Built to break, A World selling itself short.

This article contains no links, except for the one you can visually see around you or maybe from a past memory.

The items we purchase now are alot different than the items of yesteryear. And the big difference, is for the most part, alot of those items from yesterday still are around, in working condition. How many can say their Iphone will be working 40 years from now, or even the T-shirt you buy today, ( will that be wearable by your great grandson? )

Well for one thing, we know most of the cars we own won't make it into the next 20 years let alone twice that. The one bright reason out of a good deal of others is that our products of today are being built with profit margins of tomorrow. And this issue deals with such Minute variables that most do not realize it and keep the American Dream alive, if it breaks, buy a new one.

Ok, I i expect certain things to break after awhile, But Come on, if your paying hundreds or thousands of dollars for said item, you got your warranty to cover you, heh, well as long as your "x factor " happens before you warranty date. But then you still might not be covered.

The reason I write this, falls under general conspiracy due to the fact that we are constantly RE-buying the same things that could be built to last.

isn't a society that build's products that break, in order to keep a flow of business incomming, a society destine to Intellectual stagnation?


Thoughts, ideas, suggestions, hate mail?

Off topic: This trend may lend more and more credence to the possibility of ancient advanced civilizations having existed and left little trace behind. By the time our computers are sheets of disposable paper ala Caprica, it will be no wonder that future archaeologists aren't digging up keyboards.



But yes, much has been said about durable technology, especially in countries like Cuba where the automotive 'industry' has been forced to be very inventive in order to keep people rolling along.

I would argue that human invention keeps capitalist models going as well. If not inventiveness, then perceived inventiveness. "This model is NEW! All NEW functions!" etc.

This is kinda like asking the question...

If the black box in the plane is indestructible, why not build the whole plane out of it?

Sorry for the long break, But Im not speaking in specific terms here, Im speaking in terms that we work with all the time.

Everyday products, we buy can be made to function alot longer than they are being built to. But they are not just so a company can save some cash and at the same time sell you something that resembles another longer lasting product. In a World of Capitalism it seems the goal to obtain money leads to a self destruction of sorts.