Planned Obsolescence, do you agree with it?

[fleabag]

I personally hate the very concept of planned obsolescence. I believe that if people are perfectly content with what they have, then they should not be forced to change unless there is an important, pressing issue which would have cause for them to upgrade. For example, I think that people shouldn't be forced to buy a new car, however I do think it's perfectly acceptable for people to be forced to buy a new car if the fuel that their old car uses is not economically viable or physically available anymore because of circumstances that are out of anybody's control.

What does anandtech think of this? I've come to the recent realization that people on technicaly forums are perfectly fine and possibly even encourage planned obsolescence. Maybe I'm wrong, but I will only have an idea after people make their votes in the poll.

 

[ComputerWizKid]

Stupid FCC and NTSC my PVR-150 will be obsolete next year so will a whole lot of TV Sets

 

[NanoStuff]

What the hell is planned obsolescence? There is obsolescence that is planned for, the former makes no sense.

Are you saying it's a bad idea to improve technology to replace the old? Obsolescence isn't planned, it's just expected.

 

[RaistlinZ]

Without it I think we'd still be churning our own butter and sending/receiving news via courier pigeon. Uh, no thanks.



Progress FTW, planned or not. :thumbsup:

 

[Linflas]

Originally posted by: ComputerWizKid
Stupid FCC and NTSC my PVR-150 will be obsolete next year so will a whole lot of TV Sets

A simple converter box will fix that problem and the taxpayers will pony up $80.00 for you to buy 2 of them.

 

[Linflas]

Originally posted by: NanoStuff
What the hell is planned obsolescence? There is obsolescence that is planned for, the former makes no sense.

Are you saying it's a bad idea to improve technology to replace the old? Obsolescence isn't planned, it's just expected.

I think he is referring to the theory that things like cars, major appliances, etc are all designed so that they will become obsolete within a fixed period of time. My guess is it comes from the old business model Detroit used to follow that after any 4 year time period the styling of automobiles changed so drastically that (they hoped) people would dash out to buy the latest and greatest.

 

[sswingle]

Originally posted by: ComputerWizKid
Stupid FCC and NTSC my PVR-150 will be obsolete next year so will a whole lot of TV Sets

Use analog cable or get a converter box.

 

[sandorski]

I think it sucks. We constantly are buying crap without knowing it. As soon as the Warranty expires every day the thing continues to work is proof there is a god. One day your whole faith in that god will crash down as the crap finally fails as planned.

 

[NanoStuff]

Originally posted by: Linflas
I think he is referring to the theory that things like cars, major appliances, etc are all designed so that they will become obsolete within a fixed period of time.

So your appliances come with a stick of dynamite set to go off in four years? Might want to stop buying from Russians.

 

[Squisher]

Nothing lasts forever.

 

[Anubis]

Originally posted by: fleabag
I personally hate the very concept of planned obsolescence. I believe that if people are perfectly content with what they have, then they should not be forced to change unless there is an important, pressing issue which would have cause for them to upgrade. For example, I think that people shouldn't be forced to buy a new car, however I do think it's perfectly acceptable for people to be forced to buy a new car if the fuel that their old car uses is not economically viable or physically available anymore because of circumstances that are out of anybody's control.

What does anandtech think of this? I've come to the recent realization that people on technicaly forums are perfectly fine and possibly even encourage planned obsolescence. Maybe I'm wrong, but I will only have an idea after people make their votes in the poll.

so you gonna buy me my new car, because yea theres no reason for me to replace mine, its 20 years old and runs fine

 

[Linflas]

Originally posted by: NanoStuff

Originally posted by: Linflas
I think he is referring to the theory that things like cars, major appliances, etc are all designed so that they will become obsolete within a fixed period of time.

So your appliances come with a stick of dynamite set to go off in four years? Might want to stop buying from Russians.

I didn't say I bought into the concept, just generally what the concept is.

Planned obsolescence

 

[NanoStuff]

Originally posted by: Linflas

Originally posted by: NanoStuff

Originally posted by: Linflas
I think he is referring to the theory that things like cars, major appliances, etc are all designed so that they will become obsolete within a fixed period of time.

So your appliances come with a stick of dynamite set to go off in four years? Might want to stop buying from Russians.

I didn't say I bought into the concept, just generally what the concept is.

Planned obsolescence

The only argument of substance there is that things get old, wear out, and eventually have to be replaced. No shit.

No sabotage here, things get old, that's what happens.

 

[Linflas]

Originally posted by: NanoStuff

Originally posted by: Linflas

Originally posted by: NanoStuff

Originally posted by: Linflas
I think he is referring to the theory that things like cars, major appliances, etc are all designed so that they will become obsolete within a fixed period of time.

So your appliances come with a stick of dynamite set to go off in four years? Might want to stop buying from Russians.

I didn't say I bought into the concept, just generally what the concept is.

Planned obsolescence

The only argument of substance there is that things get old, wear out, and eventually have to be replaced. No shit.

No sabotage here, things get old, that's what happens.

You'll get no argument from me, that is pretty much my view as well.

 

[will889]

Intel-AMD-nvidia do this with motherboard-processor-memory-video (PCIe) spec more often now to get people to buy more stuff. It moves a too fast of a clip right now IMO

 

[Capt Caveman]

Good. Converter box - $40 coupon = $10 to continue to use your obsolete tv

 

[ChaoZ]

I think a better example would be HP printers; it stops working after a set number of pages are printed. I could be wrong though.

 

[will889]

Originally posted by: ChaoZ
I think a better example would be HP printers; it stops working after a set number of pages are printed. I could be wrong though.

LOL I would like to know if that's true...anyone?

 

[Capt Caveman]

Originally posted by: ChaoZ
I think a better example would be HP printers; it stops working after a set number of pages are printed. I could be wrong though.

Yes, you are wrong.

 

[sdifox]

I hate it, problem is we live in a world where the word Repair has become a dirty word. Thus we end up with throw away appliances. That is out biggest garbage problem right there.

 

[Linflas]

Originally posted by: sdifox
I hate it, problem is we live in a world where the word Repair has become a dirty word. Thus we end up with throw away appliances. That is out biggest garbage problem right there.

Repair is not a dirty word. What has changed is what types of things we get repaired. The average person will not throw a car away just because it needs repair unless that repair costs more than the cars perceived value. For common objects like printers, phones, SD TVs etc 99% of the time repair makes no sense because the repair costs exceed the cost of replacement.

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: ComputerWizKid
Stupid FCC and NTSC my PVR-150 will be obsolete next year so will a whole lot of TV Sets

Only for OTA signals. You're fine for cable.

 

[sdifox]

Originally posted by: Linflas

Originally posted by: sdifox
I hate it, problem is we live in a world where the word Repair has become a dirty word. Thus we end up with throw away appliances. That is out biggest garbage problem right there.

Repair is not a dirty word. What has changed is what types of things we get repaired. The average person will not throw a car away just because it needs repair unless that repair costs more than the cars perceived value. For common objects like printers, phones, SD TVs etc 99% of the time repair makes no sense because the repair costs exceed the cost of replacement.

I am talking about appliances. That is the problem, all product are competing on pricepoint alone now. Quality suffers because the manufacturer has a lower margin. In order to maintain same profit level in order to survive, they need to sell more units. Planned obsolescence is their answer.

One example is the good old toaster oven. There is really only one thing that ever breaks, the element. That is easy to replace, except you can't even find the damn replacements in the hardware store anymore. So the whole thing gets tossed.

 

[Sqube]

For a better example of a company that seems to operate under the principle of planned obsolescence, see: Apple.

 

[3chordcharlie]

More to the point, things like TVs are built with no provision whatsoever for repair or replacement of likely-to-fail parts.

Many things are built with little regard to true quality; thus why your parents 20 year old microwave still works, and you've been through 3 of the same brand in 5 years.

Some of this is a drive to reduce costs, (your parents paid $500-1000 for that microwave), and some of it is a little ridiculous (replacing the compressor in your fridge often costs more than a brand new fridge with the same part in it).

As consumers, we have been trained to demand checklist features, as a substitute for quality, and we've learned well:

I've been laughed at by part-time tradespeople because I still run a 1995 3amp 3/8" Bosch hammerdrill I inherited from my grandfather (I only ever use it for tapcon-sized holes anyway). They think I'm crazy because they got 'twice the drill' in terms of size and power for $35. Of course mine is 13 years old, and theirs is broken the next time I see them. My drill was bought to last forever, not to impress anyone with it's rated power, but that's not we're trained to look for, and it's a trap we all fall into sometimes.