Our Dance in the Market Economy
Planned vs Perceived Obsolescence: The Fight for our Wallets
Planned Obsolescence is defined as a strategy to deliberately ensure that a product will be either break, expire, lack a software patch, made useless etc after a certain time limit ensuring consistent demand. Perceived Obsolescence on the other hand is the phenomenon when consumers themselves feel they need to buy or change products (that might work just fine) due to reasons based on style, design, societal/peer pressures, desire etc. An example of planned obsolescence could be a light bulb that stops emitting light after 1000 hours - even though there might be light bulbs that can exist for 10000 hours. An example of perceived obsolescence is buying the latest phone because your friends have. This dance, the market economy, is something that we are all part of constantly.
It's important to recognize that not everything that has a planned obsolescence expiry date is deliberately designed to fail after x hours and similarly, not everything that has perceived obsolescence effect is necessarily someone else's but your own. Let's explore these two concepts more closely.
The ambiguity of planned obsolescence
Much of life as we know it, especially us who live in highly urbanized territories, are in the center of this tango between planned and perceived obsolescence. As I mentioned before, not everything is a sinister conspiracy that aims to engulf every bit of your disposable income. However, while the light bulb was one example I gave earlier, single use plastics, most of your consumer electronics (TVs, cameras, video game consoles), clothing etc will all either stop working, have some random issue after the insurance time frame or simply wear off - pushing you to buy a replacement. Before we explore the downside of this mode of operations, there are some positives. One of the obvious positives is that it keeps people at work, keeps revenues - both private (sales) and public (VAT) - coming in and in general, keeps the economy and society on the move.
If we today, we invented high-quality TVs that could last 100 years, it would potentially increase prices due to better materials being used, but would also deprive us of visiting electronic stores that have that aroma of corporate carpets and industrially treated plastics and metals on a regular basis. And this is the issue. We would stop doing things on a regular basis. It would not create a consistent and predictive consumer pattern for companies to plan production, predict sales and would create some disturbances in the labor market. After all, much of the market economy is based just on this, some sense of predictability in society whether this comes in the forms of holidays (religious, seasonal, personal etc), birthdays, festivals, events, accounting deadlines (fiscal year ends), things breaking in 2 years so that you can buy the new model etc.
It is worth noting though that that a TV or mobile phone that could potentially outlast you, if produced, would absolutely flip the market economy as we know it upside down, it could also do some good in the process. Taking the TV as an example, we know most TV survive on average 7-10 years. This isn't bad but imagine one that will be there with you for 100 years. Considering the amount of TVs that are bought on a regular basis across the globe on an annual basis, imagine the amount of semi-conductors, metals, plastics etc that would not need to be produced if we could manufacture a TV lasting our lifetime as opposed to the one that is 'planned' to break in 1 decade. Same for all the devices we use. That's a whole lot of chips and materials that won't be needed to get extracted from the earth's soils, additional materials processed and transported across multiple supply chains (most probably with diesel) before it then gets plugged inside your home.
The inevitability of perceived obsolescence
Now, perceived obsolescence adds to the complexity. People, including myself, get bored of things. We get inspired by things, we dream, fantasize, imagine another path, get intrigued, charmed, convinced (maybe fooled?) and believe it or not, scared into liking, hating, believing things as well. This is also a foundation of the market economy that keeps things ticking. Again, nothing wrong here - I am not making a moral stand. However, just think on how your perception on any given issue can potentially influence your purchases from anything to the most 'fairly' produced chocolate bar to ensuring you buy the latest phone in order to stay updated and in the loop with the rest.
I hope I am not discouraging you all to open your wallets just because you took a stance on something based on a feeling or an emotion. Definitely not. Feelings, desires, emotions etc make life much more interesting. If I want to become a rocket scientist, I will need to go get educated and in the 21st century, that process will most probably take place in an higher education institution before I land a job at a space organization.
But for that process, countless teachers will have an impact on my learning, countless laborers will pave the roads, serve my lunches in the canteen, clean the classrooms along with several other individual contributors that will build the infrastructure needed across various stages along my path to become a rocket scientist. But when I finally become that rocket scientist, design and send that satellite into space, the world might change - everything from traffic management to efficiency in agricultural production. And imagine in that life cycle of that student, the effects on the GDP thanks to the countless packets of noodles, cigarettes and cups of coffee purchased. All this because someone, based on perception for whatever reason, wanted to become a rocket scientist.
We shouldn't stop the dance
I want, via Enganche Calcio, one day, be able to sell you sports clothing made by materials which are water efficient, renewable, recyclable and that will last you a lifetime and beyond. As of writing this post, I am not successful, but will be one day in doing so. I am also on this mission because I love this dance we are in. l see the beauty in the market economy but I do this more after having got aware of planned and perceived obsolescence respectively.
And that's probably the only piece of advice I would give anyone who is reading this. There are definitely products out there that could last you longer and we should be better in demanding them. If all of a sudden the world stops drinking your favorite company's can of soda, that company wouldn't stop and collapse. It would adapt very fast. Same goes for your favorite car brand, clothing brand (Enganche Calcio :D), mobile phone brand etc. The bigger the company, the more likely they would have the capacity to adapt also and produce products which last longer and explore other avenues or business models to monetize (second hand, repair, servicing etc).
Also, probably most importantly, wanting, desiring things is not inherently bad. While things need to be tempered (and legal!), these emotional journeys we go through, have such major impact and puts color into the lives we live. While I doubt and warn that feelings, desires, wants etc will get you true happiness, it surely puts the world in motion and gives the gift of experiences.
What do we see in our reflection after we dance?
The title of this post referred to a dance in the market economy. It was a just a way of pointing out our journey in this phenomena called the market, economy etc. and how we engage with it, how we are influenced in it and how we can influence it ourselves. I would just say that the economy is a reflection of our consumption habits, our thoughts, our fears, desires etc. While there might be an invisible hand that pushes up oil prices and influences things behind the scenes, there are also things which are in our control and these can have significant effects on how companies, especially the ones with large manufacturing capacity, sophisticated supply chains and digital infrastructure operate. It is fair to say 8 billion+ consumers can't think and feel the same on every matter, but maybe one day there could be a few common and agreed upon standards that will make high-quality and durable products available for us.
Because an enlightened, aware, sentient, consciousness consumer, in full unity with the cosmos is highly dangerous for the dance. It will stop the dance all together. It will turn the dance into a rave.
