Planned Obsolescence

Planned Obsolescence Is when a product is designed in a way that means it will no longer function, or will become less fashionable, in a set period of time. One way that this can occur is manufacturing products from materials that the designer knows will 'fail' after a certain period of time (rust, corrode, snap, weaken etc.) Planned obsolescence is sometimes referred to as Built in obsolescence. Design decisions can either encourage or discourage obsolescence. They are usually based around:

	Function	e.g. new designs that do something better, therefore making the existing designs inferior.
	Quality	e.g. the time taken to wear out or break.
	Desirability	e.g. something is considered out of fashion by the arrival of newer and more exciting options.

Example

Apple is a good example of a company that builds obsolescence into it products. As you will see below the various generations of iPhone use different sockets for charging and connection to secondary devices like headphones and speakers. When you buy a newer version the old cables, headphones etc no longer work and you are forced to buy new ones.

 

iPhone 4	iPhone 5	iPhone 10
30 Pin socket and 2.5 mm Audio jack	Lightning socket and 2.5 mm Audio jack	Lightning socket (no audio jack)

 

Different sockets	Different leads	2.5 mm Headphones	Lightning Headphones

 

Software updates for systems like Spotify and Sonos means they no longer work with older versions of the iPad
iPad 1	iPad Pro

Other examples

Buying an X-Box 'Kinect' means that older games will no longer work.   Game players now have to purchase new games!
	Disposable razors are designed to be used a few times and the get blunt leading to the user throwing them away and buying new ones.
Batteries
	Tights and stockings
Printer toner and cartridges
	Light bulbs

Planned Obsolescence - p234