VIDEO: "The Light Bulb Conspiracy"

[en3rgy]

Apple doesn't need to build in planned obsolescence. Their customers will gladly change up even if nothing's wrong with their products.

Aside from the fact that Apple batteries are built-in and can't be serviced outside, their products are mostly solid. In fact, Apple warranty and customer support is incredible. If something breaks that isn't supposed to break, they'll replace it for free, no matter when you bought the product. Hell... even if it's your fault (some broken iPod/iPhone screens), they'll replace it.

Customer service, product quality and durability help keep Apple entrenched. Their advantage is that they can charge a big premium for their products, so they can fund this otherwise extravagantly wasteful business model.

Try saying "HP" or "Compaq" in the same sentence as Apple. Their computers are crap. We once had three HP Pavilions bought at the same time all burn out within six months, and only one was replaced under warranty. The quality sucked, despite Apple rivalling price. We haven't had a single Apple device break down over the past several years... not even the iMac my brother dropped down the stairs.

+1. I have a macbook for more than 4 years and never found a need to replace the batteries yet (fingers crossed)

[asb75]

mine is a toshiba satelite laptop which i bought in Sharjah UAE year 2005, hanggang ngayon gumagana pa siya nang matino, tapos yun 29 inch Philips CRT TV hanggang ngayon gumagana pa nang maayos. Kaya in my experience lahat nang nabili ko sa bansa na yun ay tumatagal ang mga gamit. Kahit nga cellphone ko N70 gumagana pa hanggang ngayon. Kahit sabihin ni misis na palitan na yun tv namin kumokontra ako sa kanya, sabi ayos pa naman siya at ayoko siyang palitan.

[safeorigin]

People have to understand kasi the cost of engineering things to last.

Example:

Would you be willing to buy a cellphone that is designed to last 30 years but costs 10x more and is expected to be superseded by newer and better technology within a year or two?

Anti-market activists fail to see that it's consumer demand that drives this practice and not the manufacturers themselves.

Imagine for a moment that there is no planned obsolescence. Government forces this mandate to every manufacturer. Every object is built to last for generations. Manufacturers only last one production run. Companies go broke because there's no sales afterwards. There is very little to no incentive to innovate or invent. Everyone is stuck in the stone age.

But of course, let's not forget that there's also a market niche for consumers who value longevity and durability.

[ghosthunter]

People have to understand kasi the cost of engineering things to last.

Example:

Would you be willing to buy a cellphone that is designed to last 30 years but costs 10x more and is expected to be superseded by newer and better technology within a year or two?

Anti-market activists fail to see that it's consumer demand that drives this practice and not the manufacturers themselves.

Imagine for a moment that there is no planned obsolescence. Government forces this mandate to every manufacturer. Every object is built to last for generations. Manufacturers only last one production run. Companies go broke because there's no sales afterwards. There is very little to no incentive to innovate or invent. Everyone is stuck in the stone age.

But of course, let's not forget that there's also a market niche for consumers who value longevity and durability.

Depends on the style of the country's government. In the soviet style planning, Products were designed to a specification to last for years and years without the need for replacing parts or any sort of repair. It was shown in the video that soviet era refrigerators were designed to last 25 years and a sample of it has been running for the last 24 years with all original parts including the original light-bulb.

[andywesteast]

Actually, many products in our era are well made. My dad's 29 inch SONY TV like above, is 22 years old and still working great.

My driver's first phone, the NOKIA 3210 is still with him.

My friend's 1985 Mercedes 260E is still beautiful.

Ouer 1993 TOYOTA GLI is still going strong.

As a Consumer, it is up to you to choose the upgrade path or not.

If you take care of what you use, many things would last a long time.

[uls]

the industry will force you to upgrade even if you don't want to

HD broadcasts made old TVs obsolete

[ghosthunter]

Also old TVs lack the connectivity to newer devices.

[uls]

sa car stereo palang look at the evolution

from cassette tape to CD/CD changer to USB & SD card

[ghosthunter]

sa car stereo palang look at the evolution

from cassette tape to CD/CD changer to USB & SD card

correction:
AM/FM - 8track - cassette tape - CD - CD/MP3 - USB/SD/iPod/GPS/touchscreen/TV/DVD/kitchensink.

[uls]

hahaha 8 track

[Monseratto]

correction:
AM/FM - 8track - cassette tape - CD - CD/MP3 - USB/SD/iPod/GPS/touchscreen/TV/DVD/kitchensink.

I still remember our 1976 Toyota Crown and the mechanical buttons to "program" the FM/AM stations...

[uls]

i remember this classic Sony TV



it's the KX27 Profeel

it was the best CRT TV ever

[niky]

Portable media changes... but can you honestly say that's bad? We've gone from ancient LP to wildly inefficient 8-track to cassette to CD and now to digital distribution... but you can still buy LP players if you need them.

AM/FM radio is not obsolete. The fact that most of you know who Mo Twister and Grace Lee are is a good sign of this.

SD TVs are not obsolete. The only problem with 80's receivers is that you won't be able to watch all 100 cable channels, but bridge-technologies like cable boxes allow you to watch cable on even the oldest TV sets.

[Helios]

planned obsolescence sounds fishy to me.
it's the job of designers and engineers to look for faults of a previous design and correct them on the latest. form follows function and function follows failure. a bit hard to accept they were asked to reverse the process just to invigorate the economy.

unlike those old/ original refrigerators and bulbs, consumer whitegoods nowadays like refrigerators and devices like ipods have to meet government regulations like energy ratings.
everything has to be re-engineered to make everything minute, efficient, and full-featured all the while keeping production cost down just to be competitive.
modern transistors replaced tubes from your old tv's, integrated components replaced socketed ones, microchip tech in everything, plastic replaces steel. it's cheaper and easier to replace a device than to look for that oem battery or part that is no longer in production. logistics would be a nightmare if it weren't so.
it's given something has to give in if you want that inexpensive, sophisticated and newest product on the market. and just look around us, everyone can afford almost anything these days.

however, natural obsolescence's everywhere. it is synonymous with being an applefan. apple products are reliable (inspite of the 'unluckiness' of the few) that's why we diehards exist. software upgrades forced me to let go of my quadra, performa, powermac, powerbook, imacs, etc. and just move on towards the next evolution. i kept my 2nd gen ibook, 1st gen ipod and nano and they're still working fine.

we should be more alarmed/ aware of a direct consumer psyche manipulation. the madmen's " people want to be told what to do so badly that they'll listen to anyone", "…because we want them to be who we want them to be" type of manipulation.
price, promotion, distribution, etc. all the variables that effectively sell a product have pushed the level of consumption to its present level of excessive consumerism.
the gruen transfer effect when a shopping mall's layout confuses you and intentionally misleads you into buying,
globalisation and giant, all-under-one-roof like ikea and macro disorient you with a hundred choices,
and the culture of convenience shopping (online or phone-base), no wonder we're in this mess.
i should know, i'm an applefan, myself

[Gerbo]

There are only FEW products today that are built to last.

[donbuggy]

The MVPMAP PHUV had unplanned obsolescence.

[uls]

^^^

haha

hanggang prototype lang

[marg]

^^^

haha

hanggang prototype lang

Lakas pa naman ng Hype.

[Ry_Tower]

That is the problem. You make a product that is so durable, it will last for decades without breaking down. Although nearly every household has a Singer sewing machine, the company itself has not benefited from it's products' success.

Kaya some companies in order to survive go into other industries.

Yung ice scarmble business ni mrs. monthly halos bili ng hand mixer, plastic ang internal gears eh, nilagyan ko pa synthetic grease pero wala talaga. Papagawa na nga lang ako ng custom made mixer since malaki din kung 3 every month for each kiosk. Yung mga mechanical mixer ng mga naglalako, ang tibay eh. Pure bakal.

[niky]

Kaya some companies in order to survive go into other industries.

Yung ice scarmble business ni mrs. monthly halos bili ng hand mixer, plastic ang internal gears eh, nilagyan ko pa synthetic grease pero wala talaga. Papagawa na nga lang ako ng custom made mixer since malaki din kung 3 every month for each kiosk. Yung mga mechanical mixer ng mga naglalako, ang tibay eh. Pure bakal.

Why don't you just buy a higher end mixer with metal parts?

With kitchen or food service appliances, buying cheaper is false economy if you're going to use it a lot.