Digital Analog Therapy - Nationwide Repairs, Brooklyn, NYC, NY

In the early 1960's a book published by Vance Packard known as THE WASTE MAKERS - shed light on a dirty little secret with the Automobile and other consumer product manufacturer's... PLANNED OBSOLESCENCE.

What is PLANNED OBSOLESCENCE?
In a nut shell, it's the purposful failure of a product.  Primarily focused on the consumer market, this concept was originally developed during the 1930's when a engineer working for General Electric proposed increasing sales of flashlight lamps by increasing their efficiency and shortening their life. Instead of lasting through three batteries he suggested that each lamp last only as long as one battery.

At the time of it's inception (1930's), engineers struggled with the ethics behind Planned Obsolescence and the effect it would have on the industry, manufacturing, and most importantly... the consumer.  Today, it is no longer a controversial ethical subject, but a sound practice, taught in engineering schools across the world.  It is now a part of our everyday lives, and industry standard.  But as we see today, it has taken on a new meaning with inferior junk being produced, and thrown away at the first sign of failure.  The science behind Planned Obsolescence has been perfected to the point that an engineer can predict the exact life span of a specific electrical component.  Integrate circuits and microprocessors developed specifically to fail within 10-12 months after its activation.  Some less, some more.  But the science has allowed manufacturer's to PINPOINT failure, and coincide new product release, and warranty expirations at the time of failure - ever wonder why the product fails right after the warranty expires - now you know.

"Why fix it, when you can buy the newest version which just came out for $50 more - the reasoning behind most of our collection of gadgets."

I'm sure you've experience planned obsolescence at some point in a product's life.  For some reason, you were using something, then one day it just stopped working, or broke.  You don't know why it broke.  All you know is that it does not work anymore, and fixing it is not an option - either because of it's original low cost, or the fact that parts are not available.  So, you throw it away, and buy a new one.  The worst case of Planned Obsolescence is when an item fails within a short time frame after the warranty expires - very common among electronics.

Craftmanship, and quality are no longer terminology used to describe our products.  Instead words such as 'throw away' and  'upgrade' are more to our liking.

Why Am I Talking About This?
Well, for starters, being a service technician, I see this on a daily basis.  Customer's bring in their electronics to be repaired, only to inform them that I cannot fix it because the manufacturer does not make the parts available, or the cost for repair exceeds the cost of a newer replacement.  It pains me to think of amount of people I have turned away because of these reasons, and it pains me even more to think of the amount of toxic waste generated when these products are thrown away!

In addition, I would also come across units that would all of a sudden fail in exactly the same manner and around exactly the same time.  Microprocessors, integrated circuits, etc failing without reason.  Customer's coming to me around the same time, complaining of similar issues - when I would call the manufacturer for support, their technicians would know exactly which piece failed, and provide instructions on repair and replacement.  Of course, that is if the manufacturer even had a support department, or a parts division!  Otherwise, the consumer would be out of luck.

Why is it important?
It's important for 2 reasons...
1) WASTE - we no longer care if a product is built to last.  We have been made to care about 1 thing... price.  If we want quality, we have to pay for it.  However, for the majority of us, paying for it isn't an option.  So we look to the cheaper alternative... and there are plenty.  Long gone are the days when there were more quality products on the market -vs- junk.  Now, it's all junk.  You might find 1 or 2 quality alternatives, but the costs might be so high, that even though you try to be a responsible consumer, you are FORCED to buy the inferior product, which EVERYONE knows will not last very long.  And this generates WASTE.  TONS and TONS of waste, and almost all of it... TOXIC - not only from the waste of throwing it away, but the waste generated in manufacturing.  More waste then we know what to do with.  Actually, we don't know what to do with it - more on that crisis later.

2) COMPLACENCY - we've become use to this way of thinking.  It's ok to throw it away if we can't fix it.  We actually know most of the things we consume now can't be repaired... and we don't care.  We don't care, because it's soo cheap to buy a new one.  We fail to realize what we are doing in buying these new wasteful products.  The cycle continues.. and continues.. and continues.  Multiply this by 2 billion people, and you can see the danger in being complacent.

In Conclusion...
So, I thought I would share this wonderful little secret with everyone else.  Of course, it's not a little secret.  It is an industry norm.  Ask any executive, engineer, scientist, banker, politician, or technician about Planned Obsolescence.  It's normal.  Don't you find that odd?  I sure do.

Here are some interesting articles, videos, and other facts about PLANNED OBSOLESCENCE that will help in furthering your education on the subject...

- THE STORY OF STUFF - A 20 minute documentary on STUFF.  Well worth watching.

- IS PLANNED OBSOLESCENCE SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE? - A very concise article written on the subject back in 1998 by Sharon Beder

-  MADE TO BREAK by Giles Slade - This author captures the essence of Planned Obsolescence and our world today.

- HOW PLANNED OBSOLESCENCE CAN BE GOOD FOR THE PLANET - Yep, you read correctly.  This article explains how this might actually work out to our benefit.  After reading the article, I agree.