Planned Obsolescence - False Demand or Economy Driver?

Pax suggested...

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What would be just as good, is an end-planned-obsolescence thread.

Planned obsolescence creates a false increase in demand instead of instilling robustness into products.

Ard Taoiseach (predictably!) replied

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Boo! It ensures a continuous supply of economic growth, profit and advancement.

evercloserunion chipped in

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It also widens the gap in the quality of life between the rich and the poor.

All lifted from The Recession Shopping Thread

Kate P added just now

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Agghhh - the waste, the waste - the disposal problems, the mindset that infects other purchases...

Planned obsolescence is environmentally intolerable as it uses a lot of precious and also toxic materials that end up in landfill.

The profit system is a bit of a catastrophe, in my view.


How about we all produced less, used less and had a shorter working week instead ?

cactus flower wrote:

Planned obsolescence is environmentally intolerable as it uses a lot of precious and also toxic materials that end up in landfill.

The profit system is a bit of a catastrophe, in my view.


How about we all produced less, used less and had a shorter working week instead ?

Think of all the people who work in the recycling industry - times are bad enough without wanting to add all of them to the dole queues :-) Also, green economics is potentially really interesting - I'd hate to see it being strangled at birth. 

Paul R wrote:

cactus flower wrote:

Planned obsolescence is environmentally intolerable as it uses a lot of precious and also toxic materials that end up in landfill.

The profit system is a bit of a catastrophe, in my view.


How about we all produced less, used less and had a shorter working week instead ?

Think of all the people who work in the recycling industry - times are bad enough without wanting to add all of them to the dole queues :-) Also, green economics is potentially really interesting - I'd hate to see it being strangled at birth.

WHAT!

Better to have goods that do not need recycled, goods that last. Washing machines, freezers and the like could easily be built to last. In any case I thought that re-use was better than recycle. Also think of the jobs in repair, if the goods were made in a manner that repair was economically possible, all local jobs to!

Transporting rubbish around and rubbish generally is inefficiency. If you want to see economies where nothing is wasted and recycling really works you end up in some 3rd world hell hole with children collecting bags of paper and plastic.

Better to have more expensive durable goods and either shorter working weeks or more services in the economy.

Zorg: "Father - you're so wrong ! Let me explain... "