What is planned obsolescence and how does it affect us?

Planning obsolescence is the practice of designing products with built-in failure mechanisms that make them less desirable over time. One example of this would be a product that degrades after a certain period of use.

In today’s society, where technology is rapidly advancing, we have become accustomed to having things last longer than they should. However, this is not always the case. There are many examples of products that were designed to fail, but still continue to work perfectly fine. These products are known as planned obsolescence.

The term was first coined by Thorstein Veblen in 1899. He defined it as “a conspicuous and systematic dependence upon past experience for anticipating future wants,” (Veblen, 1899). Today, the term is commonly associated with marketing strategies that intentionally design products that degrade over time. Planned obsolescence is often seen in products that require constant maintenance, such as computers, televisions, cars, etc.

Planned obsolescence affects consumers in several ways:

• First, it creates unnecessary waste. Consumers may purchase products that will only break down after a few years of use, even though they could easily repair or replace them.

• Second, consumers who buy these products are forced to continually spend money on maintaining them.

• Third, people who do not want to spend money on maintenance may be discouraged from buying these types of products.

• Fourth, companies profit off of consumers’ need to maintain their products.

• Fifth, consumers may lose trust in brands that produce products that degrade over time, making them feel like they cannot rely on the company to provide quality products.

Finally, some people believe that planned obsolescence is unethical because it forces consumers to purchase something that they don’t really want.