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Built to break (77)

Infinite production, finite world

No matter how much we wish otherwise, our world is finite. We have limited resources - and time. Through the internet and distribution of information, we have made sure that we all know this.

And yet, what do we do? Our industries have helped us improve our lives and not depend on external factors so much. But the cost has been "planned obsolescence". In other words, we make things that break on purpose - so we can keep making - so we can keep buying.

How a broke light-bulb lit a cartel

How did this "planned obsolescence" idea start? As with all secrete history, it is hard to pinpoint exactly the time. However, there is a very high profile case that happens to be well documented too - the case for light bulbs in the 20th century.

You see, by the 20th century light bulbs started being adopted en masse. Everyone was getting more and more and the growth seemed limitless. But, more factories kept popping up and the first signs of market saturation were beginning to show. The market leader, Philips, called an emergency meeting of all competition. The objective was to see how they can maintain their market.

Up until then, exactly because of the fierce competition, each designer tried to make light bulbs that last as long as possible. There is a light bulb from that era that is working still to this day - more than 100 years of service (Centennial Light in Livermore, California). If they kept doing this, nobody would need more light-bulbs. This convinced the competitors to form a cartel and possibly the first standard of the world! Not only they agreed that they would make light-bulbs that break down after a while, but they also agreed on how much they should last on average. To calm down fears of not playing by the rules, they also agreed to standardize their contacts making measurements of competitors production easy. This was the notorious Phoebus cartel.

It's not a conspiracy theory - it's a business model

The moral of the story is that indeed, there is a strong motive to make things that fall apart. As long as the rule of competition is not fully applied, all players will try to cheat and sell faulty equipment to the consumer.

This also happens in the 21st century of course. And there are many examples:

  • After some amount of updates, modern phones are programmed to slow down. Frustrated, users will feel like they have to get the new phone.
  • Some washing machines have been discover to keep secret timers that make the machine break down after a certain amount of wash cycles.
  • Even cars - visits to the garage are more common, its not only your imagination
     
Planned obsolescence is also coupled with more anti consumer trends. Products are made not to be interoperable so that you are locked to a specific eco-system. To make sure that the products can't be repaired, parts are often glued or made otherwise inaccessible. And to add insult to injury, modern design trends take control away from the user - "smart" systems keep track of us and make decisions in our name. For instance, my new ceramic stove keeps on only if there is a big enough kettle on top of it. 

Knowing the cause, knowing the cure

All is not lost however. On the contrary - since we know how companies think and why they want to make stuff that breaks down, that means that with a well placed policy, we make sure that the consumer is protected.

Think for instance of the European "right to repair" campaign. The idea is that if government watchdogs enforce modular builds, we will eliminate waste and give power back to the consumer. A culture of repair will also imply that users will actively prefer companies that respect them, kick starting competition. If it takes a little good old big state to harness the powers of competitions, so be it. This would be good for our culture and our resources.


 

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