Nothing can have value without being an object of utility
Karl Marx
In modern days is impossible to have a regular life without using electronics that help us in our daily choirs, like cleaning our houses, and using cell phones to stay connected to the world, technically we depend on electronic devices in almost every aspect of our lives, without them we definitively would have a hard time.
Unfortunately, these devices do not live forever, or sometimes due to an accident they can malfunction or be broken, thus, the solution to that problem diverges into two options, they can be repaired or they can be replaced with new devices. However, a strange pattern in the electronic lifetime often shows on some (if not the majority) of the electronic devices that the “natural” life or durability of a specific device is shorter than expected, presenting malfunctions even if the electronic device never suffered damages caused by human intervention. Normally we would think that these devices are manufactured with quality standards like endurance and utility with the finality of creating devices that last a long time while facilitating life aspects, but turns out that big companies calculate a determined period of life for these devices to fail and malfunction, but why this is happening? The answer is programmed obsolescence which is more frightening than we can imagine.
Programmed obsolescence is an intentional praxis from the fabricants of several electronic products, that make them malfunction in a determined time.
Products like cell phones, TVs, washing machines, laptops, tablets, fridges, etc, are devices that frequently malfunction without an apparent reason, and sometimes the costs of repairing them are not affordable, because the process of doing so is difficult or because some parts needed to repair them cannot be found anywhere, this situation leads people to buy new devices rather than repairing them because it is a better solution.
This occurs because manufacturers intentionally reduce the lifetime of their products in order to make people buy new ones every certain period of time. How do manufacturers do this?
Manufacturers use different types of obsolescence to program the death of their products, from unexplainable malfunctions that make them completely useless pushing people to buy the latest devices just to stay updated.
There are 3 types of programmed obsolescence:
- Functionality: occurs when a more advanced product is launched to the market with new and innovative functions.
- Quality: after some time, the products start to fail and malfunction.
- Desire: this happens when people change their devices to stay updated or “trendy”
Programmed obsolescence affects all people, economically and psychologically because it forces people to stay in a non-healthy never-ending circle of excessive consumption and waste of old products, this is a clear unethical capitalist practice that takes advantage of people with products that are destined to die in a short term rather that guarantee a product could last for a significant amount of time.
Some countries have strict rules for companies that manufacture electronic devices to avoid programmed obsolescence, this is because every company must ensure that their clients are receiving a quality product in exchange for money, programmed obsolescence is considered then as a scam, a fraud that should not be permitted, without forgetting the high negative impact on the environment that this praxis causes.
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