Planned Obsolescence
Planned obsolescence refers to manufacturing or marketing techniques and strategies designed to artificially shorten the life of a product. This is done by either making the product useless, or appear useless, after a predetermined amount of time. The objective of planned obsolescence is to stimulate replacement-buying in consumers by reducing the lifespan or relevance of a product.
We have all seen planned obsolescence at work. New, shinier, models of technology are released every year to replace the old models. Here are three types of planned obsolescence and where we’ve seen them
Obsolescence of FunctionAn item is produced to breakdown or otherwise cease to function in an abnormally short period of time. May also refer to cases where an item is rendered non-functional but the item, itself, still works.
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Technical ObsolescenceRefers to the obsolescence of older items that is caused by the creation of new items that perform the same function, with some improvements, causing the older items to become inferior.
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