Author Topic: Planned Obsolescence and the Lightbulb Conspiracy (Read 5895 times)

Maizar · « **on:** March 09, 2012, 12:37:30 AM »

The following is of a docuмentary on the general idea of planned obsolescence or the 'product life-cycle' that, it could be argued, is at the root of the demise of Western Civilization, which is going bankrupt.

Nylon stockings that can tow a truck, lights that burn for longer than 100 years, appliances that last 25 years, and so on. There has been a deliberate effort since the 1920's to prevent good products from reaching the shelves.

The video is very informative, but wrongfully espouses Marxism and Environmentalism as being valid alternatives to a system that, apart from being dishonest, is actually quite effective and efficient (being an economy based on free enterprise ... free as in speech, and beer).

I would like to put my opinion in also. From calculations I made in the past, our productivity per capita has always been rising since the industrial revolution and even before that. Recently it was mainly thanks to computers, robotics and materials science. Currently, it should be possible to maintain a first world standard of living (or better) with only one person per family having to work 3 or 4 days per week on average. This is based on normal product life and reduced productive requirements even on what is currently the case (eg: a pair of jeans that has not been soaked in some kind of caustic or acidic bath in order to weaken the fiber strength, and washed in detergents that do not degrade the cotton. Cotton and linen should ordinarily last many years when worn by someone who is not a manual laborer).

Working longer deprives other people of the chance to work. This includes food production. If people spent a day a week on their own food production, the productivity would increase further owing to better utilization of land.

Because of this reduced workload, people would have more time to think, more time to create and discuss, and more time to educate and to entertain. In particular, more time for spiritual pursuits and outdoor activities. It explains to me why art is almost dead today.

In any case, the above is not quite the agenda of the 'powers that be'. However, it is something we as Catholics should strive for - material frugality and efficiency, tempered by spiritual generosity.

Elizabeth · « **Reply #1 on:** March 09, 2012, 08:35:50 AM »

Interesting, Maizar. This is the type of film we would have watched in Art school.

TradCatholic39452 · « **Reply #2 on:** March 10, 2012, 11:46:15 AM »

I work at a computer store and go through the first 2 minutes of the video all the time.

ggreg · « **Reply #3 on:** March 27, 2012, 07:55:27 AM »

I have a TV at home but it is not connected to the broadcast media. I have no aerial or satellite dish. The TV came with the house when I bought the house. It is a 42 inch plasma flat screen thing, by some Chinese manufacturer I've never heard of called Akura.

I have a DVD/DiVX player connected to it and a Wii games console for the kids. The TV probably gets about 4 hours of use per week. I will never have broadcast TV this side of a chastisement because in just about every reality TV, historical drama or game show they find a way of promoting ɧoɱosɛҳųαƖs. Which I find REALLY annoying. Or someone has an abortion. Upstairs Downstairs is the latest period drama.

Broadcast TV is utter crap. All the best stuff is on iPlayer anyway which are basically docuмentaries and nature programs.

I download a lot of movies from Stagevu but watch these on my Imac as there is no simple way to watch them on the 42 inch screen. (I don't have a laptop)

They have turned off the analogue TV signal this year in Britain and this summer I would like to watch the Olympic games since some of my family members are competing in it and the events are about 20 miles away from my house. I'm going to be having people over for all the major events.

I looked at buying the necessary extra boxes and wires to be able to receive an HD signal, (the TV is HD ready). Even on ebay the whole kit and kaboodlle would have cost me about $120 at least and then I would have to mess about wiring it all up and have more wires trailing everywhere.

So instead I sold the existing 5 year old TV on ebay for $220 and bought one of the same size (42inch) for $600 which is LED rather than Plasma and uses less power and comes with the HD digital eqipment already built inside it. It also has 3 HD inputs and a USB input so you can simply download DiVX and other format movies onto a flash USB drive and watch them or plug in an external hard drive. Currently I would need to burn a DVD to watch a movie.

In effect I am upgrading and the $600 cost is offset very significantly by being able to flog your old TV to someone who has $220 to spend but does not have $600 as well as not having to buy $120 of electronics to get a less suitable package.

So obsolensence has some advantages

cateran · « **Reply #4 on:** March 27, 2012, 11:02:11 AM »

I don't get it ggreg. Have I misread your post? You won't have broadcast TV in your home but you've just spent several hundred bucks to get an HD signal to watch the Olympics on (broadcast) TV. Huh???

Maizar · « **Reply #5 on:** March 27, 2012, 04:43:49 PM »

Quote from: ggreg

... etc..

In effect I am upgrading and the $600 cost is offset very significantly by being able to flog your old TV to someone who has $220 to spend but does not have $600 as well as not having to buy $120 of electronics to get a less suitable package.

So obsolensence has some advantages

Has it ever occurred to you that the devices you have in your home, and the ones you are using, are made from technology that is designed to be dated? Take, for example, microprocessor speeds and die-thickness for semiconductors (measured in nanometers). The speed of processors depends on how closely together the transistors can be placed and this is used to explain why computer B is better than computer A, but we know that intelligently designed systems (such as the Amiga was) in the late 1980's could already nearly match the performance of today's devices which are nearly a thousand times faster! The combined hardware of two Amiga 2000's could have managed a 3D video without any significant latency. The same could be said of color television, a problem already technologically solved before World War II.

Do you believe the hype, for example, that dye thicknesses - incrementally decreasing by 2 or 4nm every six months on the clock - are due to genuine 'mini-breakthroughs', or is it that some very narrow die thickness is already possible but reserved only for military use? I suspect the latter, from my experience in other areas of research and development.

I don't say that everything is a conspiracy, but i certainly do think there is a strong incentive for manufacturers to delay as long as possible any technological advance in order to maximize its profits.

ggreg · « **Reply #6 on:** March 27, 2012, 05:06:20 PM »

Quote from: cateran

I don't get it ggreg. Have I misread your post? You won't have broadcast TV in your home but you've just spent several hundred bucks to get an HD signal to watch the Olympics on (broadcast) TV. Huh???

How else would I watch them? The Olympics are not especially corrupting unless you're watching beach volleyball.

After the Olympics I will sell the aerial on eBay and just have a better quality monitor. My point was that the cost of upgrade is not that great given the other advantages.