What if you told your sweater that the fabric of the sweater you bought last month was already pilling because of a few businessmen and a light bulb?
One evening in 1924, the world’s leading light bulb manufacturers met for a conference that would change the world forever. As you know, these light bulb manufacturers had a big problem. It’s just that people aren’t buying enough light bulbs. In 1924, a typical light bulb had a lifespan of one year. average of 2,500 hoursSo if you leave your lights on for 12 hours every day, it will take almost 7 months before you need to replace your bulbs. These businessmen realized that if they intentionally shortened the lifespan of their products, people would have to replace them more often and they would get more money.
Together they founded an organization known as. phoebus cartel, the regulatory body that would open up the global incandescent light bulb market.They succeeded in shortening the lifespan of the light bulb, and by early 1925 he had it codified as 1,000 hours, and the cartel disappeared from history by 201930s.
But the story doesn’t end with the cartel. First, the average lifespan of an incandescent light bulb is still 1,000 to 1,200 hours. Regarding the lifespan of things other than light bulbs, the practice of intentionally creating products with relatively short lifespans has become known. planned obsolescencestill influences everything we buy today.
Cell phones in your pocket are also designed to fail, and this is a modern example of this phenomenon. When the first few iPhones came out, there were visible differences and visible upgrades between the first few versions.Just compared the first two models of his, the second iPhone is Two degrees It ran iPhone 3.0 (an early version of iOS 8) just as fast as the previous generation. Since then, Apple has started releasing not just one but two models per year, and we’ve seen products become more and more the same.
Navigating the cycles of consumerism and consumption is reinforced in the digital age.
According to Forbes, the similarities between the two latest models are so strong; strong argument As for whether an upgrade is necessary: ”After all, if most of the characteristics are the same and the price is $100 less, it’s easy, right?” Apple has faced legal challenges in the past. Become slow It shut down older cell phones to maintain demand and lost a recent class action lawsuit.
Surprisingly, there are even more reasons why making a product bad for consumers is better for business.
From sweaters to cars to kitchen appliances, it seems like everything we own breaks down, breaks down, or explodes faster than before. Carefully designed corporate plans to speed up production are reducing the quality of the products we buy. All to buy something else and make someone richer in doing so.
This is not a new phenomenon. Since the Industrial Revolution, the quality of what we use has declined. In the early 1800s, if you wanted a new coat, you had to make one.
Make it yourself or go to a tailor. In either scenario, the coat will be designed and manufactured exactly to your wishes. Additionally, this was a pre-synthetic era, so coats were made entirely from natural materials, and unless you were very wealthy, they were probably locally sourced. Since you’ve spent a lot of effort and money getting your new coat, you’ll want to take good care of it, making any necessary repairs along the way to extend its lifespan. Hopefully it will take a long time before you can replace it with a new coat, but when you do, you will inevitably have to do it.
In the industrial age, that’s bad for business.
Clothing is a good example of this process. I have a pair of jeans that my mom bought me when I was in college, and 30 years later they’re still a staple in my closet. But the clothes we wear today are not only inferior to hand-sewn ones, but also inferior to the mass-produced clothes of 50 years ago.
Even if people say that I’m basic or that I like trendy things, that’s not what people think of me.
inflation is a contributing factor to this decline. Over the years, the cost of everything has gone up, including labor costs. Therefore, keeping everything the same about the product, it would cost him more to manufacture that exact product now than it did 50 years ago. But even though consumers don’t want to pay more, companies still want to make a profit, so they compensate.
In the design three The important factors that manufacturers consider are aesthetics, ease or low production of the product, quality and functionality of the product. In order to cut costs, companies may choose to cut corners, and in doing so, the overall quality of the product may be compromised.
However, there are limits. Companies don’t want to compromise on appearance. Because then people won’t buy the product. Therefore, shortcuts and cost reductions are taken in his two main areas: manufacturability and quality. Quality shortcuts mean lowering the overall quality of the product by sourcing cheaper materials or using cheaper production. This is most obvious to consumers.
from the light From light bulbs to iPhones to coats, the practice of intentionally designing products with shorter lifespans is ingrained in our consumer culture, driven by economic incentives and the pursuit of profit, and pervades everything we buy. This is something that not even the Phoebus Cartel could have fully foreseen.
Ainsley Foster is a second year elementary education student.