The critique of advertising rings some bells; however, planned obsolescence is not always a bad thing because the advances in new versions might outweigh the energy necessary to produce a better version.
So something like a bread toaster probably suffers from planned obsolescence; LCDs (or generic display technology) likely benefit from planned obsolescence.
Before Telecommunications deregulation everyone had pretty much the same telephone that was leased from the phone co. It was electromechanical with sizeable transformers and magnets in there. Compare that to the sets that were available after deregulation with miniaturized components.
Basically it's not always cut and dried and there is nuance especially when it comes to energy efficiency. On the other hand, it's really annoying to buy kitchen appliances that are poorly manufactured.
To whom? We now have floating islands of plastic from obsolescent devices. That plastic blender I bought 3 years ago is now in the trash heap. My mother's blender she bought 40 years ago is still going. Obsolescence is terrible for the environment in the entire lifecycle of a product. In my opinion, obsolescence are rarely good for the society, never good for the customer. It is only good for the manufacturer.
> Before Telecommunications deregulation everyone had pretty much the same telephone that was leased from the phone co. It was electromechanical with sizeable transformers and magnets in there. Compare that to the sets that were available after deregulation with miniaturized components.
Just to be clear, are you suggesting that deregulation brought in the "not always bad" obsolescence? I know it brought innovation and customer choice, but can you unpack further how it brought obsolescence?
It took me a while reflecting on engineering and design practice to
come around to understanding planned obsolescence as a potentially
positive thing.
Imagine designing a very high quality metal chain. However, some of
the links need to be made of an inferior strength plastic, perhaps to
stop them corroding. It's therefore not worth designing the rest of
the chain to a higher tensile quality than the weakest links. To do so
would actually be very wasteful.
One must distinguish genuine design efficiency, which is a kind of
designed obsolescence, from strategic sabotage. That's what most
digital goods contain; remote kill switches, countdown timers,
deliberate weak fuses, remote updates that remove features, embedded
DRM and all manner of user-hostile shitfuckery that amounts to no more
than vandalism.
Excellent question. This came up because it just died recently. She said the blender (really a hand mixer) cost $26, and she thinks she bought it 1984 or 1985. So that would be approximately $72 in today's US dollar.[0]
I can find hand mixers online from $13 to $238 (amzn). Let's agree that today's mixer will last 5 years. Also, let's pick the price "average" at $50. That would put the total cost at $400. If we go with $13, it is still $104, and unlikely we could get 5 years out of it.
So, to a customer no it is not an improvement. For the environment, no it is not an improvement. Correct me if I am wrong
> Let's agree that today's mixer will last 5 years
Why? Your entire analysis is based around this completely unfounded assertion. My cheap plastic kitchen appliances are lasting much longer than 5 years.
> The average Lifespan of a Kitchen Blender is around 5 years. This average includes all the high-end blenders such as Blendtec or Vitamix as well as low-end cheap blenders by less-known brands. A blender can work for as short as a few months for a poor-quality machine. While a great quality durable blender may keep working for more than 20 years. [0]
And, I cross referenced it with other sites from a search "life expectancy of small home appliances". they were mostly manufacturers, and insurance companies.
Since this is not scientific research, but simply my opinion, I am open for you to suggest an alternate time frame and source for your data that contradicts.
Lol, read the parent. It’s because a relative had a blender die after 3 years. He gives his justification.
5 years is quite a long time for modern devices. It’s sad, but I rarely see something last as long as 3 year; 2.5 ish seems to be the norm.
As an aside, my MBP16in 1st gen has had two motherboards die, each in less than two years. The tech blamed dirty power and said because the customer next to me had a 2012 that was still working it was my fault… he’s right, this was my fault for buying apple.
I routinely find products with obvious faults. My JBL smart speaker had an obvious mechanical problem, that killed it. Same for my acer, which had faulty connectors on two laptops almost a decade apart. I could tell as soon as it was plugged in that it was gonna die.
Of course--that's my point. Those externalities aren't priced in, which is a large part of the purchasing power change for consumer goods over the last couple decades. We can start with the cost of salvage and recycling being priced into COGS, amortized across expected lifetime (and refined as data comes in--make something good that lasts longer, get a refund against your up-front deposit as a manufacturer).
Sorry, I should've been more explicit in my first post. My bad.
I often wonder if PPP comparisons are relevant anymore. What is the significance that you could buy 10 blenders in 2022 with $1 40 years ago in 1982? I guess its meaningful because you didn't have the buy a new blender every few years. But what happens to all of the old blenders being replaced?
So something like a bread toaster probably suffers from planned obsolescence; LCDs (or generic display technology) likely benefit from planned obsolescence.
Before Telecommunications deregulation everyone had pretty much the same telephone that was leased from the phone co. It was electromechanical with sizeable transformers and magnets in there. Compare that to the sets that were available after deregulation with miniaturized components.
Basically it's not always cut and dried and there is nuance especially when it comes to energy efficiency. On the other hand, it's really annoying to buy kitchen appliances that are poorly manufactured.