Andrew D Atkin:
One of the reasons why we have all those mass-production plants churning out all those goods, is because those goods have been carefully designed with strategic weaknesses that ensure that they will fail after a certain amount of use, forcing the consumer to repurchase the product. A classic example is the light bulb; make that filament just slightly thicker and it will last forever.
Why on earth do we tolerate this crazy waste? Where are the durability regulations?
Building products to last is not hard. All you have to do is throw in a little more material mass at the (otherwise) weak points, and your product could last you a virtual lifetime. And I can assure you - that little bit of (comparative) over-building adds next to nothing to the overall construction cost of the device.
Okay, some products must wear out in any circumstance, in particular for where moving parts interface and therefore induce mechanical wear. However, products can be easily designed so that mechanical interfaces (and other must-perish components) can be easily replaced. What's more, You-tube videos can be created to show anyone how to make a specific replacement for any given product-component (think of a TV cooking show - monkey see, monkey do!). Furthermore, with the use of the internet the exact component that you require can be effortlessly purchased online - you could just dial up a schematic of your product by typing in the model number to a product-based search engine, and then click on the specific component that you need. It should be as simple as that.
We shouldn't have to throw away an entire product due to one or two worn-out components, in the same way that we don't throw away our cars just because the tyres have gone bald. Today more than ever, there is no excuse for planned obsolescence. There is no need for a "throw away" society like it exists today. It is, or could be, simply too easy to maintain our stuff.
Motive for planned obsolescence:
The motive for planned obsolescence is clear enough. A lack of planned obsolescence can quickly lead to a glut of the product the manufacturer is selling, and that glut will instantly threaten the sale-price of any more products coming onto the market. This is a big deal if you've already sunk, say, $50m into your production plant. You don't want to destroy your own demand.
Effect of removing planned obsolescence:
What would happen if we managed to get rid of planned obsolescence (probably via government regulations, and publicly advertised durability ratings)?
With minimal population growth, our existing production plants would be forced to slow down to meet the reduced demand. Yes, there would be a reduction of economic activity, but only for the right reasons i.e. we just wouldn't need to produce and consume so much for a given living standard achieved. In the end, we would work less but be just as rich.
There is the argument that planned obsolescence facilitates progress by creating an enduring high demand for new products, and therefore creates the opportunity for products to be further developed. I don't buy this argument at all (no pun intended), as I will explain:
Modern computers are made obsolete not because they wear out, but because much better computers can be purchased to replace them. This is the kind of progress that we would see with the removal of planned obsolescence. There would be less incremental change (over time) with the products that we buy, but when the change does occur we will see much more substantial advancements - improvements substantial enough to allow a significant portion of the market to sell off their perfectly well-functioning dishwasher (or whatever) for the state-of-the-art new model.
So progress will happen in fewer but big steps, rather than many small steps. Indeed, you could assume that progress will happen more aggressively because the pressure will be on engineers to make truly significant improvements to their products, and society will also have more resources to facilitate that progress via the improved overall efficiency from the removal of waste.
However. With the removal of planned obsolescence you will get a small reduction in economies-of-scale - production plants will tend to be geared for smaller production runs, and that means less investment in extreme and high-speed automation in the production process. So yes, this will make products a little more expensive to buy off hand, but then not by much because the global demand for products in general is still going to be massive in any circumstance (we're 6+ billion and growing!). So, in turn, you would still tend to see highly efficient mass-production invested into good quality products.
Regardless, even if those new products are a bit more expensive, you would of course be purchasing them less often, and you could still pick up anything you need second-hand with confidence that it will last for a very long time.
Conclusion:
Getting rid of planned obsolescence is winner on every count. My conclusion is that we, as a society, should stop it via political pressure as soon as we possibly can. It really is just crazy.
