Planned obsolescence is one of those evil things companies do to make you keep buying their products. Now someone has made a movie about it!
First of all for people who may not be familiar with with this concept, planned obsolescence is when companies intentionally give their products a shortened lifespan so you will come back and buy the newest version. The main example given in Cosima Danoritzer's 'The Light Bulb Conspiracy' is the light bulb, where planned obsolescene is a main factor in the manufactures business plan. By drastically shortening the lifespan of the light bulb they can guarantee the consumer will keep coming back to buy a new one.
The synopsis
Once upon a time... products were made to last. Then, in the 1920s, businessmen were struck by an insight: "A product that refuses to wear out is a tragedy of business!" Ever since then, manufacturers have been engineering their products to fail.
This film tells the story of Planned Obsolescence, showing how long-lasting light bulbs were suppressed by a secret cartel and how ladder-proof stockings disappeared without trace. Modern electronics come equipped with inbuilt 'death-dates', sending them to the landfills before their time.But consumers have started rebelling, to save the planet and the economy...
Danoritzer's film highlights other examples of planned obsolescence, namely Apple's iPod battery controversy but the film maker doesn't stop there. The environmental impact of this planned obsolescence is also highlighted via the mass piles of disregarded electronics that manage to end up in China's landfills.
At first glance planned obsolescence does seem wrong but then we have to ask ourselves what would happen if we had products that lasted a lifetime? If lightbulbs lasted forever would lightbulb producers be able to sustain themselves? You may argue that it would thin out the industry leaving only the strongest producers but then would this be anticompetitive?
I'm not too sure if theres a solution that benefits everyone but I do believe that products should have the longest lifespan possible. This would be a natural choice for light bulbs but then for the likes of the iPod the same rules dont apply, we are still going to want to upgrade to the newest iPod.
We live in a society that constantly wants new things but there will be never that appeal for lightbulbs. A lightbulb is a functional product but then maybe a solution would involve a company making a desirable one, one that we show off to our guests, that is a status symbol. Maybe in the future we will replace lightbulbs not because we have to but because we want to.
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