ConsumerismEconomicsSociety

Planned Obsolescence – The Foundation of Modern Consumer Society

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfbbF3oxf-E
The Light Bulb Conspiracy – Planned Obsolescence (Duration: 53 minutes)

‘Planned obsolescence’ is the deliberate shortening of a product life span so that customers are compelled to buy new products. The sole intention: to make profits. It all started a century ago, when in the late 1920s a group of businessmen came up with a concept — a product that refuses to wear out is a tragedy for business. This gave birth to planned obsolescence. Engineers who were paid to produce quality, durable products were forced to design products with a shorter lifespan — to maintain a high demand and thus keeping up high production.

Then, during the 1950s, with the birth of the consumer society, the concept took on a new meaning. As the designer Brooks Stevens put it, "Planned Obsolescence… the desire to own something a little newer, a little better, a little sooner than is necessary…". The thought that one should buy something new only when necessary went out the window and “buy for fun” became the new mantra. Through advertising, people are brainwashed to buy new products that are little different from those they already possess. These products are everywhere around us — cell phones, TV sets, cars, clothes… the list goes on.

This business practice has become the foundation of the modern economy and has resulted in the piling up of wastes in far off countries.

It’s time we became more conscious human beings, and start questioning the foundation on which the present modern society is built and the forces by which it is running. Watch this documentary film to get educated about the mechanism of the present consumer society.

Further Reading/Watching:

Ravindra Krishnamurthy

Ravindra Krishnamurthy is a freelance science writer covering science, tech, the environment, health, food, and culture.

4 Comments

  1. Governments, at least in the western world work very hard to ensure the regulations that control production are constantly being changed and enforce them with considerable zeal.
    This is then used by commerce to justify their planned obsolescence.
    These days it is becoming much clearer that commerce and government are partners in crime.

  2. Planned obsolescence is one of the greatest criminal acts against both people and the planet. There is a reason that we are warned that, “The LOVE of money is the root of all evil.” Planned obsolescence is just that, a plan to rape the consumer and the planet, resulting in the “trashing of life.” The same concepts are being propagated by the GMO companies which are designing products requiring dependency on their products. It is all ugly greed at its most heinous expression.

  3. Pretty dumb documentary because of the poor examples it used. Especially the lightbulb one. Long-lasting incandescent lightbulbs are inefficient and produce worse light and cost the consumer with a bigger electric bill. Has nothing to do with planned obsolescence! These days we finally do have LED technology to make long lasting light bulbs.

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