1800s to today’s pricey iPods and BlackBerrys, those constantly evolving high-tech gadgets that are under warranty for only a year. Utne.com’s Rachel Anderson spoke with Slade from his home in Richmond, British Columbia, about the future of planned obsolescence.
I worked for a company 10 years ago who produced a high quality, reliable product but were being beaten in the market by manufacturers of cheaper, less reliable products. Ironically, the company I worked for ended up making more money servicing their competitor’s equipment than their own.
I’ve long envisioned that one day we’ll replace the entire earth with one big ball of rubbish.
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