Planned Obsolescence Answers Many Questions

The consequence of Planned Obsolescence.

When deciding to build, construct a deck or balcony for your home the logical thing is to use material, which is durable and sustainable for the intent to last long as possible. To expect to find this same philosophy in the market you have another thing coming. It’s actually irrational and not an option for the market.

The majority of consumers usually are conscious that most of American based corporations produce cheap products – especially when it’s manufactured in places like China. We ask ourselves, “It makes no sense for a multi-billion dollar corporation to develop a product that has a short life-span because the entire objective of the corporation is to please the consumers.” It makes perfect sense, corporations main objective is make as much revenue as possible. That’s why planned obsolescence was instituted into the market place.

For over a century the light bulb was the iconic symbol for innovation and invention, while simultaneous being the earliest examples of planned obsolescence. In December of 1924, a new cartel was birth to control the production of light bulbs; the men named the cartel, Phoebus. Light bulb manufactures in Europe, North America, Africa and Asia were all apart of this cartel. The longevity of the light bulb has been in production since Thomas Edison’s 1500-hour bulb. Phoebus agenda was to lower lifespan of light bulb to 1000 hours. There have even been engineers throughout history that have developed light bulbs lasting as long as 100,000 hour, but of course, they never reached the market.

At the time of the Great Depression, unemployment reached unprecedented heights, as a result of the global elite bankers robbing the American people into the state of penury. A prominent real estate broker by the name of, Bernard London attempted to end the Great Depression by implementing planned obsolescence into the market place, where he wrote meticulously of his plan in a pamphlet. As rational as it may sound, something that may seem, rational things can eventually become corrupt. In todays consumer market any and everything manufacture item must have lifespan to increase productivity, as well as consumption.

One of the most fundamentally rules of marketing economics is, “Nothing produce can be allowed to maintain a lifespan longer than what can be endured cyclical consumption.” It is nearly essential that engineers in the market design stuff that deteriorates, breakdown and fail in allowing profit revenue to rise. That is when planned obsolescence rise to the surface. The market place is conscious that the longer a product is sustainable the more it has an adverse affect on the market. This dogmatic form of obsolescence explains a lot about our level of consumption; we may purchase a device – cell phone, iPhone in particular – and two years after the conclusion of our contract, we are offered a new phone. Subconsciously this is a form of planned obsolescence, the cell phone battery dies, warranty is up and now you are encouraged to buy the newest phone on the market. A multitude of products are designed the same exact way – printers, televisions, light bulbs, clothing the list is endless. This must angry consumers like Willy Loman

In the documentary “The Light Bulb Conspiracy” it elaborates and begins with a guy who was having difficulties with his fairly new printer, which was just stopped working; he refused to just purchase a new model as he was suggest to. The guy in the film decides to repair the printer at his own risk. What he discovers may shock some; he discovered that imbedded in printers is a chip, which determines the lifespan of printers. Due to his determination he didn’t fall victim of planned obsolesce.

The environmental affect associated with planned obsolescence is pernicious. There is nothing vital with the progression of technology, the problem resonates when the technology and the resources – some natural – are utilized and then wasted. I have a serious problem when multi-national corporations rape the lands of places like the Congo for their natural resources like cobalt, coltan, nickel, and copper. These exact minerals are what creates the technology we utilize each and everyday, which eventually ends up in landfills and on the coast of third world countries.

In relaying back to the documentary, “The Light Bulb Conspiracy” one of the key environmental issues facing planned obsolescence is the fact that our over consumption of products has resulted in the dumping tons and tons of wasted material on to the coast of Ghana. Planned obsolescence has advanced us to the point of complete destruction of our planet. I am surely not referring to global warming – C02 – I’m referring to pollution. In the free market we a enthralled by billboards, commercials, and a multitude of advertisements to keep up with the newest trend.

Problems Facing Planned Obsolescence  

Most people in this society are victims to planned obsolescence, something hard to escape. Like most of us, I love the progression of technology – to a certain extent – but I have noticed over years that I have become an amateur hoarder as a result of over consumption. It’s understandable that profit the reason corporations utilize planned obsolescence in the market. Nature produces an abandon of resources for our benefit and it always becomes an issues when those resources are wasted. As technology advances our natural resources become scarce; depriving the future of what mother nature has provided.

It’s great that some in the market are conscious of the destructive nature of planned obsolescence and have decided to move in the direction of altering the manufacturing tactics of how products are produced. While there are some whom feel, we should take more of a radical approach; they believe we should change our mentality consumption. This philosophy of consuming and consuming to raise GDP levels to unprecedented heights has catastrophic affects. Look at China, where Apple factories assembled suicides nets to prevent workers from committing suicide because of working excessive hours.

Before you venture and purchase that new iPad 3, lets think twice about it, remember we control the market and what’s produced. People we have more power over corporations than they want you to believe.