1425 sats \ 10 replies \ @Turdinthepunchbowl 22 Jan \ on: Expensive fridges are dying young. Owners are suing, claiming fraud tech
Vance Packard - Waste Makers wrote about planned obsolescence back in 1960.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Waste_Makers
He was a man far ahead of his time when you look at some of the topics he wrote about. Here's an additional few to give an idea. Admittedly I haven't read all of his stuff, but feel many topics are still relevant today and do plan on reading at some point.
The Hidden Persuaders (1957) - about the advertising industry.
The Status Seekers (1959) - about social stratification and behavior.
The Naked Society (1964) - about how new technologies create threats to privacy. Seems one people here particularly would be interested in.
Our Endangered Children (1983) - about how America ignored the needs of future generation.
The Ultra Rich, How Much is Too Much (1989)
Yes, I was thinking of planned obsolescence but couldn't recall the name. Many things appear to be build as consumables. But, its not that simple. The products we buy, many of them at least keep adding more features but do not change much in price. How is this possible? Well some of it is due to technology advancements and some of it is due to companies that make components figuring out how to reduce costs. As someone that often repairs his own appliances and machines it has become harder and more expensive to do. Products are not made to be repairable. There isn't much market for it. Much bigger market for new and shiny. Some of this is due to propaganda I think (marketing) but much of it is due to fiat and the push to spend spend spend because of the melting ice cube of the fiat. Fiat is distorting the market on both ends. Producers and consumers.
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Apple is a master of this planned obsolescence and making functional products look old. Ask yourself why they change their UI so often. They aren't just trying to make it better. I would argue it is more of akin to the fashion industry.
Many years ago when I was an avid Apple fan I was the odd ball. Now if you don't have the latest iPhone you are the odd ball weirdo. I'm fine with it but it is interesting to watch how the tribalism is affected by branding/marketing/propaganda. I don't think it is on accident at all.
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I don’t necessarily disagree with what you’ve said, but I do think their support lifecycle for devices is quite good. As far as I can remember, Apple’s iPhone devices receive security updates and OS updates far longer than anything android. I think that probably argues against planned obsolescence at least a little bit.
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I had a Powerbook that used for about a decade. It was what I used up until my current M1 Pro MBP. Maybe Apple makes older functional products look old, but that could be because of the features on the newer models rather than a sinister programming to stop your older product from working.
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I don't think they try to make things not work over time. I think they try to make things look old and out of vogue. Hence my analogy with fashion. I don't really view it as sinister. After all people can choose to buy other products. I think they want you buying new Apple products every few years whether you need them or not though. The term planned obsolescence triggers sinister conspiracy vibes. I don't think that is the case. I think its just how they compete. Fashion over function. They have some of the greatest designers in the world.
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Well they did get sued for slowing down older model iPhones on purpose. They were forced to stop it.
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That's true but the stated reason for slowing down older models was because degraded batteries caused issues with reliability of the phone. This process still happens now but I think there is at least a message that pops up telling you what is happening and you have the option to turn that feature off. The fine was for making that software change without alerting the user.
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