I was first introduced to the concept of planned obsolescence in the initial movie of the Zeitgeist Film Series. In the movie, a printer breaks down for no apparent reason. A computer-savvy guy investigates the code and finds that there is something written in it so that the printer stops working. He removes the suspicious code, or whatever it was, and the printer works fine.
The idea that a company would artificially manipulate the lifespan of a product is disappointing albeit not surprising. After all, if a product lasts forever the consumer would never have to buy new. Not so great for a company’s bottom line. However, this is just the tip of the iceberg.
When one wikipedias (yeah i used it as a verb, similar to “i googled that”) planned obsolescence, one will find that it goes much deeper than that. There are a ton of different ways to ensure that a product becomes obsolete.
This is also applies to disposable products. How many disposable products do we use in our normal lives? Disposable doesn’t mean biodegradable. We treat our trash as “out of sight, out of mind” but the reality is that the garbage has to go somewhere.
Products made a really long time ago stood the test of time. Our grandparents talk about how solid products were made when they were little. We’ve found artifacts from thousands of years ago. The only thing that will stand the test of time nowadays are Twinkies and McDonald’s hamburgers.
Sad that it’s come to this. Earnings over Earth. Profits over People. Money over Everything.
