Planned obsolescence- how tech companies are screwing you over

Good morning good evening and goodnight fellow technophiles.

Today I will try to explain as simply as possible why you are being screwed over. Raise your hands if you've ever had to replace a broken tablet, laptop or smartphone-stupid question, 99 percent of you would have. Now allow me to explain it through the power of the interwebz, because I no longer have my encyclopedia brittanica.

It's called Planned obsolescence, and here is a brief explanation

Planned obsolescence, or built-in obsolescence, in industrial design and economics is a policy of planning or designing a product with an artificially limited useful life, so it will become obsolete (that is, unfashionable or no longer functional) after a certain period of time. The rationale behind the strategy is to generate long-term sales volume by reducing the time between repeat purchases (referred to as "shortening the replacement cycle")

So, now we have the why, but I have a theory on the how. There are these tiny little things in your devices called resistors that well..resist. They are like a tap in a faucet, they can control the flow of electricity. Now this is where my theory comes in

A fixed composition resistor normally fails in an open configuration when overheated or overly stressed due to shock or vibration. Excessive humidity may cause an increase in resistance. A variable composition resistor may wear after extensive use, and worn away particles may cause high resistance short circuits.

So heat can contribute to the failure of resistors, so what generates heat? CPU's. PC enthusiasts can install many forms of CPU cooling devices, Laptops, tablets and smartphones don't have that luxury. So why not redesign the circuitry so the resistors are located close to the CPU? Heat death. and extensive use? no brainer considering that these days kids can't peel their eyes away from the screens these days (that's a tad hypocritical but my point still stands.)

The elders say 'why isn't anything built to last anymore?' and I agree, and the problem is Planned obsolescence, or to put it simply, money talks.

a reply to: Thecakeisalie

Just a thought, but technology seems to be going the way of smaller is better/more convenient, so it only stands to reason resistor location would end up being near heat anyway, or do you have a revamped design in mind - while still keeping it smaller (and smaller) and making sure it does not catch on fire? Also is the quality of the parts dimininishing to ensure profit margins will always go up?

a reply to: Thecakeisalie

I think most people are aware of planned obsolesence... It's definitely a #ty practice. Introduced by yours truly, the Japanese. Who also have brilliant ideas like building nuclear power plants on fault lines, and having back up generators below sea level.

a reply to: Thecakeisalie

Nope. I have never had to replace any broken device. The only thing that ever broke was a smartphone display. And I didn't replace that as it still functions with a crack.
I still have my old laptops.

In older electronics resistors would burn out, they were easy to find and fix. Tech today breaks due to capacitors bulging or losing ESR (slowly becoming an open circuit), through hole/chip connections becoming open due to board flex caused by CPU thermal cycles while under a heatsink that is pressed too tight.

That said, all Apple needs to so to get people to buy new stuff is release the next version.

originally posted by: InTheLight
a reply to: Thecakeisalie

Just a thought, but technology seems to be going the way of smaller is better/more convenient, so it only stands to reason resistor location would end up being near heat anyway, or do you have a revamped design in mind - while still keeping it smaller (and smaller) and making sure it does not catch on fire? Also is the quality of the parts dimininishing to ensure profit margins will always go up?

Make the case surounding it all a heatsink.
That would be a lot of metal to absorb the heat.

originally posted by: jacobe001

originally posted by: InTheLight
a reply to: Thecakeisalie

Just a thought, but technology seems to be going the way of smaller is better/more convenient, so it only stands to reason resistor location would end up being near heat anyway, or do you have a revamped design in mind - while still keeping it smaller (and smaller) and making sure it does not catch on fire? Also is the quality of the parts dimininishing to ensure profit margins will always go up?

Make the case surounding it all a heatsink.
That would be a lot of metal to absorb the heat.

Do you mean cold metal that will absorb the heat then keep and release it simultaneously to remain cool or warm?

I have this experience with the cell phones I have had. Battery life deteriorates over time. A typical 2 to 3 year contract is close to $1000 and a user will be lucky to get a few hours of battery before recharge by the end of the contract.

Cell phones are being manufactured with irreplaceable batteries. Take it back to the store and the user is conned into buying a new phone under a new contract.

Also, over time the cellphones functions become slow, clunky and annoying. IMO, this is a built in software feature.

In the future, I will probably go with a simply phone that only supports messaging and calls.

You see planned obsolescence with everything.
My printer died awhile back and of course the old model is no longer sold.
I bought the next model up and the only difference was there is an additional plastic tab on the toner so that you cannot use the old toner.

I broke the tab off and the 3 old toners and had in storage works perfectly.

You would think with the emphasis on efficiency, it would be better for everyone if products were to built to last and would reduce garbage.

You cannot even repair many items anymore since many are sealed and do not have screws to take them apart.


Now some may say, this would cost jobs if everything lasted a lot longer and was repairable and planned obsolescence was not practiced.

If so, then perhaps we should do away with automation as well since that costs jobs as well.

originally posted by: InTheLight

originally posted by: jacobe001

originally posted by: InTheLight
a reply to: Thecakeisalie

Just a thought, but technology seems to be going the way of smaller is better/more convenient, so it only stands to reason resistor location would end up being near heat anyway, or do you have a revamped design in mind - while still keeping it smaller (and smaller) and making sure it does not catch on fire? Also is the quality of the parts dimininishing to ensure profit margins will always go up?

Make the case surounding it all a heatsink.
That would be a lot of metal to absorb the heat.

Do you mean cold metal that will absorb the heat then keep and release it simultaneously to remain cool or warm?

Hmmmm
Good point.
Well, the holder of the device and the surrounding air would absorb some of the heat.
It would still be a lot cooler than a heatsink or thermal resister internally sealed, yes?

a reply to: eManym

Cell phones are being manufactured with irreplaceable batteries. Take it back to the store and the user is conned into buying a new phone under a new contract.

Quite right, though your phone can be rendered inactive by a service provider, battery or not.

A former boss was told he had to renew his contract or his phone would be inoperable, then he had to pay for a new contract AND pay for a new phone.

Perhaps the telecommunication companies are in cahoots with the phone manufacturers, hell i'm almost certain they are.

originally posted by: eManym
I have this experience with the cell phones I have had. Battery life deteriorates over time. A typical 2 to 3 year contract is close to $1000 and a user will be lucky to get a few hours of battery before recharge by the end of the contract.

Cell phones are being manufactured with irreplaceable batteries. Take it back to the store and the user is conned into buying a new phone under a new contract.

Also, over time the cellphones functions become slow, clunky and annoying. IMO, this is a built in software feature.

In the future, I will probably go with a simply phone that only supports messaging and calls.

That is the route I went.
I have no service contract and just buy more minutes when needed.
It costs me maybe 150 a year and the phone was only 50 bucks when I bought it years ago.

originally posted by: jacobe001

You would think with the emphasis on efficiency, it would be better for everyone if products were to built to last and would reduce garbage.

You cannot even repair many items anymore since many are sealed and do not have screws to take them apart.

Why is there such a push on recycling when we are ending up with mountains

of obsolete household items..... old washers, cookers, TV's, vaccume cleaners, etc.


Was a time those and other items lasted as long as a good marriage now people

have at least half a dozen of each in their life time. Cant believe that by the end

of this century mountains of rusty old used household items will adorn the planet.

Or the Apple way of deliberately slowing down old devices with dodgy firmware updates.

a reply to: Thecakeisalie

Not only that, I think elite users get a different OS software that can eavesdrop or see the profiles of nonelite users around them. Profiles created by the NSA or based off their DATA.

Maybe it's just a pop up with a rundown that alerts nearby users of a subversive in their presence. So they get notes from other elite users /observations, website history, known affiliations and so on....

We don't have modular phones that can add or replace existing components.

As new spying methods are developed, we all need to replace our phones so the new methods can be implemented by elite users.

Your AC and fridge will also be listening to you soon.

originally posted by: eletheia

originally posted by: jacobe001

You would think with the emphasis on efficiency, it would be better for everyone if products were to built to last and would reduce garbage.

You cannot even repair many items anymore since many are sealed and do not have screws to take them apart.

Why is there such a push on recycling when we are ending up with mountains

of obsolete household items..... old washers, cookers, TV's, vaccume cleaners, etc.


Was a time those and other items lasted as long as a good marriage

now people

have at least half a dozen of each in their life time. Cant believe that by the end

of this century mountains of rusty old used household items will adorn the planet.

Yep, it does not make sense if the goal was to reduce, reuse, recycle.
We have gone the other direction instead.

a reply to: tadaman

We don't have modular phones that can add or replace existing components.

I concur. I have a friend who is a pretty much a drunken Einstein, he fixes amplifiers, guitars-you name it, he'll fix it. But if you ask him to repair an iPhone i'm pretty sure he would say 'eff it' and throw it at the wall.

These devices are designed to be replaced, not repaired.

originally posted by: Thecakeisalie

I concur. I have a friend who is a pretty much a drunken Einstein, he fixes amplifiers, guitars-you name it, he'll fix it. But if you ask him to repair an iPhone i'm pretty sure he would say 'eff it' and throw it at the wall.

These devices are designed to be replaced, not repaired.

Lol!!! I was under the impression that they were meant to moniter and spy

on the owner?

They dont make it easy thats for sure.
Like they could make light bulbs last for decades

I had an Iphone battery in my dad's phone replaced 3-4 years ago still works fine, now you cant update the software but we have got 6-7 years out of it already I guess eventually it wont work . He hated buying new when the old one worked fine, so do I. Of course this wasnt at an Apple store one of those U break it we fix it stores. On some stuff you just have to know where to look, and not be afraid to do it yourself. Learned a lot of repairs when I was on a tight budget, and still use them today. My work computer that I used constantly is over 12 years old, have replaced the hard drive and keyboard but everything else works fine. In a pinch Ive use xtraPC as a quick cheap alternative to getting a broken computer up and running.

This is a pretty good short documemtay on the subject:

"The Lightbulb Conspiracy - Planned Obsolescence"