Consumerism is a prevalent concept in today’s society. With the establishment of consumer culture during the 18th century the evolving treatise of obsolescence emerged. Developments in modes of production, to a predominantly industrial economy, heralded an ideology of affluence. Industry began to produce more than society demanded and was faced with the challenge of convincing the consumer to buy specific products. With the consolidation of capitalism we can locate the systematic deployment of conscious techniques of planned obsolescence. Obsolescence is the economic and cultural foundation of the capitalist system, through its market driven consumption. It is a progressive and modernising force which stresses what is new, what is created, what is produced. Obsolescence is the material and cultural paradigm of the capitalist economic system.
"Obsolescence is the state of being which occurs when an object, service or practice is no longer wanted even though it may still be in good working order. Obsolescence frequently occurs because a replacement has become available that is superior in one or more aspects. Obsolete refers to something that is already disused or discarded, or antiquated."
The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Current English, 9th Ed., Clarendon Press, Oxford.
The definition highlights a process that emphasises a changing cultural attitude. Obsolescence signifies mortality and transience with little or no degeneration to the service, practice or object. In modern society all must be made obsolete, according to capitalism logic, such that all needs should be satisfied through the consumption of commodities. New demands are created to be satisfied in the same way and all needs and their derived pleasures are continually renewed in order to secure expanding and continual consumption. Individual demand for particular goods and services and the level of demand at each market price reflects the value that consumers place on a product, service or practice and their expected satisfaction gained from purchase and consumption. Obsolescence is an indicator of falling demand and how well the process of function is performed.
Obsolescence was once openly discussed as a solution to the Great Depression. Most scholars trace the origin of the term to Bernard London’s 1932 pamphlet, “Ending the Depression through Planned Obsolescence.” London blames the global economic Depression on consumers who disobey “the law of obsolescence” by “using their old cars, their old tires, their old radios and their old clothing much longer than statisticians had expected”. He proposed that a government agency should determine the lifespan of each manufactured object whether it be a building, a ship, a comb or a shoe. Frugal consumers who insisted on using their products past the expiration date should be penalised. London explained his plan simply: “I propose that when a person continues to posses and use old clothing, automobiles and buildings, after they have passed their obsolescence date, as determined at the time they were created, he should be taxed for such continued use of what is legally ‘dead’.” The regulatory specifics of London’s plan may not have been put into place the spirit of his proposal was adopted by product designers whose objects are designed to break.
Ours is a consumer society that profits from disposability under the logic that the sooner things break the sooner they can be replaced. Production is artificially inflated through intentionally shoddy products while consumption is stimulated through commercial advertisement. Since the 1930s, manufacturers have been designing their products to be replaced frequently just as fashion designers keep us buying by making last year’s fashions look outdated.
Economic Rule:
"Nothing produced can be allowed to maintain a lifespan longer than what can be endured in order to continue cyclical consumption."
Zeitgeist: Moving Forward (YouTube)
Planned Obsolescence is defined as: “A manufacturing decision by a company to make consumer products in such a way that they become out-of-date or useless within a known time period. The main goal of this type of production is to ensure that consumers will have to buy the product multiple times, rather than only once. This naturally stimulates demand for an industry's products because consumers have to keep coming back again and again. Products ranging from inexpensive light bulbs to high-priced goods such as cars and buildings are subject to planned obsolescence by manufacturers and producers. This form of obsolescence is also known as built-in obsolescence".
http://www.investopedia.com/terms/p/planned_obsolescence.asp#ixzz1aeadTbOy
Planned obsolescence was popularized in 1954 by Brooks Stevens, an American industrial designer. Stevens was at an advertising conference in Minneapolis, in 1954, to give a talk. Without giving it too much thought, he used the term as the title of his talk. "Planned obsolescence" became Stevens' catchphrase from that point onwards. His idea was about "Instilling in the buyer the desire to own something a little newer, a little better, a little sooner than is necessary." The term was quickly taken up by others, but Stevens' definition was challenged. By the late 1950s, planned obsolescence had become a commonly-used term for products designed to break easily or to quickly go out of style. In fact, the concept was so widely recognized that in 1959 Volkswagen mocked it in a now-legendary advertising campaign. While acknowledging the widespread use of planned obsolescence among automobile manufacturers, Volkswagen pitched itself as an alternative. "We do not believe in planned obsolescence," the advertisements suggested. "We don't change a car for the sake of change."
“Our whole economy is based on planned obsolescence, and anyone who can read without moving his lips should know it by now.”
In 1960, cultural critic Vance Packard published The Waste Makers, promoted as an exposé of "the systematic attempt of business to make us wasteful, debt-ridden, permanently discontented individuals." Packard divided planned obsolescence into two sub categories: obsolescence of desirability and obsolescence of function. "Obsolescence of desirability", also called "psychological obsolescence", referred to marketers' attempts to wear out a product in the owner's mind. Packard quoted industrial designer George Nelson, who wrote: "Design is an attempt to make a contribution through change. When no contribution is made or can be made, the only process available for giving the illusion of change is 'styling!'"
In his book The Waste Makers Vance Packard claims the process wastes resources and exploits customers. Resources are used up making changes, often cosmetic changes that are not of great value to the customer. Supporters, on the other hand, claim it drives technological advances and contributes to material well-being. They claim that a market structure of planned obsolescence and rapid innovation may be preferred to long-lasting products and slow innovation. (wikipedia.org).
Modern-day consumers have become so accustomed to planned obsolescence that most of us view it as perfectly normal. Computer components and mobile phones are prevalent examples of planned obsolescence in modern culture. “..obsolescence in the period running from the late nineteenth century to around the 1930s was mainly characterised as arising as a result of uncoordinated and proliferating production underpinned by a lack of the standardisation associated with Fordism.”
Obsolescence is a process by which manufacturers make products with a short life span so that the consumer will be forced to replace it. The higher the consumption a country has, the larger the impact on the environment. Obsolescence is intimately tied to the idea of higher consumption. If products were not obsolete we would use them forever and never buy more. While this might halt an economy, it would help the environment. Since, obsolescence is purposefully planned and set into our culture, this feeds into the unsustainable circle of linear consumption of resources. Peoples’ consumption is strongly related to the pursuit of happiness. Modern consumer mentality has skewed the definition of need vs. want. Is the economy still viable without the “western culture of consumption”? Where does the “need” for people to consume come from?
In her 1998 article “Is planned obsolescence socially responsible?” Sharon Beder states: “There is a fundamental ethical question involved in designing a death-date into products that goes beyond that of informing consumers. It is about the social responsibility of creating products that have short lives and therefore increase the burden on the planet. The role of engineers in product design is often central. Should engineers be aiming to design more durable commodities?”
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