Planned Obsolescence
Planned obsolescence is the practice of designing a product with a limited useful lifespan so that it will become outdated or unusable after a certain period of time. This is typically done in order to encourage consumers to replace their existing products with new ones, thus driving demand and sales. Planned obsolescence can be seen in various products, including automobiles, appliances, and consumer electronics. It is often criticized for contributing to waste and consumerism, as it encourages the frequent replacement of still-functioning products. Kramer in “User Experience in the Age of Sustainability” calls it “the expiration date effect” (Kramer,2012)
One reason that companies may use planned obsolescence is to encourage the purchase of newer models of their products. For example, a company may design a phone with a battery that has a limited lifespan, so that the phone will no longer function after a certain period of time and the user will need to purchase a new phone. This can help to drive sales and increase revenue for the company. In a competitive market, companies may feel pressure to constantly release new and improved products in order to stay ahead of their competitors. By designing products with a limited lifespan, they can create a sense of urgency among consumers to purchase the latest products.
In recent years, there has been increased scrutiny of planned obsolescence, and some companies have begun to adopt more sustainable practices, such as designing products with longer lifespans and offering repair and upgrade services.
Where did it begin?
The practice of planned obsolescence, or designing products with a limited lifespan to encourage consumers to purchase replacements, has a long history dating back to the early 20th century.
One of the earliest known examples of planned obsolescence occurred in the 1920s when the U.S. auto industry began using annual model changes as a marketing strategy to encourage consumers to purchase new cars. This practice involved making relatively minor changes to a car's design from one year to the next in order to create a sense of novelty and make the previous year's models seem outdated.
Light bulbs are often associated with planned obsolescence and this is because traditional incandescent light bulbs have relatively short lifespans compared to other types of bulbs, such as LED bulbs. After all, it was corporations during the beginning of the last century that purposely agreed to limit the lifespans of consumer lightbulbs. As a result, consumers may be more likely to replace incandescent bulbs more frequently, which can generate additional revenue for the manufacturer.
A culture of Consumption
A culture of consumption refers to a society or group in which the acquisition and consumption of goods and services are highly valued and play a central role in daily life. In such a culture, people may place a great deal of emphasis on owning and using material possessions as a way to display their social status, wealth, and personal identity. This can lead to a focus on consumerism and materialism, as well as a constant need to acquire new and often unnecessary items. A culture of consumption can also be fueled by marketing and advertising campaigns that encourage people to buy more products.
Planned obsolescence can contribute to a culture of consumption by encouraging people to replace their products more frequently. For example, if a manufacturer designs a product to become nonfunctional after a certain period of time, the consumer may feel that they need to buy a new product to replace the old one. This can create a cycle of constant consumption, as people are encouraged to buy new products to replace the ones that have become obsolete. This practice contributes to a culture of consumption by encouraging people to buy more products than they actually need, and by creating a cycle of constant consumption.
Although there are many corporations responsible for enabling a culture of consumption, one such popular company that comes to mind is Apple; which relies on its millions of consumers to buy multiple products year after year. Ongoing expansions and growth of digital technologies have significant social and environmental harms that are rarely acknowledged. For example, Apple Airpods are tiny complex pieces of wireless technology that have already amassed nearly $100 million in sales. Apple is also a technology company that has a robust ecosystem that constitutes multiple technologies that can be replaced with just a purchase. This is due to Apple’s strong relationship with their consumers as they, as a company, have an undisputed range compared to their competitors.
“Consider smartphones. These handsets often get discarded after a mere couple years’ use. Screens or buttons break, batteries die, or their operating systems, apps, and so on can suddenly no longer be upgraded. Yet a solution is always near at hand: brand new handset models, pumped out every year or so, and touted as “the best ever”.” (Hadhazy, 2016)
Planned Obsolescence and the Environment
There are several ways in which planned obsolescence can have detrimental effects on the environment. The production of new products requires resources and energy, which can contribute to greenhouse gas emissions and other types of pollution. The manufacturing of consumer goods is a major contributor to global environmental degradation, and the constant production of new products to replace outdated ones only exacerbates this problem.
Planned obsolescence can contribute to waste and litter. When products are designed to become obsolete quickly, they are more likely to be discarded and end up in landfills, where they can take decades or even centuries to decompose. “In most developed countries, electronic devices are not properly recycled and are simply dumped (Latouche 2012). In many cases these devices are shipped to developing countries where the metal components are recovered in unregulated work environments These recovery activities lead to sanitary and health problems” (Rivera and Lallmahomed, 2014) This can also lead to an increase in the demand for raw materials, which can lead to the depletion of natural resources and habitat destruction. Overall, the environmental impacts of planned obsolescence are significant, and it is important to consider the long-term effects of our consumption habits on the planet.
Planned obsolescence also harms people as well, especially those who are responsible for salvaging and recycling reusable parts from landfills in their respective countries. “The materials required to produce AirPods inflict significant harm upon humans and environments in numerous locations across the planet. They are not global in the sense of being uniform but unequally distributed. These harms are typically inflicted upon ‘invisible bodies’ (Taffel, 2016) located outside of the economically privileged urban centres of global capitalism” (Taffel, 8, 2022) Many products that are made including electronics can have byproducts that prove to be harmful to not only the environment but to us as well; most notably for those living in developing countries. “the material footprint of the device enormously outweighs the product. For example, a 120-gram mobile phone typically requires over 70 kilograms of raw materials (Calatayud and Mohkam, 2018). AirPods are composed of numerous materials located in disparate places and which are extracted from the planet in dramatically differing ways.” (Taffel, 2022)
There are also environmental and resource-related concerns associated with planned obsolescence. The practice of designing products with a limited lifespan can contribute to waste and pollution, as consumers are constantly disposing of and replacing old products with new ones. It can also be resource-intensive to manufacture and distribute new products on a regular basis.
Are there Solutions?
Although it may seem difficult to end the wide-scale use of planned obsolescence, the future should constitute the implementation of restrictive measures in terms of the multitude of products consumers buy. Firstly, the environment should be considered when discussing solutions to this issue, due in part to planned obsolescence having a violent synergy with the environment since it constantly requires massive amounts of new material.
The circular business model is an economic system in which waste and pollution are minimized, and resources are conserved and regenerated. This is achieved by creating a closed loop of materials and energy, where waste from one process becomes raw materials for another. This contrasts with the traditional linear model in which resources are extracted, processed, used, and then discarded as waste. This model is becoming increasingly popular as the world faces ever-growing environmental issues. These models aim to reduce the amount of waste created by manufacturers and limit the use of resources. They also incentivize consumers to repair their products rather than buy new ones, thus reducing planned obsolescence.
However, this may not appeal to corporations with business models that employ planned obsolescence as companies often rely on the practice to generate profit. Government regulations and standards could be put in place to encourage or require companies to adopt more sustainable business practices. This would be encouraging the use of durable and more long-lasting products. Consumers can also support companies that prioritize sustainability and product longevity by choosing to purchase from those businesses. Furthermore, corporations could implement newer tactics that prioritize repairing products so that consumers wouldn’t be required to purchase in a cyclical fashion. This could help extend the lifespan of products and reduce the amount of waste generated when products are discarded.
*Edited by Samuel Jaffe
Works Cited
Hadhazy, A. (2016, June 12). Here's the truth about the 'planned obsolescence' of Tech. BBC Future. Retrieved from https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20160612-heres-the-truth-about-the-planned-obsolescence-of-tech
Julio L. Rivera & Amrine Lallmahomed (2016) Environmental implications of planned obsolescence and product lifetime: a literature review, International Journal of Sustainable Engineering, 9:2, 119-129, DOI: 10.1080/19397038.2015.1099757
Kramer, K.-L. (2012). User experience in the age of sustainability a practitioner's blueprint. Morgan Kaufmann.
Taffel, S. (2022). AirPods and the earth: Digital technologies, planned obsolescence and the Capitalocene. Environment and Planning E: Nature and Space, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/25148486221076136
