Built in obsolescence or planned obsolescence is a decision construed by companies to manufacture products in such a way that they will either fail, break, wear out or become obsolete within a set period of time.  It is not obvious to the customer, the product looks and feels as expensive as it was to purchase, yet as stated, the inner working parts are designed in such a way as to fail after a few years.

Built in obsolescence has actually been in existence since around 1920 but was not brought into full commercial play until the early 1950s.  It was around this time that mass commercialism really hit the world, as manufacturers worldwide began making many different items on a mass production basis...especially electronic products.

It did not take long for it to become globally evident that if a product was designed to have a short lifespan then it would need to be replaced.  Items that were once built to be robust and long-lasting, slowly became things of the past.

NOTE: It must be noted here that even though built in obsolescence was catching on worldwide, that a prolific amount of products in the 1950s, 60s and early 70s were indeed still built to last.  In fact when we refer to a good old product we tend to say " They don't make em like that anymore " referring of course to products from these eras.  I tend to say " Its a shame they don't make em like that anymore "

The main purpose of built in obsolescence is to ensure that the customers of the products will have to replace the item in a shorter space of time, thus perpetuating the companies revenue.  Many manufacturers deny the use of built in obsolescence and  argue that in any case...cheaper components  keeps costs down and hence keeps the retail value down.  This is not as accurate as it sounds though, as the end user still pays way more than the product is worth, and can be filed away under the heading of clever marketing strategies  and wide profit margins.

Unfortunately today, during the ongoing global recession, manufacturers will cut costs, cut corners and do anything they can to save a buck.  The consumer will still pay above the value of the product though, as the companies hate reducing their profit margins to help anyone out.

Built in obsolescence proves to be the more refined way of doing this, but it is a gamble rather than solid business acumen.  Inferior goods can create a bad rapport with customers and the  companies  reputation can become irreversibly damaged as a result.  The risk of losing customers and damaging a companies reputation, is a little too much of a gamble for a lot of companies though.  Therefore they may choose the softer option of expensive looking construction but made with cheap parts that may offer a little more reliability.

Today, almost everything is made in China, and then shipped over to the west.  This is because their production costs are exceedingly low, due to workers in China laboring for cents in the dollar.  China does  make items to regulated quality standards, the same as in the west, but they are not enforced to the same standard. At the manufacturers behest, the Chinese can equally make an item with quality parts or with inferior quality parts...its usually the latter.

Built in obsolescence, cheap parts, cheap labor and Oriental sweat-shops, appear to be the watchwords of these heavily commercial times we live in today.  We should agree that this is definitely not the road to go down, it should instead be the road to turn off from and a new road taken.  A new direction of built in brilliance, long lasting products, built with superior parts with superior labor at modest price structures that everyone can afford.

THE TIME BOMB

A Time Bomb  in this respect refers to a small electrical component that is secreted within the electrical appliance that you have bought...its mission...to eventually destroy it.  This time bomb is actually a miniature self powered counter that counts the days, months and years, it does this constantly even if the appliance isn't even plugged in.

When the counter reaches a pre-determined day and date it will then cause some electrical component to fail by sending it a signal to blow a valve, destroy some software, overload some sensitive components etc, to render the appliance useless.

You could not simply open the casing and find the time bomb, as they are carefully concealed within the appliances actual circuitry, they are small and hardly noticeable.  Sometimes they are nothing more than a special piece of coded software that sits within the appliances micro chip processor...impossible to detect.  Just to mention here that it isn't just personal computers that contain micro chip processors.

The most common appliances alleged to have a built in time bomb are  such things as printers, laptops, personal computers, graphics cards, washing machines and fridge freezers although some of the latest microwaves, toasters, kettles, food processors and even vacuum cleaners are now believed to have time bombs inside them.

Of course non of this is confirmed by any manufacturer, its only assumption.  However, it is assumption that has steadily built up over the years by millions of consumers...could we all  be wrong?

EXAMPLES OF BUILT IN OBSOLESCENCE

Many cars, especially in the 1970's were built in such as way that within three to four years they were basically reduced to piles of rusty junk.  This fast deterioration was assisted by having water drain holes that ferried the water off into recesses in the cars bodywork, instead of out onto the road.  Wheel arches that were not sealed up, hence all the water, mud, snow and ice would collect in the upper extremities of the body panels, door hinges and firewall, eventually rusting through.

Also car bodies were not treated substantially enough to combat rust for any longer than three to four years, and rotted from the inside out.  Micro porous paint that allowed water to soak through was also another suspected method of rust assistance, although never proven.

Cars are big expensive items to buy, and should not be deemed as objects to buy, throw away and then buy another.

The use of cheap plastic or weak and inferior components were another form of built in obsolescence that was widely used...and to some extent still is.  However due to a larger amount of car manufactures, offering potential customers more choice, especially those who buy upon recommendation, lemons  and bum steer  cars can be avoided...and usually are.

Today this has been rectified, as it got so bad, that falls in sales of cars that rusted the fastest, ( Japanese cars were once the worst ) effected company sales by millions of dollars, so they had to rectify it.  Cars today can have a good healthy life for over ten years and many car companies back up their rust free promises with free extended warranty's or 100,000 miles free servicing.  The customer always votes with his wallet.

However, many fixtures and fittings of modern cars are still well below par, such as weak and cheap window winders, door pulls, radio knobs, glove box hinges, interior light panels...the list is endless...but at least the car itself won't rust away as you drive it.

A cars tires are deliberately designed to last a certain amount of mileage too.  It has been stated that if a cars tires were made to the same compound as Formula 1 race car tires, they would last ten times longer.

NOTE: Formula 1 race car tires only wear out so fast during a race due to them constantly cornering in excess of 100 mph and braking from 180mph+  Their incredibly rapid acceleration also quickly wears them down, but for normal road going cars, driving at normal speeds, wear would take a lot longer

Epson printers will usually cease to function after about two years from purchase, some of them even render a pop-up text box that states that the printer is past its service life.  The printer itself of course, would have been working fine with no problems up to this point, this would be a classic case of a time bombed unit.

Dell the Laptop and PC manufacturers have recently been accused of using very cheap and substandard internal parts to save costs as many peoples laptops packed up within just a few months up to two years  of use.

Some users even suggested that they were indeed time bombed.  These allegations are already damaging the reputation of Dell computers and reputations are hard to get back once damaged.  As some personal acknowledgement to all this...a relative of mine has a Dell laptop and it actually refused to power up after 2 years...this actually enthused me to make this webpage.  These allegations have never been confirmed though and is an ongoing covert investigation by myself...which so far, appears to confirm it.

Built in obsolescence can also be found in such items as fridge freezers that have their motors packing up after 5 years due to low grade wiring.  TV sets that used to blow a fuse after  three years, vacuum cleaners that cease to function after a year and the many other household electrical appliances that only last a few years rather than the ten, fifteen or twenty years use we would like  them to last for.

CORPORATE VALUES

Companies that do not manufacture goods but merely retail them can also have their reputation damaged, as the amount of complaints build up.  People will tend to say " Oh I bought this rubbish from Such & Such and it broke within a week " thus blaming the retailer not the manufacturer.

I have limited sympathy for these companies or retail outlets that do sell rubbish as they never advertise it as cheap.  Our world is less than ideal otherwise substandard products would show warnings like this: Will malfunction after three months - Made with cheap Chinese parts - Two year lifespan - Will wear out after 50 hours -  Slight impact will break product - Seal will fail in four years. -  Expect handle to detach after five rinses -  The lever will break if pulled too hard as cheap components were used during manufacture to maintain low costs, however...this is not reflected in the price.

Retail value is being effected on a wide world basis and unless it is checked and constrained then there will be more and more inferior appliances in our stores then ever before.  Everyone should only buy the product once, not the same product half a dozen times, constantly replacing and repairing them, that have not in reality reached the end of their life.

These broken vacs are getting younger by the day!

So you must always complain if an item you have only had for a while ceases to function.  Manufacturers should guarantee and warranty their products for several years, if not, don't buy them.

Many of my visitors viewing this web page can probably recall a time that something just packed up, or broke after only a short period of time and maybe wondered why...well this page has hopefully given some explanation of that mystery...it was deliberate built in obsolescence!

Remember though that many super high technological items such as smart phones will be obsolete 6 months after their launch, not by design but by default, as this is the pace that super hi tech runs along at.  This can be to your advantage though, if you don't mind waiting  a while.  I waited over 18 months before I bought an iPhone 3GS, I saved a considerable amount too, as the 3GS is now considered old technology, the same applies to the iPad, iPod, Playstations and other high end electrical products.

I would rather wait, then buy a top quality product cheaper, than to have that product made with cheap inferior components and have it cease to function after a while because of it.  It can be a bit of a juggling act today and shrewd commercial awareness and skills need to be brought into play to get the best for less.

THE GLOBAL ISSUE

Every product that is made, consumes energy to do so, therefore built in obsolescence is actually harming the environment.  Millions of products are thrown out every year that could still work for a few more years, whilst governments worldwide have done little or nothing to solve this problem.

Below is an image of a literal mountain of obsolescent  refrigerators, they worked for a few years before they ceased to function.  These fridge mountains are appearing in their thousands around the world, refrigerators cannot be buried or destroyed due to the environmentally hazardous nitrogen gas that is inside them.

Global legislation needs to be introduced to cap this unhealthy practice of ensuring rapid turnover of the majority of consumer products.  By allowing it, big business bosses get fatter and wealthier but the planets ecology becomes thinner and poorer as a result.  Ignoring the massive waste that built in obsolescence creates is to ignore the planets cries for mercy.

Although the big conglomerate business magnates wallet would hate it, governments should at least introduce some legal requirement for products to be marked up with something like;

 THIS PRODUCT HAS A LIFESPAN OF 3 YEARS FROM ITS DATE OF MANUFACTURE.

Governments should enforce this legislation to ensue that a product will be guaranteed to perform for twice or three times the amount that they do at the moment.  Regardless of its age, if a product still works then people still use them.  Keeping with the trend only really applies to fashion and not your printer!