Obsolescence Is Perpetuated By Design

In the article, “From Gadget to Garbage: Tackling The Problem of Discarded Technology” from the Orange County Register, the NewsELA staff states, “No one is sure how much e-waste ends up being exported from the U.S., the EPA says, but “the United States government is concerned that these exports are being mismanaged abroad, causing serious public health and environmental hazards.” The quote explains that by exporting e-waste incorrectly, public health and the environment are being put at risk. The quoted statement implies that e-waste shouldn’t be exported and should stay in it’s country, for public health and environmental safety. When the author uses the word, “mismanaged” it means the incorrect handling of things, which in the article the

1. “Shadow of Obsolescence”: the myopia occurs when a business “assumed strength lay in the apparently unchallenged superiority of its product” (Levittt, 1975, p. 3). The author gave examples of cleaning business, utilities, and corner grocery stores. However, in reality, these products were replaced by other products or they became obsolete because the services were no longer needed.

Technology was booming and created opportunities for both men and women and aided the everyday household with what we call today, necessities. “In 1912, only 16 percent of American households had electricity; by the mid-20s, almost two-thirds did. Overnight, the electric vacuum cleaner, the electric refrigerator and freezer, and the automatic washing machine became staples in middle-class homes”

American middle class life was greatly influenced throughout 1870-1917. There were many profound changes, however the American industrialization and urbanization were the most rapid and unquestionably the most important. The industrialist brought forth household names that are still around today such as Swift, Armour, Westinghouse, Pillsbury, Pullman, Rocketfeller, Carnegie, and Duke. Due to the rapid movement of industrialization, so began a movement of urbanization. Between 1860 and 1910, urban population increased sevenfold and by the 1920’s more than half of all Americans lived in cities. Along with the cities came more use of electricity, electric lights, telephones, and eventually appliances. Appliances

Henry Ford once said, “If everything is moving forward together then success takes care of itself”. Society has been revising how we live for centuries and still continues to do so. Naturally, we look for ways to improve humanity and make the world a better place to live. One critical contributor to the success of society in the 1920s was Henry Ford. Henry Ford’s ingenuity gave birth to something that would revolutionize society for years to come. This was the beginning of a new era. Henry Ford’s automobiles revolutionized civilization in many aspects. Innovations in technology and how it’s made impacted people’s lives in the 1920s and modern-day life.

The consumer society of the 1950s was presented with machines such as fruit juicers, coffee makers, vacuum cleaners and toasters that eliminated the burden of manual tasks and increased leisure options. Designers and manufacturers continued to appeal to the consumer’s aspirations, by producing streamlined forward-looking products, targeting the “American dream”. In the USA the majority of people aspired for such things as a secure job in a large corporation, a house in a nice suburb, a large family, a large car, and an array of labour saving devices. Designers and Manufacturers targeted this new generation of “homemakers” and consumers.8 Hence, design became undoubtedly linked with mass production and mass consumption. The affluence of the decade famously summed up by British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan as having “never had it so good.” 9

An alternative: Consumerism has created a perpetual demand for products, but we are left distinctly unaware of the horrific implications of our purchases.

Because of this, the stuff people are going out of their way to buy are losing their meaning in a matter of months. “A person in the United States replaces a cell phone every 16 months, not because the cell phone is old, but because it is oldish” (par. 8). Anna uses this statistic as a logical appeal showing how phones aren’t being purchased because of their purpose but how new they are relative to the older phone. This shows how are culture of spending involves buying something because of the single fact it came out yesterday. In retrospect, the meaning of the stuff people consume today is solely tied to its popularity and the fact that everyone else has one. This is an example of a bandwagon, meaning what we buy is determined by how many other people have

Nowadays, consumerism is not only a social and economic order in our society, now it has become a religion. Consumers are indoctrinated into believing that they need these technological gadgets to have a better life or to be happy. The translation of the binary code says “My computer is my best friend. It is my life. I must master it, as I must master my life. Without me, my computer is useless. Without my computer, I am useless.” This fragment exemplifies perfectly the dependence of the consumers towards their products. These gadgets or computers become such an important part in their lives that they are tricked into believing that without them they can’t live anymore. However, needing the product is not enough. These corporations deliberately make their products faulty with the purpose of releasing a better one next, forcing the consumer to buy the one that follows. This is why consumers follow the new releases of technological gadgets almost religiously. Iphones for example, are released almost every year, and consumers wait patiently to buy the new model as soon as possible. If you are not up to the new technological gadgets then you are not modern, and you won’t be able to do what others do. And so the consumer keeps buying more and more products without realizing

The availability of utilities such as electricity in the average household is a key point, when considering how society converted to consumer basis in the 1920’s. It opened a new opportunities for devices which improved on the perceived quality of life. It also opened the gates for new products to be purchased in every household. These types of goods decreased time

In this essay I will be outlining consumerism and claims that a consumer society is always a throw-away society. Consumption plays a big part in our lives and causes us to live in divided societies. It may make us feel like we fit in buying new gadgets and clothes and also give us that sense of belonging but we don’t take into account what happens to the old items and packaging. People do not want to look at the problems caused. I will use this essay with the evidence I have read

Tommy Jones begged, pleaded, and hoped beyond hope for that new touch screen phone that would immediately move him up the social ranks at his school. His wish was granted on Christmas morning. He was rewarded with that sleek, black phone with 4G capabilities. Two months later the next phone in that series is out; it is almost an exact clone of the first model with the most moderate changes, and suddenly Tommy’s phone is obsolete. There was no great improvement when compared to the old model, no; the corporation knows that it will sell, no matter how small the improvement. This model of constant obsolescence has become the norm in the economy today; companies reap profits with mediocre products, completely uncaring of the consumers. To put

In 1949 Harvey J Earl of General Motors pioneered ‘Planned Obsolescence’. He realised that by adding fashionable products when new trends come in older products would be discarded in favour of the latest fashion.

All three authors gave great insight to planned obsolescence. It is really amazing that even before our modern-age technological boom, planned obsolescence was a societal issue. My family is guilty of perpetuating this issue. We would much rather buy a new product than to have one fixed, because it is cheaper at the time. After reading these articles, I have a new perspective and will try to change and go against the societal norm of trashing “old” and buying new products.

According to “The story of Stuff” the most common reason people purchase goods because they are being trapped in Planned Obsolescence and Perceived Obsolescence. Planned Obsolescence is used so that the consumers could throw their stuffs as quickly as possible, and buy new things. For example, every year, Apple makes new Iphones and every year, they release new software known as IOS. Newever version of IOS is not compatible with older version Iphones, which mease most of the applications can’t be used in the older Iphones, In other words, it becomes useless. Therefore, you have to “dump” your older Iphone and buy a new one. Perceived Obsolescence is used so that the consumers boy new things even though the “stuffs” they already have are totally