The Old Dog Discusses: Planned Obsolescence Exposes The Dark Side of Product Design!

in evil •  7 years ago  (edited)

Did you know that there is a lot of wickedness inherent in the design of many products and appliances?

What is Planned Obsolescence?

  • Purposely designing products that wear out or become obsolete after limited use
  • This is done to induce the consumer to purchase a new model of the product or to buy replacement parts


What does this light bulb have to do with you? Plenty! You'll find out here! Image credit

My Introduction to This Insidious Practice


Step One of The Dirty Tricks:

Several years ago I purchased a new Samsung printer for my business for about $200 and after a short period of time a message came out saying that the waste toner tank was filled and I needed to change it or the printer would stop working. 

The waste toner tank is completely sealed making it impossible to empty but I drilled some holes in it, flushed it out and cleaned it myself. Afterwards I just covered the wholes with clear tape. The manufacturer could have provided a removable plug! This message and cleaning procedure was followed about every 6 months!


This is a screen shot from a Samsung video showing how to CHANGE the waste toner tank! What a farce!


Step Two of The Great Conspiracy:

After about a year a new message appeared saying that I had to change the image drum before the printer would work again! After some research I learned that the drum had a chip on it which  only allowed the printing of a pre-determined number of copies! What thieves! 

I found someone who sent me a chip that I taped on top of the old one and it worked for about another year. I then changed the chip again about a year later and in total I got many years of service out of that printer. No thanks to Samsung!


Here is a video from the the guy that I bought the chip from. Shocking!

What Was The Start of This Trickery? 

 

 There is a lightbulb in Livermore Califronia that has been burning for over 100 years. In fact when bulb inventors such as Edison and Adolphe Chaillet were designing the first bulbs their goal was longevity

Then came the Phoebus cartel where major manufacturers such as Philips, General Electric and Osram decided to collude together!  Not only did they get involved in price fixing but they purposely lowered the life-span of bulbs from the 1924 standard of 2,500 hours to 1,000 hours in 1940. Strict logs were kept and if necessary, fines were given in order to make sure that the low standards were kept! Can you say evil and wasteful?   

All of this proved that putting the reins on innovation and quality was a proven way of sustaining continued consumption and profits!  

Learn More About Planned Obsolescence


If you would like to learn more about this subject I highly recommend the documentary "The Lightbulb Conspiracy- Planned Obsolescence".

Beware! This film will shock you!


I always try to fix any broken products that I own and in a future article I'll discuss some more about this.

What Has Your Experience Been?

  • Had you already heard about planned obsolescence?
  • What examples can you share?
  • How does this knowledge make you feel?


I hope that you enjoyed this article on "Planned Obsolescence Exposes The Dark Side of Product Design!"


Until next time,


@kus-knee (The Old Dog)

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@kus-knee, planned obsolescence has been one of my pet peeves for most of my adult life! My dad was a bit of an inventor as well as a "quality freak" and he originally taught me some about products that were created more to be "sold" than actually to be used.

"Cheap" printers are a particularly nasty piece of trickery... designed mostly to make you spend lots of money on expensive toner and parts that supposedly "wear out," as per your experience. I have a laser printer that I have been using "remanufactured" toner cartridges in for years... even though the printer manual insists that using such "3rd party"cartridges can permanently damage the printer.

Not only do I save money on the locally re-made printer cartridges, they actually last longer than the OEM cartridges they'd have me buy! A scam, indeed!

I much admire the example of your dad. Remember : "The misery of poor quality remains much longer than the joy of a cheap price."

Poor quality is one thing but designing a product to fail at a pre-determined time, while understandable from a business point of view, is criminal!

Thanks so much @denmarkguy for taking the time to make an insightful comment!

The cynic in me says it's just part of our inevitable cycle that revolves around consuming and spending. I'm sure apologists for capitalism will argue that's how things are meant to work... but I take issue with that. I am a willing buyer for a better product that will last me a lifetime, but nobody seems to make one for me to buy!

Yes, I prefer video games consoles using games in cartridges like Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis because they last longer than CD-ROM based game consoles of today.

Very interesting! Thank so much for the visit @darthvana. You're an inspiration to many!

It's my pleasure. Your posts are always interesting!

@kus-knee Isn’t it funny when you come across a product your parents or grandparents are using that you’ve never seen before because it’s so old? Like a vacuum cleaner that belongs in a glass case somewhere, or a television fit for a museum (not in their closet or living room.)

As someone who is on her third Apple iPod (and no, the other two haven’t died on me yet), the idea of a product lasting for years to come without dying or becoming obsolete is news to me. I can only imagine what it’ll be like for my kids someday.

If you’ve ever been frustrated by the idea of a company coming out with the latest and greatest thing every six months, then you aren’t alone. The idea of planned obsolescence isn’t a new one, but has been around for generations. You’ve probably even come across this practice in your everyday life!
Well thanks for sharing with us these things.
Upvoted+Resteem!!

On the iPods, all devices that use software eventually end up "updating" your device to the point it won't work. So you have to stop updating at some point, then you become "vulnerable". Maybe all the "hacker villians" aren't just some adult kid in a basement or gangs in Russia. Maybe they're on payrolls...

"Maybe all the "hacker villians" aren't just some adult kid in a basement or gangs in Russia. Maybe they're on payrolls..."

A very telling comment!

Gotta wonder

Agreed with your motto.

What a great comment! as they say: "They sure don't make em like they used to!"

Dear friend, when I studied economy at University (just few exams ^^), one of our teacher talked to us about the changement happened when, many years ago, the industries decided to make less expensive products (and also less long-lived) instead more expensive and long-lived products. This decision changed the society and the consumerism started. There are many economists who are studied the effects along the time, some of them have specific strategy to contrast the effect of consumerism in the society.
About me, I can give you my experience with a simple things: dresses! I love vintage dresses, not only because they are really nice, but also because the fabrics used for them are really long-lived! ^
^

Thanks so much for your super comment. The fact that you express yourself so well in English is fabulous.

I am sure that you look bene and forte in those vintage dresses. For sure Paolo is a happy man!!!!

lol it's true! The vintage dresses are bene and forti, like me and Paolo :P

Hi Kus, can you Imagine that I had the same issues with my Samsung laser printer?? It was a cheap model but it worked so fine and when the message of the image drum came out I just bought new toners some days before! And the drum costed more than the printer value, no way!! So I found a step by step (in my case you had to add an extra resistance to the chip) to reset the count and now it works perfectly. What a sadness, waste of time and materials and pollution made by manufacturers, that they makes billions of profits (do they really NEED to do that?). Before this model I had an HP that had the scanner integrated, and when the ink was over I couldn't use the whole device!! Just to say that it's not a Samsung problem.
Anyway you did your job against this crazyness, well done!!

So, you're not just a painter but also a fixer! Nice! Yes all of the printing manufacturers seem to do it. Very dirty business practices!

Planned obsolescence is disgusting!!!!..I get very angry....think of all the consumeristic waste produced because of it...Grrrrr.... :-(

Yes you're right!

This is pure brilliance.

@kus-knee,
Actually I didn't go through the videos! Coz my data connection sucks :/ But I could get it!
"Planned Obsolescence" this is purposely done! In my organization some products are planned obsolescence! Coz if we make it for a long run, it might take long time to get a new customer!
I think that's the main purpose of "planned obsolescence"! But sometimes it might be happened with high demand! Then businesses try to get more advantage through high demand products and do "planned obsolescence"!

As a customer, we hate it! As a business sometimes we love it! But what I believe is, planned obsolescence means we cheat our customers and final outcome should be drop of the production and rivals will enter to the market!

Thank you very much for sharing such great post with us! Really appreciate your effort!

Cheers~

You make some very good points in your comment.
"As a customer, we hate it! As a business sometimes we love it!"

This is so true but it also shows that the entire system is wrong. This is what we call a canundrum!

Canundrum: "a confusing and difficult problem or question.
"one of the most difficult conundrums for the experts"
synonyms: problem, difficult question, difficulty, quandary, dilemma; informalposer"

Thanks for always adding so much to the discussions here!

OMFG!
This is one of the diabolical aspects of the world that pisses me off the most.
Humanity has literally been indoctrinated into an unsustainable consumer slavery!
The global elite have monopolized the world and are taking advantage at humanity and natures expense.
Thanks for shedding light on this very important topic!

Thanks so much for having a look. You get it!

Yes I totally get it!
I prefer to be in the know even when its not pretty but it sure aint pretty!

Of course I have heard about Planned Obsolescence. This is wickedness, because the corporations damage Mother Earth this way as well. I saw a film about planned obsolence some years ago - The light bulb conspiration. What you did with your printer, is great! You outsmarted them, hahaha :))) It is worth to follow.
Other examples?

  • Nylon stockings! The first nylon stockings were very strong and durable. Once it was buyed, there was no need to buy a new one for a long time. Today's nylon stockings are for just one occasion.
  • Cellphones - especially Android phones! I have a Samsung with Android, and it's going slower and slower, just to buy a new model. But I'll not buy new. I want to root it and reinstall, if it doesn't work anymore.
  • Windows - with every update it's getting worse. I turned to open source Ubuntu Linux.
  • Cars - they are so complicated, especially the electronics. Only a specialist can repair them and that's very expensive. Old cars, like the East German Trabant is so simple, that you can repair it in your garage. Parts are still available at very low prices. Loud and uncomfortable, but carry you anywhere.
  • Household devices: Washing machine, refrigerator, frying oven, mixer - they go wrong in an unexpected moment, and cannot be repaired.

Now, what can I do? I'm looking for old things that can be repaired, whether in furniture, clothing or anything else.

P.S:
I did not tell you that I was learning design (Hungarian Academy of Applied Arts), and there was a task, where an object had to be made of cardboard, which could carry 50 kilograms but had to be broken at 51. Needless to say, my object haven't broke at 51, just 60. I missed the exam :))) Thought provoking...

  ·  7 years ago (edited)

I love your examples they are all so true! When it comes to the stockings my wife tells me that often they rip while putting them on for the FIRST time!

I like your example from design school. I also studied industrial design and our project was to build a chair that would hold our own weight and not a kilo more!

Very cool comment. Thanks!

Thanks so much! Are you working as a designer in industry? I got a degree in glass design, and then worked in a glassfactory. But glass industry has ceased over the years, and I had to find a new job. Some artists are doing it as an entrepreneur, but starving as well! There is no market of art glass here! No more glass, this is so expensive to maintain a glass melting furnace. And my father, who was a builder of many glass furnaces, died in 2013.
By the way, glass! Breaks easily, but this is not planned obsolescence, but due to natural property of glass.

I worked in the field in Toronto for many years mostly designing custom furniture and store interiors. When I moved to a small town in Switzerland 22 years ago there was no work for me and I started my property maintenance/facility services business (that's a fancy way of saying cleaning business). This has given me a lot of freedom and I still love design!

That's great! Cleaning? Sometimes I go cleaning renovated and new houses and apartments. Not too much money but fun. And a great training to get slimmer (Lol)

Excellent information! My friends and I had been discussing this very thing recently. I had the same type experience with my printer which wasn't very old.

I started having problems with some major appliances and a friend who is in the appliance business told me on the QT that most appliances were designed to work at their best performance for only about 4 years.

"most appliances were designed to work at their best performance for only about 4 years"

I find this interesting, shocking and disgusting. I understand their reason for doing this but surely there must be a better way!

Thanks so much for the great insight!

not only is in play , but its obsolescence its shorter now , the apps for digital devices using the operative system as an excuse for making you change devices more than once in less than a year ... beside of the economical issue that it produce to the users its a waste of material and manwork that could be more beneficial to put into some better an ecological proyects

less greed more philantropy

upvoted and follow , excelent post

Thanks for your important post @kus-knee! Planned obsolescence is something you find nowadays in almost every product. The Iphone is another great example. They invented new special screws so that for a consumer its not possible to change the battery of the iphone - and as most iphone users probably know, after 1.5 years of usage, the battery lasts maybe half a day. But thats how our crazy economy keeps growing, with producing a huge amount of waste and keeping people buying new phones and other products again and again. But nowadays you can also find easy tutorials for example on youtube to fix these products easily by yourself. And another way is buying second hand clothes, which we do a lot. In China, there is even a huge Online Shop, just for buying second hand clothes - would be something to invent in Europe as well.. With this shop, you can find very stylish clothes, people maybe wore just once or twice. It's good to talk about these issues, as this kind of economy is definitely not sustainable at all!

Wow what a great comment. It's so true that you can find out how to repair almost anything on YouTube etc... and also true that this economy is not sustainable. I will be writing on this topic again and I thank you for your visit and your input!

I fully believe planned obsolescence is in play! Nowadays, products are not made with the same quality and don't have near the shelf life as their older counterparts. This is obviously more visible in the tech space, but really is everywhere!

We have been having problems with one of our AC units that was installed in the late 80's. A few parts have been replaced over the years, but the unit has been functioning decently well. This was until a few months ago. Two days ago a guy came out to service the unit and he said that we were better off getting a new unit. He was amazed at the longevity the unit has had. He said that the new units only last for about 10 years on average before requiring major maintenance or a new unit.

So we got 25-30 years out of our current air conditioning unit whereas the new units only get 10 years. So as the technology gets "better", the price gets cheaper, but the quality gets degraded.. Ugh..

You make a very good observation!

unbelievable.. i think it is much more then we know... look at all machines nowadays.. tv's brake after 7 years... what about the diesel gate... . I expect many more will be revieled the coming years... Maybe we hear in about 10 years that some algorithyms of steemit used in some forks were not completely right and that 0.0001 $ was going to some unknown unvisible blockchain... who knows..

Hey @rival, I believe that you are correct and that this is just the tip of the iceberg! Thanks for sharing your thoughts on the subject!

I knew about this for a long time and it still makes me kind of mad!

Imagine when you buy something that really lasts for ever
would this not be the most beautiful endeavor?
Of course it would cost much more but you´d pass it on
and person making it would have so much more fun!
at work and in life.
Everyone would just thrive.
With less clutter and more time fee
this is a future I would love to see!
Dear @kus-knee thank you so much for this post. I find the topic very important. I hope you like the little poem this post inspired. I wrote it as part of my poetrymarathon this weekend - This is poem number 12 I wrote!

Thanks so much for your lovely words!

Phones today are being made so they break easily. If you were to drop a iphone 5 and a iphone 6 from 10 feet above the ground the iphone 5 wouldn't break maybe just a little scratch on it and the iphone 6 screen would be completely shattered and have a whole lot of scratches and dents on the back. They are doing this so the owner of the phone has to buy a new phone or get the screen replaced which makes the company more money.

The sure do break easily. I made sure to have a robust cover and so far so good!

Hopefully decentralised manufacturing with 3D printers and Appliances As A Service will soon push the market to avoid products with inbuilt obsolescence.

Hopefully, the General Electrics of tomorrow will be Decentralised Autonomous Organizations providing quality goods and services to token holders in free markets

Why, what vision! You're looking towards great things!

I can speak from experience that what people see as some dark conspiracy is more likely the ineptitude of the people responsible for the "design" in the first place. Very few products ever get to market in the form they originally had and almost none ever escape the "Oh SHIT what do we do now!!!" moment during their testing.

It's easy for people unfamiliar with product development to believe the brilliant genius fallacy they see on TV shows and in movies. Designers and engineers are the same as your dipshit neighbor who drives through his own garage door or takes off to work in the morning with her purse on the roof of the car.

There is certainly ineptitude as you say but when you install a counter chip in a printer that "forces" you to change a part after a determined number of copies that's not ineptitude but planned.

My HP printer has the same chip in all 4 of it's toner cartridges, luckily, I did a quick search on the internet and read where to go in the settings to override that setting. I run it right down to the point where the print quality starts to degrade before I'm "forced" to change cartridges.

There are always trade-offs in the design of things. When a product takes from 3-5 years to go from a concept into a product on a store shelf, most products are already obsolete before the first one is sold.

That's simply due to the advancement of technology.

The fact that your printer needs a "waste toner" tank, screams poor design to me. One of those "Oh shit, what do we do now?" moments in the product development process. They probably noticed that it was dripping toner out the bottom and the easiest fix was to put a "bucket" under it to catch the overflow.

one should ask also if the cost of a short life product is lower than the one of the longeve product, shouldn't he? ;)

Good point!

Great post @kus-knee and I used to think that when I was younger. I thought that products were designed to break in time for a new updated model, and that would make good business sense, but hardly ethical I guess. This article made me think, good one mate.

Thanks so much for having a look!

Always @kus-knee and you hit on something people always told me was a myth, but I knew otherwise.

Car manufactures have engineers who work on removing enough metal from parts so that they will last just past the warranty and not much longer.
I find this deplorable.

The good side of this is that it will make the maker revolution that much easier. The bar for product quality is set really low. So, all of those home built jobbies are going to easily surpass what you get in the store. Plus, you can just make any replacement part. It will always be there; its just a digital file.

This is a very intersting comment and topic! Thanks!

I want to talk about what happened to you with the printer .. These days I bought tools for construction and did not complete until the day I was surprised to lose .. I went to the owner of the shop and I told him what happened with me said to me if brought tools suitable for years I am the biggest loser no tools sold. The last word is their money

That's shocking!

I find out a lot of interesting things from your work @kus-knee! Thank you for sharing!
I am resting by the sea now! Look at my week. You will enjoy the beautiful nature of the South of Ukraine!
https://steemit.com/travel/@olga.maslievich/week-19-25-august-thanks-steemit-i-m-traveling-the-best-moments-of-my-trip-to-the-south-of-ukraine-and-creative-moments-of-my

What a beautiful hat!

Great post! I must say you have "golden hands" !! My father can fix everything too) It's like a hobby for him. He likes to change some details, to improve things so that they become more comfortable and more useful.

That's awsome that you can fix everything without any help.In our time, this is a big rarity! Your family must be very proud of you😉

I guess it's a guy thing but my wife is quite handy too!

You both are great combination then)))) just perfect)))

Woah, this explains a lot now. Thank God I love fixing things too, Ill just keep at it since producers want to rip us off. Great post Ol'Dog! Props

Another Mister Fixit! Great to know you!

Same here sire!

Love, love your post! Just goes to show you how marketing has advanced to program people into "Buy New, throw away the old". Years ago, I had seen how Coke was making commercials that would flash a subliminal message (something the eye couldn't pick up, but the brain could) Evil, Scary stuff.

Well I'm looking forward to love loving your article on subliminal advertising! Will it include pictures of ice cubes in glasses full of whisky?

Lol, love your wit :)

What an awesome subject to bring awareness to!
This goes hand in hand with perceived obsolescence which goes for school books, just as much as most everything else that is "new and improved".

Yes the infamous "new and improved" angle!

Ha ha ha.. 😀 They are bloody pirates my dear friend old dog... 😂😂 well written post @kus-knee.. they are willing to loot our money.. but we have to be smart as they.. as you did with a chip.. also I'm happy to inform you that waste ink/toner tank count and drum chip count can be reset using some third party software.. I'm doing it on very famous printer models.. 🤓

Very cool to read about your resets. I had looked into that for the printer in question but it wouldn't work. How about a post from you on your experiences. So cool!

Let me know the printer models.. I can find a resetter for you..

@djmalith Steemit's go to Guy for Printer Resetting!

😊 I'm working on IT and Computer Hardware Repairing field since 2002..
Thanks for upvoting me, my greatest friend @kus-knee..
👍

This is gold standard material.

I'm not called a Wizard for anything! Love fixing things. This I have been doing since I have been in diapers (well okay, just out of diapers)!

I have great respect for the fixers of this world!

Thanks!

Yes, I've been a victim myself. I had a bathroom faucet that started leaking. I looked into replacing the washer and found out that there was no washer. You have to buy an expensive "faucet replacement cartridge." When I called the company to order it he asked me how old it was and when I said "only 5 years old" he replied, "Wow, I'm surprised it lasted that long."

  ·  7 years ago (edited)

Amazing. I live in a house that was built in 1960 and the bathrooms still have the original faucets. I've changed one washer in 10 years! Chrome plated solid brass!

Yes we here in the US are very in tune to planned planed obsolescence in many things especially the autos.
Interestingly, I just ran across this and my son did his second all time post about it. We found a brand new looking Porter Cable air compressor. Only thing wrong was a tiny plastic part. There were loads of videos on YouTube of folks having the same problem. This part was clearly engineered to fail. If you get a moment check it out at https://steemit.com/howto/@silver314/found-a-like-new-compressor-in-the-trash-what-was-wrong-with-it

Very nice article from Ben! It's great to see a father and son doing stuff together!

Thanks Old Dog. I feel its better in my garage ready to work, rather than rotting in a landfill. I already had one, but now I have one downstairs in my shop and one upstairs in the garage :)

Love your humour @old-guy-photos!

Oh yes, I know it and hate it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This is how it makes me feel

:-)

@roused

I can understand your frustration!

Nice post . You have a lot of interesting content there

Thanks a lot!

Mobility phones do the same - as soon as the warranty ends, they begin to deteriorate dramatically. That battery is buggy, the screen freezes. Otherwise, no one would buy every 2 years a new mobile phone.

Yes you are correct about the phones!

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Thanks a lot !

I have heard of this and know that printers were made to own a year or two. Mine generally last 3 years. Everything in this world goes back to money because money is control. One must think outside the box. I try to buy from estate sales and garage sales to find some remains of quality and less expensive. This is a intentional act and a spiritual war of good and evil of angels and the dark side. of God and Satan. We need more stories like this So glad you shared it. So how do we raise hell about it? What can we do to change this am make folks accountable? - Troy

I admire you fro your efforts to buy at estate sales and to seek out second hand items!

It did wonders for the auto industry in Detroit! Your story reminds me of the last expensive VCR I bought. I forget the brand but I spent over $100 for it. I brought it in to repair and the guy told me he could fix it... for about 2x what it was worth. Go buy a cheap one he advised me.

Amazing, sad and true! I will delve into this again in a future article!

Looks like I'm going to have to suck it up and do my "Begging Article" tomorrow... don't miss that one!

I think some of us have been suspecting this for years. They're just not hiding it as well anymore. When we buy a cell phone here, we can expect it to last 6 months to a year before the battery goes. Then just try to buy a replacement for an obsolete phone. This goes for everything from printer cartridges to light bulbs. Some one is making a pile of money with building obsolescence into everything they build...

It really is an evil practice!

Much is build to replace, when I was young a tv last for 15 years, now maybe 8. And not only because of the electronics Inside. Further; different filters which cannot be washed out. Only replaced...
companies should be rewarded when they produce sustainable items.

It's nice that you offer a solution at the end of your comment!

This is a revelation that Samsung would not want everyone to know @kus-knee.
What an informative post worthy of an upvote and resteem.
Extra kuddos for the Old Dog.

Off to the new/hot section on steemit!

Yes indeed and it's not just Samsung but ALL of the brands!

Hopefully, decentralised manufacturing with 3D printers and Appliances As A Service will soon push the market to avoid products with inbuilt obsolescence.

Hopefully, the General Electrics of tomorrow will be Decentralised Autonomous Organizations providing quality goods and services to token holders in free markets.

You are looking towards a bright future!

I've never had planned obsolescence before but it is definitely true.

Most companies care about sales rather than customer satisfaction and long lifespans as many will decide to leech of loyal customers when they repeatedly by their product.

It is the worse when you have brand specific expensive pieces of hardware which you can't replace with a 3rd party one.

It disgusts me how much people are motivated by greed but it is human nature I guess @kus-knee

Yes it is too bad that they act in that way!

amigo #resteemia at your service

'Planned Obsolescence' personally hate this word. useful work @kus-knee

ReSteemia
'UpVote ReSteem Comment'

Thanks

I guess every goods that produced by manufacturer has a standard time of usage, then it would broke down. That will keep their pocket geeting bigger. Tat is nice you can find a way to solve that kind of problem but the other i guess not that brave to repair it by themself, including me.

I find it a great challenge to try and repair something!

Nice informative article @kus-knee sir, no doubt companies are making huge profits from making poor things and give us huge loss, so if we buy such poor things we have no option left rather replace them or buy new ones. i also like the documentaries.

Thanks for the visit and for your precious input!

I had heard about this a while ago, when the second or third generation of smart phones came out.

As my phones drops on the floor on a regular basis I cant really only blame the phones for not working after a while. But some friends complained about theirs, and they took much better care then me, that some of their phones stopped working after a while seemingly out of the blue.

It seems to be all pervasive!

Yes, this is why I generally buy older things when possible, they're more "fixable".

It's infuriating. And more and more they're blocking your ability to try to fix anything. First a mechanic had to become a computer expert, eliminating much of the average guys ability to work on their own car. Now they encase the engine in plastic so you can't see or get to anything.

It's so true what you say about the cars today! When I was a teenager I ALWAYS fixed my own car! Now, forget it!

Yeah even oil changes aren't done commonly at home anymore

Yeah I somehow had the feeling that a lot of things are made in poor condition simply so you would have to replace it. I guess the companies get huge profit this way and we losr a lot of money. I like documentaries so thanks for sharing this one. I'll watch it in the evening :)

Thanks for coming. The documentary is a real eye opener!

The blooming villains!! I have long suspected this to be the case. You know when I got my last printer I did wonder at the number of components that had chips on them for which there seemed to be no need!

It is so wasteful! You should lower the boom on them!

It is and you know, I think I shall!!!!

Now that's an interesting thing i came across today very interesting thing to be honest great video explained very much

Thanks so much for having a look!

That is a page from the Lexmark playbook isn't it. At least as I remember they were the first to do it in printers, when IBM did the do or die spin off. Printer is cheap but ink cartridge is robbery. Then others followed suit.

Such dirty business!

yes many products barely last a year now -- our last toaster failed after a year and so many printers have had to be replaced, as you say.

Incredible! My son and I fixed our toaster about 5 years ago as a little project. He learned to solder and we still have the toaster!

I had the same problem at work with a lexmark printer, we were obliged to change the toner several times but without success, result; Change The printer after a real fight

resteemed

The video above really exposes what they're doing!

Product Life Cycle management is a whole art, lol

True, but you'd think that there would be a better way!

I've never heard about planned obsolescence before, but with your article i can have a whole clear idea about it

I hadn't either but it turned my stomach when I learned of it!

wow...very interesting post....
upvoted...!!!

Thanks!

@kus-knee - Sire, love your work Sire. 'Planned Obsolescence' means cheating Sire. That's not a good thing Sire. I love your post Sire, therefore I wish to ReSteem your post Sire.

+W+ [UpVoted & ReSteemed]

Thanks so much!

Indeed, we should not be throwing all these things away. And designers should design to last. Not design to break down.

You are right!

Great invention and Insidious Practice make the work in perfect way
Awesome bro @kus-knee

Thanks for your visit!

Welcome bro

This is what "Apple" does and generate huge profit.

its all about profits now,no one cares about the customers

True!

This is really weird and disgusting at the same, if Edison would have been alive today, he must be feeling very disheartning after watching all of this non sense going on. Inventions are done for the welfare of societies but these big companies just wanna make their pockets heavy and suck us. I am really feeling very bad after hearing that big names like Samsung are also involved in it.

This make think of an iphone...great post

beautiful ,great post kus-knee! keep it up! and thanks again for following!


@ahlawat

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I like your articles!

great post
follow & upvote & comment plz

Thank you for sharing this very useful knowledge @kus-knee, Because all this time I often throw broken light bulbs in my house.

hi! i'm glad to meet you :)

i started steemit, and i want to be your neighbor!

i voted and followed you! have a good day!

very interesting post.. thanks for sharing!

This post received a 3% upvote from @randowhale thanks to @kus-knee! For more information, click here!

upvoted and follow..kindly see my post and upvoted it @kus-knee..hope you follow me also need your support sir.
https://steemit.com/christianity/@mrblu/come-to-his-beloved-grace-blupost-christianity

https://steemit.com/poetry/@mrblu/blupost-poetry-our-love-story

Wow.

Thanks for sharing : )

I'm going to study product design in exactly a month, then i am able to tell you the truth haha :D

Planned obsolescence is one of the most annoying traits of modern products, especially the type of dirty tricks that Samsung are pulling that you described!

Making sure the build quality of a light bulb is not robust is one thing, putting in a chip that would deliberately disable your otherwise working machinery should actually be illegal.

Your posts are always interesting! Love to read itDQmbTGFxNodiZnB8sUzx8hg65RnLt5XER39XcRXPuW8gSvV.gif