Planned Obsolescence is the deliberate shortening of product life spans to guarantee consumer demand. As a magazine for advertisers succinctly puts it: The article that refuses to wear out is a tragedy of business - & a tragedy for the modern growth society...
Once upon a time..... products were made to last. Then, at the beginning of the 1920s, a group of businessmen were struck by the following insight: 'A product that refuses to wear out is a tragedy of business' (1928).
Thus Planned Obsolescence was born. Shortly after, the first worldwide cartel was set up expressly to reduce the life span of the incandescent light bulb, a symbol for innovation & bright new ideas, & the first official victim of Planned Obsolescence.
During the 1950s, with the birth of the consumer society, the concept took on a whole new meaning, as explained by flamboyant designer Brooks Stevens: 'Planned Obsolescence, the desire to own something a little newer, a little better, a little sooner than is necessary...'.
The growth society flourished, everybody had everything, the waste was piling up (preferably far away in illegal dumps in the Third World) - until consumers started rebelling...
Can the modern growth society survive without Planned Obsolescence? Did the eternal light bulb ever exist? How can a tiny chip 'kill' a product? How did 2 artists from New York manage to extend the lives of millions of iPods? Is Planned Obsolescence itself becoming obsolete?
Links to Videos:
https://youtu.be/7wDjcFe8u1s
https://youtu.be/ITP4kwZeUwo
Another Video:
The Light Bulb Conspiracy uncovers how planned obsolescence has shaped our lives & economy since the 1920's, when manufacturers deliberately started shortening the life of consumer products to increase demand.
The film also profiles a new generation of consumers, designers & business people who have started challenging planned obsolescence as an unsustainable economic driver.
The documentary begins by visiting the longest running light bulb in the world, which has burned continuously for over 110 years in Livermore, California. Initially, light bulbs were built to last.
But the film finds historical evidence revealing how a cartel in the 1920's decided to produce bulbs limited to a maximum life of 1000 hours, making the humble light bulb one of the first examples of planned obsolescence & a model for increasing profits on other products.
Shot over 3 years in Europe, the U.S. & Ghana, The Light Bulb Conspiracy investigates the evolution & impact of planned obsolescence through interviews with historians, economists, designers & manufacturers, along with archival footage & internal company documents.
The film profiles several well-known historical advocates -- Bernard London, who famously proposed ending the Great Depression by mandating planned obsolescence, & Brook Stevens, whose post-war ideas became the gospel of the 1950's & helped shape the throwaway consumer society of today.
The Light Bulb Conspiracy also looks at modern examples of planned obsolescence, including computer printers & the controversy over the inability to replace iPod batteries.
Environmental consequences are seen most dramatically in the massive amounts of electronic waste that end up in uncontrolled dump sites in Third World countries such as Ghana.
The film concludes with examples of consumers & businesses moving towards more sustainable practices & products, including Warner Philips, great grandson of the founder of Philips Electronics, who is producing an LED bulb designed to last 25 years.
Video:
https://youtu.be/D56nut_9e8s
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