This is why we can't have nice things

[@rossmanngroup]

8.5 million people watch you, and you planted a seed today in their mind about right to repair. Thank you.

[@ginichimaru5476]

🖖🏽

[@CusomPCs]

Yooo the og

[@aadityachhitarka1938]

I expected you here

[@junkbucket50]

LOUIS!

[@Fleurlean4]

I knew you’d like this

[@davidletasi3322]

My aunt moved into her family home in 1919 at age 14 and had a 1913 Edison light bulb on her second story stair well. She lived in the house untill her death in 2002. She replaced that bulb a year before her death and she gave it to me and I have kept it right up to writing this comment and the other day plugged it in to see if it's still works. Bright as ever! Going on 108 years old.

[@xyz-pg3zd]

wow

[@netshaek]

Nobody else like the comment it’s at exactly 108 likes

[@SrCremeify]

@@netshaek I was going to do it until i read ur comment hahahahah

[@ericmcclelland7151]

Someone already ruined it so +1 like for every extra year?

[@2n974]

That happened

[@sarahschulz7987]

My parents recently got a new microwave and gave me their old one they got for their wedding - I'm 25 and warming up my leftovers in the same microwave my baby food was warmed in... pretty amazing. I would love if everything lasted forever. Planned obsolescence feels like such a waste of resources.

[@Dimchastichni]

but but, infinite growth! :)

[@-hiro-5995]

It’s just a conspiracy, it’s impossible to hold cartels that court control so much today, the strategy does exist, apple has done it,

[@thornblackwell5749]

@@-hiro-5995 Steve Jobs did it. Apple has sold its soul since then.

[@jackr2287]

A waste of time, ambition, and effort. But I wonder if it's a character of a downturn of civilizational spirit, when it occurs writ large.

[@terrabiker]

yeah , i had to replace the 20yo microwave only bcs we got new power breakers that couldn't handle the peak load when turning on the MW. It didn't have a soft start...

[@theresespencer2827]

We bought our house in 1999, and it came with an old brown electric stove, built by American Motors Corporation sometime in the 1970's or so. It has outlasted all the other appliances we bought when we moved in.

[@james__anna_burns4885]

my house was built in the 60’s. the same oven has been running, and even the broiler still works

[@foreverpainful]

my mobile home was built in 76 and basically everything is original except the microwave, fridge, shower curtain, and theres a small piece of a curtain rod that broke off, but it didnt break the rod. I love it.

[@operacarmen]

That is why American Motors Corporation was found antisemitic by Semitic Industries leaders for unfulfilling industry trade practices affecting the profit of many semites. Next time research before you talk or even better MIND OWN BUSINESS, work or go to school.. if you have extra time (I don't know why) watch sports or drink or go shopping ..there are things commoners will NEVER understand that is why are best kept from the masses

[@CancerZodiacAstrologyHoros-k7z]

LOL, 😂 😂 😂 😂 😂 😂 The FUNNIEST PART of all is that PEOPLE these days PAY as if the items would last forever, but for cheaper things. LOL, people these days are SO D*UMB.

[@CryptoLorenzo]

My mum had an oven that lasted 30 years, fully functioning right till the end. Then when she got a replacement, the technician told her that the company who manufactured them went broke because their ovens very rarely broke down. It's sad that we've gone from one extreme of excellent durability and reliability to planned obsolescence.

[@Daemien21]

Because we cant find or change an economic solution to this as a species

[@DavidMishchenko]

Which company?

[@gizzyguzzi]

how long have you had your car? I am driving a 25 y.o. car with 200k miles on it. Impossible 40 years ago (without a complete rebuild at least once)

[@CryptoLorenzo]

@@DavidMishchenko It was a company named St. George, here in Australia, which is now defunct. You will see a bank and rugby league team bearing the same name, but they're completely unrelated.

[@CryptoLorenzo]

@@gizzyguzzi My original comment relates to an old oven that lasted up to Jan 2020. However, my car is 7 years' old to date so too early to tell how long it'll last.

[@badwolf4239]

Slightly different than obsolescence, but when I was 13 or so, my neighbor (who lived about a mile away since I grew up on a farm) hired me to help him cut and load some old, dead oak trees to sell the wood. For those who don't know, wood is usually sold by the cord when dealing with large sales, which is a measure of volume (around 1,000 gallons, I think). So I started loading this wood into a trailer, and on the second day I was helping him, he stopped me and told me that I was loading it too well. I was being too efficient, packing the wood into the trailer too tightly and thus reducing his profit from the sale of the wood, since there was more wood per cord. He made me stop and instead load it loosely and less efficiently. A few days after that, I came up with a way to use his tractor to load the wood faster than either of us could by hand, and he fired me once he realized how well it worked. Really taught me a lot about the world.

[@nelsblair2667]

I don’t blame him for releasing unneeded laborers. I might blame him for shorting the customer. I don’t blame him, if he had just wanted you manual load times to be faster but used the packing efficiency argument to show his concern, without directly calling you slow.

[@danieljensen2626]

I mean you kinda did that to yourself if he was paying you to help and you showed him he could just use the tractor without needing you at all.

[@ikocheratcr]

You optimized yourself out. Welcome to the world. Happens when you automate your job too much, your employer finds that you are not needed any more, sadly that employer is short sighted, cause he can use you to automate more stuff instead.

[@SeldomPooper]

ha :D

[@Anarchy421]

Never seen wood measured in gallons. Thanks for the laugh :D

[@ScoutSniper3124]

When I was a young boy and my Grandfather complained "They keep making this junk cheaper so you have to keep buying it"... he must have said that a hundred times to me over the years... turns out Grandpa knew what the hell he was talking about.

[@AnotherAvaibleName]

Grandpa doesn't have all those years for no reason. The greatest tragedy is that us young people tend to ignore their wisdom.

[@lsswappedcessna]

All us young people turn up our noses at the 'boomers' for their often seemingly backwards ways of thinking, but they have wisdom on things that we're clueless about.

[@mikopiko]

@@AnotherAvaibleName YOU SAID IT

[@thany3]

This is true even in most of our lifetimes. Mobile phones used to be virtually indestructible (with normal use). And the screen was made from plastic, which scratched like a MF, but didn't crack.

[@krzysztofczarnecki8238]

It's literally killing -two- -three- four birds with one stone for the manufacturers - while charging the same amount of money, using less material/lower rating components costs them less, and at the same time they last a shorter amount of time. This also allows a smaller enclosure, that is more appealing to customers, and that in turn helps further reduce lifespan by making the product heat up inside more, and making it less mechanically durable. Just look at every device with more than 1 transistor in it made in the last decade and a half - the trend is to make them thin and "pretty" and try to shove that into people's brains as "fashion", and use brittle and easily scratched materials, while cheaping out on everything inside.

[@rafabonati7757]

My parents bought a house in 1963 that was built in 1928 from the original owners. The front entrance had an unusually shaped light bulb. It must have been the original bulb from when the home was built. It was only turned on occasionally. When my Mom sold the house, we unscrewed that bulb and it’s installed in a closet at my sister’s home. It still works. It’s not continuously on of course. But that makes it even more special because turning it on and off weakens the tungsten more than keeping it on! I think the tungsten filament must be quite strong and thick. Yep, they don’t make things like they used to sure applies to this light bulb. 💡

[@susanrabideau9089]

I instantly thought of that lightbulb that you took when mom moved, haha!

[@rokpeter8012]

​@@susanrabideau9089 I also thought about his mom

[@onoybeuh]

I'm thinking about his mom rn​@@rokpeter8012

[@Nighthawkinlight]

Great video! As a carbon filament lightbulb enthusiast I'm glad you didn't hold out the centennial bulb as an example of long life in and of itself, as the limited power supply is certainly the main factor. The only flaw in this video (in my opinion) is the led bulb being held out as finally being everlasting. If anything, planned obsolescence is more at work in led bulbs than ever. Sure, the leds themselves last, but the components in the base of the bulb which supply the leds with dc power are absolutely not made to last (edit: Actually I should qualify that statement, because I don't know about all manufacturers. There could be some good ones.). You could make your own led bulb that would last far longer than those sold off the shelf.

[@sleepy_Dragon]

Using the cheapest parts that fulfill the requirements saves a lot of money when mass producing. So a no-brainer for maximizing profit. Shorter lifespan is a welcome side effect.

[@Nighthawkinlight]

@@sleepy_Dragon That's the trouble. You can rarely prove planned obsolescence because an equal excuse could be that the manufacturer just cheaps out on quality. In this case using quality parts would equate to only a few cents more per bulb, so the scale seems to lean one direction rather strongly, though there's some weight on both sides.

[@kjyost]

@@sleepy_Dragon If efficiency is what we are after, running more LEDs at lower voltage is where it is at. But of course manufacturers will never go for that.

[@sleepy_Dragon]

@@kjyost Cost efficiency for the producer means cheapest parts while advertising "maximum output". More light for the Watt sells.

[@BrokenSymmetryBand]

Check out the special bulbs the Saudi's ordered from Philips/Osram if you want to know what a real long life led bulb looks like. Cant buy 'em here.. surprise!

[@Kpeters]

As an industrial designer I can honestly say that’s one of the most frustrating aspects of the industry. One always wants to design a product with the best characteristics.

[@sparkeyjones6261]

I'm sure it is. In your occupation you can identify and fix flaws in many designs that lead to reduced lifespan. It's really too bad most companies are no longer interested in selling a product designed with longevity in mind. But, I wonder how much of this is due to so many consumers basing their purchasing decisions mainly on cost? Our grandparent's generations were much different. They were willing to pay much higher prices for products that not only functioned better, but lasted longer.

[@Alex-kh8zj]

@@sparkeyjones6261 The disposable income has gone down, it's not a mindset. It's not having the money to make big purchases.

[@Kpeters]

@@sparkeyjones6261 that is also true. New and shiny for most consumers is more important than functional and long lasting. Even if the design is great. Look at the old Mercedes Benz from before the 90's. Great machines that with proper maintenance will outlast you. Can't say the same for newer cars. People used to keep they cars, washing machines, refrigerators for decades. And it's worse than turning your back on identifying flaws, it's actually designing something and then figuring out how to make it go bad. It's basically destroying your design.

[@rubiconnn]

People are suckers. They'll eat up marketing and use it as brand loyalty instead of just relying on data and companies know this.

[@thewaytruthandlife]

welcome to the real world where people want money and power.... sorry to inform you....

[@Jellyf0x]

The thing I hate most about planned obsolescence is that it assumes we have endless resources. It's terrible for our planet.

[@newyorthtimes4496]

@Sidemen AFTV Clips & More ehh, 3d printing still uses "resources."

[@kinghassy334]

Its the same with fashion, cloths used to last much longer, now its more profitable to sell seasonal wear that has to be replaced every 3 months

[@Batzik94]

Completely agree and the exact same applies to capitalism

[@Chris-mc2bq]

@Sidemen AFTV Clips & More I didn't know you could 3d print all the elements in electronics like gold colbalt and phosphorous lmao.

[@EatMyShortsAU]

True and how often do we can upgrade our electronics? So much, e-waste is created..

[@johnpearson492]

My grandparents have a lightbulb in a sealed housing in their shower. They bought the house in 1965 and it was bult in 1946. They have never changed the bulb and it still works. Use it every time they use the shower.

[@richiemandina5305]

When I first started learning/working as a mechanic I asked my boss, after getting very frustrated trying to remove rusted brake lines, why the car manufacturers wouldn't just use metals that were stronger and wouldn't rust and corrode so easily. He goes " do you like having a job?" And even knowing he had a point, it still really annoyed me that things are basically designed to fail. especially when you consider how ridiculously expensive cars are nowadays. If I'm spending 30, 40 or 50 grand on something.....it should damn well be built to last me the rest of my life.

[@johnpresler7537]

you would be damn well lucky if it outlasts the payments

[@richiemandina5305]

@@johnpresler7537 so sad, isn't it?

[@wesrogers7630]

@@richiemandina5305 actually it isn't. It is the way our world works for now. I do agree it should be changed, but it can't be changed overnight. Plus as stated earlier, the cost of the upgrade would be extremely high. This needs to be addressed and slowly upgraded. Imagine if we went to self driving semi's by next year. Over 3 million would be out of work with no real skill set to switch to another job bringing in the same income. But of course, we can't even talk about it because it means your either a leftist or a rightist. Then the name calling starts and boom, nothing gets talked about. Capitalism did bring more people out of extreme poverty than any other system previous to it, but it's time is coming to and end. It has been distorted and manipulated to serve the few. It was the first system that allowed almost anyone to climb the social ladder to wealth. Yes much harder for some, but still happened. Here is the problem as I see it. You can't have equality of outcome. People won't stand for it, and others will take advantage of it. Maybe a universal income with basic needs met to live a meager life, but health and physical needs are met. Who knows.

[@richiemandina5305]

@@wesrogers7630 Yes capitalism does have it's flaws. But I disagree that it's time has come to an end. What I think would be ideal is somehow (nearly impossible, I know) establishing a government that doesn't allow the corruption of politicians helping out their buddies in big business, a system that ACTUALLY keeps things fair. And no, you won't ever have equality of outcome because it isn't possible, unless at some point in the future everyone that is born is cloned to be an exact replica of everyone else. Some people are more ambitious, some people are far more superior or inferior in athletic ability, some people would rather just sit around and have society support them. It'll never be perfect for everyone. I think the best you can plan to achieve is equal opportunity. If we can get that right I think civilization can be a beautiful thing, generally speaking. But I think it's pretty obvious, based on history, that anybody in a position of power claiming they're going to make it all better via outcome equality is only trying to increase their own wealth and power at the expense of our wealth and freedom.

[@evanvokes1694]

not to worry, he is so wrong but people love to hear it. The LED he used as an example has its life not limited by the germanium LED but by the electrolytic capacitor and some are terrible. For his light example, you would have to wire your house for constant voltage 5V DC to get a longer life and that would be determined by the operation amplifier component but what builder would ever installs such a system

[@anonymouscausethatshowirol828]

All of this neglects one of the worst parts of planned obsolescence: the overwhelming waste. We don’t have infinite resources, and even when we recycle the old models and items, we still produce emissions and non-recyclable components. Planned obsolescence only further exaggerates resource depletion and pollution

[@cringe5393]

thas just how boomers do it back in the day

[@k-ozdragon]

@@cringe5393 Most items built in the boomer generation were built to last. Consumers of that era bought items they thought would last a lifetime, & almost always repaired them rather than replace them. Large scale consumerism really began in the 80s, & rapidly accelerated into the modern era. You could hardly get a boomer to buy something they would replace the very next year. However, Gen X, millennials, & Gen Z all look forward to replacing still new items with even newer versions. Owning the latest & greatest thing became the new goal, rather than actual usefulness. Even the thought that an item would be "collectible" didn't begin until the late 80s. It's why stuff from the 80s onward isn't worth hardly anything, while items from the 40s had value as antiques during the 80s. People back then didn't "collect" things, they actually used them.

[@This_is_my_spout]

@@k-ozdragon Did you not watch the video?

[@k-ozdragon]

@@This_is_my_spout I did. So lightbulbs were made to be less effective, which ended in the 30s. When did ipod & most consumer goods begin to widely make their stuff so it couldn't be repaired? Did people in the era from 1900-1985 buy things just because they were collectible?

[@k-ozdragon]

@@tobytoxd People didn't sell their cars just to buy a new model because the color changed. Not like consumers today would buy a the same exact phone that they already own because the "newer" one is pink. Automotive paint just gained a competitive edge over the other makers to sell more cars. Henry Ford painted cars black because it was the only paint at the time that didn't change color over time & dried quickly. Car makers literally painted cars with paint made from fish scale pigment. Something the average person couldn't afford. It has zero to do with planned obsolescence. As far as fashion goes, when has that ever not changed? Clothing always evolved since it was invented. The only difference is more people can afford clothing. Find an era in history where those who could afford clothing weren't looking for something new & unique to wear. Good luck. Both of these things are market forces involved in every purchase ever made in history by consumers. If GM made a car that would break on purpose, & was constructed so the consumer couldn't repair it, you might have a point. The light bulb is a glaring example of that. However, the practice of replacing things that don't need replacing, buying purely to say that you own the latest version, or designing things with the intention of them breaking, is a far more modern phenomenon.

[@mjklein]

At recording studio where I worked in my 30s, the chief engineer who was in his 60s told me that when he was a kid, his mother told him never throw away a burned out light bulb. When asked why, he said his mother told him they could take it back to Edison and get a replacement one for free. They were never supposed to burn out and a burned out light bulb was considered defective.

[@ASP42069]

That’s awesome!

[@tedcole9936]

That’s quite interesting. When I was a kid, in the late 1950’s and early 1960’s I remember that indeed we could take burnt out light bulbs back to “Edison” for free replacement, too. In my case, “Edison” meant the Detroit Edison Company… which was the electricity utility company. However, I was told a different reason… that since Edison was selling the electricity to you, giving out free light bulbs encouraged people to install more lights, I.e. more Kilowatts used per customer. My grandfather was an engineer at Detroit Edison, but unfortunately I don’t know if that rationale came from him or if it was just something my parents surmised.. but it definitely was true, I remember where the local Edison office was in our town, and I remember taking bulbs there for free replacements.

[@terrywilder9]

In Michigan Detroit Edison had a policy where you could save your burnt out lightbulbs and return them for free replacement. At one point to due to legal rangling they had to move the place where you returned them out of state to Toledo Ohio. It was in the interest of the Utilities that the light bulbs lasted as long as possible and they required the bulb manufacturers, GE, Westinghouse, Sylvania and Phillip's to meet higher standards and supply them with bulbs that lasted longer. Then a party store owner sued Detroit Edison to stop this practice alleging that it was effecting his lightbulb sales. There was an out roar towards this party store owner, who later admitted a lawyer put him up to suing! Btw I still have many of these replacement bulbs. They last 5 to 10 years as compared to 10 to 24 months!

[@FigmentSALabel]

@@tedcole9936 Good story.

[@hney421]

Wow! Thats awesome

[@martinstu8400]

I work for an unnamed software company X. When a new extremely fast solution was found to one of the algorithms, sold to customers, management decided to put sleep() function in some places to throttle the perofmance, so it matches the old algorithm. They said: "we will remove some throttles each quarter release and charge for the speedup we're doing".

[@jonatanrullman]

You work for X?

[@mobilephil244]

Right. That's it. I'm the CEO of X and my new lawyers will be in touch with you tomorrow (I sent the old ones to landfill).

[@ghaith2580]

@@jonatanrullman he meant x as in a randomly generated letter because he doesn’t want to say where he works, not x the elon musk company

[@LeZylox]

How can you live with your guilt?

[@Void_Inc-0x]

​@@LeZyloxhe's a lich

[@engineeringlore3349]

I studied Latin in high school, and there is a passage, in the Satyricon, in which Caesar is presented by a material that seems glass, as it is transparent, but when the artisan that presented it throws it on the ground and it does not break, instead he picks it up and works it back in the original shape, like it was plastic. In the story, Caesar asks the guy if someone else knows that secret, when he says no one does, Caesar has the man killed and the object destroyed in fear that gold would lose value. Guess the Man in the White Suit wasn’t the first story like this!

[@alessiopani]

Yess, in the dinner of Trimalchio ( Trimalchione)

[@XmarkedSpot]

Name checks out

[@epauletshark3793]

I heard that it was with emperor tiberius.

[@Cloud-dq1mr]

No idea if this is true but it sounds horrible. Moreso than his personm from the little i know about Caesar the one thing that always amazed me was always his forces, and especially the engineering feats of his forces. Like, people did this 2000 years ago, wtf? But considering your reply I guess he's the original "The Man", to be hated and scorned.

[@Ana_crusis]

interesting story. (small correction it seems it was Tiberius Caesar.) most claims are that it is fictitious. The Satyricon is fiction but who knows, once you've had everyone killed.....

[@DAG_42]

As an electrical engineer, I can assure you... We are literally educated in school about how to design for the desired failure timeframe. It seems criminal

[@ToroMoto]

Any more info on this? So you remember the textbook or course code? I'd love to do some more reading on this

[@MigueART]

@@ToroMoto I would like to read more on this too.

[@mrsearaphim4077]

Guess I'm lucky my teachers were vividly against this.

[@instagib783]

@@ToroMoto @miguelonas Start with the phrase 'Mean Time to Failure' or MTTF and go from there. IMO, the concept itself isn't nefarious but it can be used that way.

[@Growzy101]

It is unmoral and seed of corrupt. Humans don't deserve anything less than an a asteroid wipe.

[@gregorycarlson6445]

In my engineering college, I had some professors who told the story of the old Bridgeport milling machines. They were built so sturdy and reliable that many still work perfectly today almost 80 years later. The machine never broke down or needed to be replaced, so the company started running out of paying customers. The intended takeaway from this story was to emphasize supposed importance of planned obsolescence, but that conclusion always bothered me. I saw a triumph of engineering and yet it was framed as a failure because someone couldn't make more money off of it.

[@alexdavila1356]

planned obsolesce is just a crutch for a bad business model. It is never a good thing when a competitor can offer your product that lasts on top of a differing business model that extends profits.

[@dennisgonzales9521]

Completely agree

[@narsimhas1360]

@מחמד חנזיר automation will change this dynamic though, otherwise I too support planned obsolescence

[@danmerillat]

@מחמד חנזיר by abandoning capitalism in favor of a system that isn't as ludicrously shortsighted.

[@michaelkeaton5394]

This is how people should think

[@MrElectricSkittles]

We're no longer wild animals where every day is a fight to survive, but we sure have made a great attempt at making it as depressing and sinister a reality as possible

[@Morpheus-pt3wq]

The fight for survival is still on, just the jungle changed.

[@dasoulfoodbuffet]

Imagine the trillions of tons of unnecessary garbage planned obsolescence has caused our planet, the poisoning of our rivers and air and soil... It's so backward and disgusting. 😞

[@kristoffer3000]

Welcome to capitalism!

[@cello9877]

All for the love of money

[@Diet0r]

Imagin the trillions of dollars lanned obsolescence has caused our planet

[@dextrodemon]

ah but you can make money moving the garbage around, so it's a trade off. that's why capitalism is so beloved and will def not lead to the death of the planet in one way or another

[@sasper6623]

@@dextrodemon just moving it around... not getting rid of it or recycling it. recycling isnt profitable so thats why they dont actually do it. its a scam, only a few materials or plastics can be recycled to make profit, otherwise it doesnt happen.

[@besmart]

On the other hand, KZbin is filled with lots of unplanned obsolescence

[@DyslexicMitochondria]

Haha yep

[@mattearenzi8972]

​@@DyslexicMitochondria OMG Hi! I watch your channeI. Absolutely love your videos bro. U made me fall in love with science haha

[@gradientO]

Lol

[@abhaykashyapa]

Yeah! I love your videos too

[@somespecies]

Literally everything now is filled with lots of unplanned obsolescence

[@damonsalvatore145]

I watched this video 3 years ago and come back today to use its information in a school project. Thank you!

[@simarpreetsinghmamik]

The saddest example is that of school textbooks, each new edition has the most negligible changes in content.

[@simarpreetsinghmamik]

​@@yeager6882 Definitely. In one year Sue goes to buy 20 apples for $5, in another year it could be Joe, buying 25 apples for $10. It's hard to keep up.

[@elmo4672]

@@simarpreetsinghmamik These are straight-up factual statements.. it's best to use second-hand books.

[@hubertstefaniak158]

@@elmo4672 that's the point - You can't, because schools often require You to have a latest edition.

[@RickyC0626]

Also the newest editions have less pirated copies, so it's less likely for the answer key to be available for students to use as reference

[@alephkasai9384]

In my country for primary and secondary schools there's a program to borrow the books from the students last year. The students last year give their books to the school and the newer students have these books handed to them. If you lose or destroy your book you do have to pay to replace them.

[@burnsblownglass2514]

A GM engineer once told me, "it's easy to make a car last forever, getting one to break down in 7 years is the trick"

[@jameslangridge1674]

I aways thought it was getting one to break down the day after your warranty expires is the trick. 😁

[@robertromero8692]

An example of why I will never buy a GM product. Hondas and Toyotas are more durable.

[@burnsblownglass2514]

@@robertromero8692 Nissan and Volvo are my preferences

[@thatkidkgosi]

Ohh my gosh. That explains alot

[@effincasuals8877]

But as Toyota has shown us,a lasting car,equals more sales.

[@Bundy714]

This hit close to home. I had a friend that was an engineer at Kohler (which I always thought of as a plumbing company, but they make engines too). At the time, he worked at a plant making Kohler small engines, for lawn mowers and small tractors. Anyway, he stops by my place after work, and he looks exhausted. He said it was a very stressful day at work, they were on a conference call with the Kohler HQ bigwigs all day, and they were NOT happy. It seems that one of Kohler's most popular consumer lawn mower engines was lasting way too long! I was dumbfounded, reliability sounded like a Good thing to me, but they considered it a disaster and heads may roll over this engine lasting so long. So I asked what did you guys decide to do to correct this "problem"? Redesign the engine to be less reliable? Use inferior parts? And he says, all those were considered and discussed at length, but were less than ideal solutions. Their solution was to stop selling those engines on the consumer brand mowers that you buy at Walmart, Home Depot, etc......and design a new, less reliable, consumer engine that would ensure that you'd have to buy a new mower every few years (just like the light bulb cartel). So......what did they do with the uber reliable engine that caused this problem in the first place? They simply rebranded it as "Commerical Grade", charged way more money for it, and put it on their more expensive commercial line of mowers that were priced, to last longer. Yeah, so the cheap consumer engine was simply increased in price by who knows how much, even though it cost no more to manufacture, and now it's an expensive "commercial grade engine", rather than a cheap consumer grade engine. I learned so much in this conversation. I knew that Commerical grade items cost more, and lasted longer, and I always assumed it was because they were built from better parts and cost more to manufacture, but that wasn't always necessarily so. In some cases, Commercial grade simply costs more, because it will last longer and the company will sell fewer of them. And that is the only reason, that they charge a premium for them. That's not always the case, but it was the case in this particular instance. It was also the first time that I found out that engineers could get in trouble for designing a product that was too good, and lasted too long. This conversation was a real eye opener. I never forgot it.....it kinda pissed me off too. haha When I wrote this, I thought about leaving out the name of the manufacturer, but my friend no longer works for Kohler, so screw them. It's not like this only happens at Kohler anyway, this kind of thing goes on in manufacturing everywhere. Planned obsolescence. There is a reason that people say they don't make things like they used to, it's because they make them to wear out on purpose. It's not that older tools, engines, appliances, etc....were built so much better than today, it's because today, things are DESIGNED for maximum profitability, and NOT maximum reliability. This is why things tend to break shortly after the warranty runs out......they are precisely engineered to last thru the warranty period, and fail shortly afterwards......or the engineers are not doing their jobs. It makes sense from their end, but I sure can't help but be pissed as a consumer.

[@jappieexe]

Thank you for your story, it really gets some thoughts going alongside this video. As someone who wants to start engineering a "not yet known to man product", I'm looking at both sides of the story. I drive a 20 year old car, that is still going strong, and if something fails I can repair it myself. It makes me grateful for the way the car was designed and manufactured back then, and I want my future (hopefully engineering) company to operate like that as well. Though, once the market is completely saturated with products there is nothing to be sold anymore, forcing planned obsolescence to be applied. This makes me want to be able to make products that become obsolete not by breaking or failing, but rather from something else that does not disappoint customers... Again thanks for sharing your story :)

[@igorino1767]

capitalism at it's finest

[@TyberiusTheThird]

@@igorino1767 You know back when they made them to last, that was also capitalism, and no other -ism, right?

[@scroopynooperz9051]

Lol aint capitalism grand? xD If we can't come up with ways to better utilise our (finite) available resources while still providing for people and keeping them employed and able to sustain themselves, we are doomed. You cannot have a system designed around perpetual expansion and "planned obsolescence" in a finite world where you're eventually going to run out of raw material resources which you need to produce goods with in the first place. This seems pretty common sense but common sense isn't quite so common anymore.

[@scroopynooperz9051]

@@TyberiusTheThird we are witnessing the endgame of capitalism - when it becomes predatory and even self devouring. Just because something starts off OK doesn't mean the final result will be desirable. And there is no resolute FDR to save it this time.

[@yxnglamppost3538]

I work at a Chevrolet dealership as a Technician. A cars warranty usually fully ends at 100,000kms. Chevrolet Sparks and Cruzes mysteriously have failed turbos at 100,000-110,000kms, without fail. I know this isn't groundbreaking news but it was interesting to see for myself

[@viridianloom]

It seems like planned obsolescence also snuffs out innovation. Like, we could be reaching the end of the road on certain technologies and ask "ok, what's next?" But instead we're keeping ourselves in limbo.

[@anonwithamnesia]

Exactly what’s happening with cars, homes, machinery. Just because of JoBs

[@Gener1KGaming]

You've just described the entire oil industry

[@romansenger2322]

Thats because most people dont want to adapt and change themselves. They will vote against change. Literally happening right now with the transistion to EVs.

[@stockloc]

@@romansenger2322 In many ways, I feel as though EV's aren't going to really improve anything in terms of how much resources we're using up. I feel like we need to figure out how to live our lives without having to need cars. Japan does this well.

[@romansenger2322]

@@stockloc of course they do. Just look up "EV vs ICE what pollutes more" here on youtube to get an idea how bad ICEs are. But I get your point. Mobility will never be good for the environment. Its always about the question how to make it less damaging for the environment.

[@Alyenbird]

My most recent experience with planned obsolescence: Most laptops typically can be unscrewed at the bottom and opened up. It is necessary to do this every few months to blow the dust and hair out of your computer fan with some compressed air- especially if you have pets. If you don't ever clean that dust and hair out, the fan slowly gets clogged up, ceases to work properly, and your computer can become dangerously hot. A lot of people are unaware that this maintenance needs to be done at all- which is a win for the company that sold the computer when it overheats and breaks. However, apparently some computer manufacturers don't even want those who know they need to clean their laptops to clean them. A relative of mine recently noticed that her laptop was overheating and that the fan is clogged. So she turned it over to unscrew it and clean it out. There were no screw holes. She called the professionals, and the professionals told her that model of laptop could not be cleaned. It was *glued* together rather than screwed. From now on anytime my family goes laptop shopping, we will be checking the bottom for screws!

[@EdgarC701]

Haven't seen a fan clog in a decade+ but the modern version is poor quality thermal paste (often under cpu "lid" itself) or fan bearings and capacitors failing in the 3-10 year mark. If enterprise-use computers are an option they're better for this due to higher standards and longer customer memories.

[@theinceptor3672]

@@EdgarC701 yea man. I have a dell laptop from 10 years ago. And i have just recently open it up and there weren't much dust. And i really hate the conpanies who solders everything on the motherboard. It is just so expensive to replace

[@DarkKnightofIT]

*cough* Apple *cough*

[@user-fje4ztx46no86]

Smart Phones is a better example. FairPhone is trying to combat that, but im not sure how honest their are or if its just another marketing tactic. The name of the problem is called Capitalism. I'm not sure why not more people can understand this...

[@shadesoftime]

@@user-fje4ztx46no86 * Lenin gets up from his grave *

[@itptires]

As an engineer this is why its frustrating when people talk about how dumb the engineers are for designing this the way they did etc.... my response is always to the effect of the engineers can design just about anything to work well and last forever but corporate/ management wouldn't want it

[@painkillerjones6232]

True, but you sure seem GOOD at designing these built-in defects.

[@matthewsalvador9783]

Engineers can’t win or lose. The customers and corporations want it one way while the other want it’s another… Now I understand not to blame the engineers for doing their job… but to become an engineer myself and make improvements so i the customer is happy and the corporation can think for themselves for once… I’ve improved many things. They were actually better then the originals there’s always room for improvement.

[@aleanddragonITA]

​@@matthewsalvador9783 If you did the then Megacorps would make you be arrested The video above said it Those that make Lightbulb more durable then get fine in proportion as how durable they are

[@TheDiosdebaca]

My issue isn't with engineers, it's when poor design makes the usable product fail prematurely (within warranty periods, for instance), when a very inexpensive modification would prevent the warranty costs for the manufacturer and frustration from the consumer. Like a $.25 piece of plastic to prevent water from dripping on a $500 controller.

[@cam6202]

​@matthewsalvador9783 my problem is when things that need to be worked on are designed to be difficult to work on.

[@colebennett1785]

The fact that this video opened up with a Harbor Freight ad is the most beautiful irony available on the planet

[@ryanhogan4743]

My 93yr old great Aunt just told me that her first refrigerator from late 1960's finally stopped working.

[@davidanderson_surrey_bc]

Is it still under warranty? Haw haw.

[@delanamanuel1451]

My husband's friend bought my grandma's fridge from the 50s after she died. It just needed new seals around the door.

[@pascal2085]

I think that newer fridges don't last as long not purely out of planned obsolence. Companies are forced by law to make the devices more and more efficient and this comes at a cost.

[@vadipp]

Probably she just need to replace the thermostat or something. I bet the compressor motor is still good.

[@lsswappedcessna]

Refurb the compressor or whatever is broken, PLEASE do not let her throw out the old fridge. It may just be a fridge, but it's a relic, too. A relic of a better time for the reliability of household appliances.

[@arcaneinane]

This is one of the most important videos you've made Derek. The physical and chemical waste of disposable or intentionally short-lived items is one of the greatest ecological and economic challenges of our time

[@ippanpedrozo1162]

yup, capitalism is evil

[@KarldorisLambley]

this video is daft. long lasting bulbs were a dreadful idea. short lasting bulbs were an advantage to everyone. they cost less to run and made more light. bulbs cost pennies and are a disposable good, making them last longer at the cost of using far more power is asinine.

[@charlescourtwright2229]

You obvoisly didnt finish the video, modern bulbs last 10k+ hrs, are qay brighter and use a fraction of the energy to power, what is cheaper, 10 bulbs that last 1k hrs or 1 bulb that lasts 10k? The 1k hr bulbs will take more man hours to make and cost more to ship for the same lifespan

[@LeifNelandDk]

China has reinvented the short lasting bulb. Instead of using 10 diodes at 1w, they drive the same diodes at 2w and use only 5. So they save a few pennies, and the overdriven diodes only last a fraction of the time they could have.

[@PathBeyondTheDark]

@@KarldorisLambley Bro, enough. If you have to intentionally make products bad for the economy not to self-destruct then that system is obviously flawed. You aren't fooling anyone here. Instead of wasting all your energy attempting to keep the human race in a constant state of ignorance-induced limbo, try to figure out a better alternative to the volatile system that is Capitalism.

[@mauritius5892]

Planned obsolence has also a huge environmental impact. It is not sustainable to buy every year a new phone or a new car. Therefore I think that companies have a huge responsibility not to use planned obsolence but to offer more repair and upgrade services to customers.

[@thezfunk]

Europe addresses this by forcing the companies to take back end-of-life products and recycle them. Now, there is an incentive to not get them back thereby providing a reason to extend their life. It is always about changing motivations and incentives.

[@Hotrob_J]

Why are we set up so the survival of our species is reliant on companies being responsible and moral? A responsible and moral company is a company either out of business or bought by a bigger one and shut down.

[@junior.von.claire]

No, they don’t have a responsibility to “save the planet!” And we don’t have a right to most goods and services. Just be grateful and quit whining.

[@kamrankazemi8646]

@@junior.von.claire Why are you defending people literally selling you bad products? How are you that brainwashed? Do you not know how to stand up for what’s right?

[@predatoryanimal6397]

totally agree consumerism and obsolete design are the worse thing that has happened to society and environment.

[@Cerulium]

13:42 I can't even imagine living in an economy so good that the AVERAGE car ownership span is 2 years. Wild.

[@sirtiddlesworth4667]

When I was an engineering student in university, our professors - especially the ones who taught DFMA (Design for Manufacturing and Assembly), would sneak in planned obsolescence everywhere like in our lectures, homework and examination questions. Still remember them clearly because I got slightly lower marks for disagreeing with the practice during one research project and the finals for DFMA. Academia and education systems everywhere really need to be reformed to or replaced by something else that is not heavily influenced by corporate workforce demands and trends.

[@DmitryDaren]

agree..., I remember my construction management classes, where they would sneak in taking loans as a part of the contractor’s construction plan. Although, in reality there are other options.

[@TheAnianite]

Yashua will replace all the corruption ...

[@ryanl838]

Decentralizing education would not only make education accessible to more people, but also help prevent institutionalized (corrupt) indoctrination like that.

[@shaftdrive7567]

Academia is sponsored by lobbies who need more worker drones 🤷🏿‍♂️ the illusion is deep

[@MaryamMaqdisi]

All education related to finances in the west tends to be aggressively neoliberal as well, I really wish people were more transparent and critical and taught as much

[@jrstrange123]

A JD tractor my grandfather owned back in the 40’s is to this day running strong. It’s a beast that has outlasted three tractors I have bought since the late 90’s.

[@Knokkelman]

@@jennifermarlow. Then again, how much electricity did it use compared to a new one? I also hate throwing away functioning devices, but with today's energy prices, you really are burning money with some stuff like old fridges and freezers. I'm certain my "new" fridge-freezer combo has easily amortized itself during the last 10 years.

[@milamber319]

​@@Knokkelman And that is actually the reason the lightbulb cartel made sure lightbulbs died at 1000 hours. It's because when you run them hotter they are substantially brighter for the same power. The intention was to compete on brightness not lifespan because the companies also owned electrical power distribution and it was more expensive to upgrade the infrastructure and deliver more power for bright globes than it was to encourage people to use more efficient globes... And so the power companies gave globes away for free in the millions. The few cents per globe to hand out to customers were cheaper for them than spending millions to upgrade the infrastructure needed for longer life globes of the same output.

[@martingreen2358]

@@milamber319 Do you have a source for this info?

[@JerryRigEverything]

Great video. Thank you for bringing attention to this.

[@lewin6348]

I love your voice

[@moidhassan5552]

wow, what a crossover

[@jcorpz7796]

woah

[@Sangprabu2045]

sudah malam

[@Yofish77]

Here before this comment blows up

[@Irish_For_Life1842]

I believe this video is 100% accurate. In my life I have had the experience to speak to former employees from different manufacturers. They all reported that if the company wanted to make their products last 20 times longer, they could do so with a very small increase in cost relative to the type of product. Another example in my life is computer operating systems. Windows wanted to update to Windows 10 but I passed on it because I loved my current laptop, which ran perfect, and I hated Windows 10. The very first update AFTER the offer expired killed my laptop. Searching online at Windows, Windows chat rooms and talking to computer repair companies, they all reported to me that a massive number of people all had the same thing happen to them. I can't tell you that it was in fact on purpose, but what do you think? Forgive my typos and grammatical errors.

[@ZeroInDaHouse]

Shout out to Louis Rossmann and his efforts towards right to repair.

[@jcornscorndog941]

Yes

[@Absquatulationist]

Indeed

[@Wr3nch3s84]

Hell yeah

[@giancarlomartini2133]

For sure!

[@hacademicabel]

Amen to that.

[@rvallenduuk]

You completely glossed over the biggest problem with this obsolescence: resources. The planet isn't infinite. If we keep producing cheap produces and replace them every two year we will run out of material at some point. Nevermind the amount of single-use plastic in the oceans.

[@TheGaboom]

Depends how good our ability to recycle is; it's not like the resources are deleted from existence I imagine some generations from now, there'll be well established practices collecting those resources out of the oceans Broadly speaking though, I do agree. Since deliberate obsolescence expedites resource drain faster than necessary, making a large portion of the resource inaccessible without new recycling or refurbishing practices

[@yomommashaus]

@@TheGaboom Ditto. There are more and more companies figuring out how to profit from recycling traditionally "unrecyclable" objects. The future is in efficient recycling, high quality products, powerfully efficient clean energy sources like fusion, and alternate materials such as in asteroids, to name a few.

[@jengleheimerschmitt7941]

On the other hand, you completely gloss over the bigest problem with predictions of resource scarcity: historically resources overwhelmingly become less scarce and less expensive rather than more scarce -as use increases. Salt, food, coal, aluminum, and books are reasonably substantial examples. It's been a very long time since we've had a salt shortage. Unless you think we've hit peak-human-ingenuity already, I expect that trend will continue rather than reverse.

[@yomommashaus]

@@jengleheimerschmitt7941 I agree - human ingenuity is supreme really and even facing such hurdles as overpopulation, energy needs, food shortages, rare metal shortages, etc, I believe we are already working on solutions and will overcome.

[@phasechange5053]

yes and people can talk about recycling all day but most of it will go into a landfill . its completely wasteful

[@nikkiwolf22]

As someone that took an entire course on and wrote a paper around planned obsolescence (among similar topics, and how those topics interact in the real world) in college, I can fully back this video up, this was basically a semester's worth of class summed up brilliantly in 20 minutes

[@edwardfletcher7790]

Thank you for bringing more attention to this ecological disaster. As a repair technician I HATE how difficult companies make it to repair very expensive devices.

[@datboigroovin8200]

Memento mori

[@binkietheclown]

Singer Sewing machines is where this thread starts

[@zaidyounas1602]

care to share your paper with us?

[@edwardfletcher7790]

@@binkietheclown I see what you did there !😆 lol

[@netdoctor1]

Auto makers and I have a mutually-accepted hate relationship: I NEVER sell a car. I use them until they simply aren't feasible to keep on the road, though I have gifted some to needy people. Currently my 2010 Pilot has 402,000 miles. My 2006 Odyssey at 310k and my 2007 Accord at 240,000. Nearly a million collective miles on 3 vehicles. I ironic thing is that I worked for an automaker for over 30 years, and never once owned a new car.

[@0ned]

Planned obsolescence joke A woman wrote to a refrigerator manufacturer, thanking them for a fridge that had lasted twenty years without fail. The company offered to send one of their design engineers to inspect it and the lady agreed. When he got there, she asked, "you want to make sure all your products are made to this higher standard?" He said, "No! They want me to make sure we never make one that lasts this long ever again, or else no one would ever need buy a new one!" That was an old joke when I heard it forty years ago!

[@RazzleDFrazzle]

This joke is too resilient and is cutting into joke manufacturers' profits. They should make jokes with more dated references and slang that make them age worse.

[@Patrick-zr8tv]

@@RazzleDFrazzle brilliant. Now comedians will make billions.

[@GetFunnied]

you just wanted to say you were born in 1935

[@KalRandom]

My grandmother has a GE frige that still works fine, that's over 50 years old.

[@fmaz1952]

Can we stop pretending VPN services are "more secure"? Rare are the websites that are not encrypted with TLS certificates. Encrypting it again is not meaningfully more secure. VPN hides your IP and makes you harder to track. That great to circunvent geo locked content and reduce geo targeted content, but has little to do with your security. If anything if makes it harder for your online banking plateform from recognizing your regular connexion pattern, which I would argue makes your ban account LESS secure to use if you connect to it using a VPN.

[@SneakySolidSnake]

people thought: "in a hundred years, we'll have flying cars." what really happens in a hundred years is, "we'll focus on making tires break in a safe way."

[@LawsOnJoystick]

Flying cars are helicopters

[@sannewijn8695]

Wouldnt it be weird if your flying car would suddenly fall out the sky because it reached 18 months?

[@LawsOnJoystick]

@@sannewijn8695 maintenance

[@OnyxIdol]

@@LawsOnJoystick wooosh

[@gomahklawm4446]

Capitalism.....money over people every single time...

[@BobbyKinstle]

Judging by how many "20 year" LED bulbs I've already replaced, I'd say there's some intentional quality degradations in that field as well. But the worst part is they constantly change the style and slightly vary the color. So when one bulb in a fixture burns out, I can't buy a matching bulb anymore and I have to replace all of them anway.

[@ArchieHalliwell]

Most modern LED bulbs are driven much harder than they need to be, there are ways to modify some of them so they are more efficient and last longer (but are somewhat dimmer).

[@thisismagacountry1318]

Please tell my colorblind neighbors. They'll invariably have a white led lightbulb on one side of the garage and a white incandescent bulb that glows a golden color on the other side.

[@Mr.Robert1]

@@thisismagacountry1318 It doesn't bother them. They just don't care. It bothers you and I would have to talk to them so I know exactly what you're saying.

[@infinitecomplaicency]

The "20 year" lifespan is based off of 3-4 hours of use per day...many people run them considerably longer hence considerably reducing their actual lifespan

[@pistonsjem]

@@infinitecomplaicency most LEDs have unnecessarily high current draw making them run hot (which is why they die quick when on 24/7). if the current were lower it would actually last for way more than just "20 years"

[@frequentlycynical642]

I have a clock that has run almost continuously since about 1938 when my mother bought it. It has been off only during moves and power outages. Eighty six years and still working great.

[@Termiic]

The moment when The BIG youtubers have finally caught up on this problem is the moment im starting to have a little bit of hope. Thanks for the video. This is extremely important subject.

[@ConnoisseurOfExistence]

Imagine the waste of resources, human labor and damage to the environment, that the planned obsolescence have costed the world... For all the products that this tactics have been used combined, we're probably talking about many millions of human lives wasted to sustain this system, let alone the resources and the environment...

[@constantineas2523]

So true my friend ....this is very bad for the enviroment.

[@HungryTacoBoy]

I saw your thumbnail and thought, "Wait, I commented on this video already?" Nice pic!

[@wilurbean]

The alternative system, maybe not planned obsolescence, but probably. Greed pervades all systems. But in our system, the cartel broke up after about a decade. In the other system, the gov and cartel are the same thing by design.

[@Puzzlesocks]

The question then leads to "what to do with all the people who aren't working?" I recommend looking into the Rat Utopia experiment. It shows that when animals no longer have to worry about life, they end up with all sorts of horrible issues. I despise planned obsolescence as much as anyone, but people without work is potentially a worse issue to have. I don't know the correct answer. I don't think anyone does. I personally feel that we just have too many people, and that have an addiction to progress. It could very well be that we are playing out the story of Icarus, and we won't know we are metaphorically flying too high until our wings melt and we fall to earth.

[@ddegn]

@@Puzzlesocks "I personally feel that we just have too many people" Except lots of people make economy of scale possible. Smartphones would be prohibitively expensive if the population of the world were significantly reduced. Anyway, I liked your reply and I also don't know the correct answer.

[@MatildaHinanawi]

This is why a rise in personal manufacturing, even on a simple scale, would start having enormous impacts on society. Stuff that breaks down in months or years would start lasting decades and all the extra time and resources can be spent on much more important things than replacing things that we effectively broke ourselves by intention.

[@juniperrodley9843]

I'm interested in this. Do you have any good recommendations on where I could go to learn more?

[@SudoBurger]

Wait - is this the reason why people are so excited about 3D printing? Now I'm imagining a world where "quality" means asking your Uncle Joe to download some blueprints to his fabricator unit for printing and assembly. Products from big box stores would come to be viewed as total scams.

[@kutsen39]

@@SudoBurger as they should. Walmart is worth more than China's electrical company. "If it's a chain, it's free reign." No qualms whatsoever stealing from a company that absolutely won't miss even a hundred thousand dollars.

[@mookfaru835]

No the answer to the problem is Universal income and “smart factories” “Smart factories” have machines that could be work at semi specialized speeds but have the machine be able to do any other task. The giant cost of factory machines would be offset as you can make your “smart factory” to make anything, letting that factory last forever. I am using absolute terms to make it easy to understand. Since people don’t have to keep making one type of thing to offset the cost, you can make a thing to last 100 years (like lightbulbs). And change the output of the factory to make a different thing every time, after having sold to everyone in the world, would only need to sell parts for repair. This allows a system for a few factories to make parts for the whole world. But the problem moves to a monopoly one. Why wouldn’t they maximize gain and charge the max they can so that living expenses matches income? They would, the world has always had major powers. The problem moves again and is a problem of the human condition. Why would people do this? A person in power is a small part of the group in power, they are just small part, sharing tiny responsibility(a cog in the machine). They do not see the outcome of their decisions, + more factors. The system is stable. A solution is to change the human condition by gene editing to make people smarter, kinder, braver. To make a Superman! One that would sacrifice himself and his family for what is right. Like how you hear in the news of a family who are noble and publicly against a bad system, like how Jesus was. Over time the whole world would become a race of the best people to ever have existed, each one having the heart of Jesus, the mind of Einstein, and the body to Achilles. Earth would be a utopia, research would googolplex, people would become literally what Demi gods were in old times. That world would be a completely different world than any before, A Eternal Super Enlightened Futuristic Utopia. I am generalizing of course and leaving out different possibilities and viewpoints to make my point clear and powerful.

[@dianemitchell1717]

I have a feeling politicians would outlaw some types of repair shops at the behest of their corporate donors citing copyright infringement.

[@nieczerwony]

Being from Poland I have old fridge, freezer and coocker made in soviet times. All are like 50 years old and still work. I keep them in my basement floor and store meet etc. Apart from having old gas coocker, I have wood fueled stove with top made from cast iron. You fill it with wood, make a fire and you can cook whatever the hell you like, plus you heat your home. This thing is 85 years old.

[@vitali-opal-and-gem]

It amazes me how many people boxed in by the thought that this short lasting disposable goods creates more jobs. There are much higher ways societies can work

[@pilotgfx]

yes how can people seriously be that dumb, its hard for me to even talk about it, no words can cover the complete void of logic behind this idiotic way of reasoning. What is most sad is that it seems majority of people operate on this amazingly low cognitive level. I want to die

[@AutistiCat2406]

it creates more jobs, and if there are these higher ways that can work then why don't they? what even are they anyway? short term increases demand, higher demand means a need for higher supply, higher supply can be acquired by more people working to make it

[@juanschleske4158]

@@AutistiCat2406 Man, but it is nice to imagine what would all the effort and resources have achieved if big companies and big minds had worked around other problems rather than just finding out ways to keep themselves in the market. In the big picture, there is no need to spend absurd amounts of resources into manufacturing light bulbs or any other products that would otherwise not need to be replaced.

[@twistymail]

@@AutistiCat2406 None of us have an obligation to make sure that some company or industry makes a profit. They may think that shortsighted and juvenile way but we have an obligation to think about OUR quality of life, not theirs: our planet, our atmosphere. Let the lazy bastards do the hard work of actually developing something new and better for their profits, not just beating their last decade's dead horse into the ground for their profits, year after year.

[@guysumpthin2974]

Ikr ! As if cars that only last 20k mi are good for the “economy” and create more jobs . I never thought of a gerbil running in a wheel as a job that helped the “economy”.

[@DoloresJNurss]

Planned obsolescence in phones and computers is a really big problem, considering that they require non-recyclable alloys of rare metals, which are running out. This could make the digital revolution collapse in a generation.

[@franknuzzo2576]

Buy from Costco. Return everything.

[@Grzmichuj2137]

I still use the same laptop for almost 10 years, and the only thing that broke was the battery

[@j.u.c.o]

Not as big of an issue with computers if you build your own. I built my last one in 2011 and just built a new one in 2021. I honestly didn't even need to, it just felt like it was time. During those 10 years I upgraded the RAM, the video card, and the SS drive all to be more powerful. The only component that ever failed and needed to be replaced was the first motherboard after 3 years. The second MB is still going strong going on year 8.

[@DoloresJNurss]

@@j.u.c.o Well done!

[@Twuben]

@@DoloresJNurss You don't need to buy new pc's every few years if you build your own like JuCo said. Now with consoles that's a different story

[@fattythemoocow8559]

"and how much do you wanna bet that the Iphone 14 has round edges" looks down at IPhone 14 with round edges

[@christinekaye6393]

There are 3 things that have been in my family for as long as I can remember (I'm 70 years old) and have been used on a fairly regular basis. All of them still work. They are a Singer Featherweight sewing machine (1939), a Sunbeam egg cooker, and a Sunbeam toaster. The only repair done to the toaster was to replace the old cloth-covered cord with a safer new one. The toaster, with rounded corners and still shiny chrome, is now in the possession of my niece. They really don't make things they way they used to.

[@racerx4152]

your right. My mother gave me this ugly old toaster from the 70's or so and it still works just fine.

[@BermondsayBattler]

I have a 1979 Maytag dryer that I ran until the motor bearings died in 2018. I replaced the motor and stored it in the garage for later.

[@dr.danburritoman1293]

Everyone should try to live like you. I guess my house does have beds and furniture from the 1990s, at least.

[@KristoferPaul]

My mom's light (medium? let's call it a heavy home duty) Singer sewing machine fell out of the back of a moving pickup truck when she first bought it. Used, mind you. This sewing machine served as the first sewing machine in her just opened tailor shop. 40 years later it is still the work horse of the shop and the most damage suffered is a crack in the casing from falling out of the truck when she first bought it. Somewhat related pre-obsolescence lesson: if you want something to last forever, apparently, keep it well oiled!

[@christinekaye6393]

@@KristoferPaul Those old Singer sewing machines are really something, aren't they? I haven't used mine in years, but I got it out to make masks last year. And you are so right, the poor baby is in bad need of a cleaning and oiling. I have the business card of someone who can do it. Yay!

[@SergeantExtreme]

Fun fact: The Centennial Bulb isn't even the only Shelby Electric Co lightbulb still in existence. It's just the oldest (and therefore most famous) one. There are actually 26 lightbulbs that were made by Shelby Electric prior to 1914 that still function even to this day.

[@HyperVectra]

@@KarldorisLambley I agree. Would love to know how efficient that bulb is for that pitiful 0.1 candela amount of light

[@guysumpthin2974]

Henry Ford built model T , model A , and 8n tractor to be serviceable & useable, as long as possible, and he did not “run-out of customers”. That economic “downturn” was a construct .

[@alfyc6970]

As a musician, I’m so happy that instrument companies tend not to do this. I play the bass guitar and I am confident I’ll never have to fully replace any of my bass guitars. Everything on it that could break it fully replaceable and I can do the repairs myself.

[@bhaktibhandari7379]

Unfortunately, they do Although I'm not a professional musician or something, I've seen, and in fact experienced many musical instruments that seemed to deteriorate so much in just 1 year of playing, you wouldn't like to even play those anymore The "damage" is so obvious but subtle and thus irritates you more than ever - even worse than a major problem... Ultimately, you end up somehow (may intentionally) breaking it out of (passive) anger or just replace it with a perfectly good one, only to get "broken" again...

[@hereigoagain5050]

Unfortunately, the optimal number of guitars is "one more."

[@no-good-productions]

never met anyone who said "oh great, this e-guitar is from the 2000s, let's buy it" For some reason, the guitars built 50 years ago are much better. This seems to be consens, at least I haven't met anyone who disagrees. Not talking about violines and wood that was denser because of the climate but the 70s talking and the same producers as today

[@clayjones2370]

Of course, at some point, after many parts replacements, it's no longer the same bass. Like the guy who inherited his grandfather's axe. "It's been a great axe. I only replaced the head once and the handle twice."

[@TheTrooperMB]

the thing is , people tend to buy multiple instruments because you have various colors , designs , set ups , shapes , sounds.. i have 4 bass guitars and that's not a lot compared to some people ! We may not replace them , but we still buy them even if our initial one doesn't break , that is why they're built to last

[@OmnipresentPotato]

The same thing is actually true of household appliances. Washing machines, vacuum cleaners, refrigerators, stoves. Back then these things were meant to be bought only once, and then to last. We have a washing machine that has to be something likd 40 years old, and it has outlasted all of our newer household appliances.

[@trinidadlandajo5402]

this is why my grandma's sewing machine is the coolest, most amazing thing ever. The monster can sew through anything and it's pretty much working like a new one AND can ALSO do zigzags and decorative seams. I'll never sell it. (It's a sears kenmore 2142 just in case you wanna know)

[@TheWeirdAlley]

good to know

[@lychee4031]

cool :00

[@lindah6954]

Kenmore is dead now.

[@khlobbia]

I see you flexing

[@bertkilborne6464]

I have an old Kenmore Sewing machines are the most complicated things to repair that I've ever worked on.

[@Kadulikan]

I would love to see a estimate of the money and human time utterly wasted by planned obsolescence, and how many years it's put us behind. I can scarcely imagine a more nefarious business practice.

[@gomahklawm4446]

It will continue until people wake up and make it a crime.

[@giglioflex]

Give a call up to DuPont, they'll tip you off a few more...

[@cherriberri8373]

It's gotta be easily above many many trillions, just from 1950 to the present.

[@cherriberri8373]

@@TheWraith7 The video isn't misleading whatsoever. What are you, an apple lobbyist?? Stop defending the intended waste of your own money, my money, and everyone else's money, not to mention the massive amounts of waste and pollution piling up.

[@MichaelBrewick]

@@TheWraith7 you obviously didn't watch the video

[@harrynac6017]

My grandma had an old lightbulb that outlived her. She lived in the city of Philips. I have known about life shortening of products all my life. I'm 54. My family can't be the only ones who knew this.

[@VoltisArt]

Not the only, but in the vast minority. Most people just accept life and don't ever question how or why things are the way they are. If most people did question this, we'd all be driving flying-super-efficient-electric-autopilot-boat-cars by now.

[@johnnycbad]

I think older generations are more likely to know about this. I remember how products felt like they were built to last. That doesn't seem to be the case any more. Some of my parents' household appliances are older than me (I'm in my 30s).

[@f1shyspace]

@Ranjit Tyagi bought a brand new iPhone, and the first thing i saw was 6gb were used for “systems” . Bruh what is the point to show that if you can’t delete or change it

[@jjohnston94]

Anybody who can fog a mirror ought to have observed this.

[@BlueGuitarMusic]

Valuable distinctions: Just because people should know something doesn't mean they do, and you can fool yourself quicker than another person- just by pretending you understand their circumstances. People should know about planned obsolesce, but as long as a lack in lower tiers of the hierarchy of needs is the root cause of a large part of a given societies issues, they likely aren't affording the time to worry about it- despite, in spite, or maybe even because of it.

[@Ndsl710]

Our old washing machine lasted 50 years before we needed to replace it. Brand new one broke right after the warranty expired.

[@mene1in]

The fact that they were able to get away with this really angers me. Imagine how many other industries might have the same kind of agreement between major companies, like pharmacuticals.

[@randompanda2391]

Oh jeez that's scary. Pharmaceuticals are a shady enough already

[@myfakeaccount4523]

IF not all then most of them will and do , do this to make more money.

[@beer1for2break3fast4]

I think they all do this.

[@spamlord3531]

The problem is that when it comes to meds, if there's either, A: no competitors, B: There's too many people with, a specific condition, or C: companies decide to work together like with the lightbulbs, then prices go up. Insulin for diabetics is a perfect example of this. So many people are obese and have diabetes that companies have to raise prices to meet the demand. One of the rules of supply and demand is that if there is a high demand and low supply, prices will go up. My dad has genetic diabetes, so he just kinda gets tossed into the mess of paying thousands of dollars per year just for insulin. Sorry for the rant. :)

[@jimmymcperson7238]

thats why insulin costs 10x more in the us than it does for our neighbors 😀

[@MrMporas]

In a deeper meaning he pointed out that many of our needs, if not the majority are fictitious. And the companies convinced us that we NEED all of these products.

[@Horvath_Gabor]

My personal favorite of this was the invention of antiperspirants. The company that created it pushed it onto the market, but nobody cared, so they hired a marketing agency that ran a campaign to shame women about their body odour, and then once the demand was artificially created, their product suddenly sold like hotcakes. I can't wait for the time when someone invents a way to talk with another person in the room telepathically, and then they would start running an ad about how disgusting the movements of human lips are and everybody should buy their product instead. /s

[@kevinbarnard355]

@@Horvath_Gabor Same for listerine. They invented Halitosis to sell their mouth wash which before that was a household cleaning solution akin to pinesol

[@kimtabel5971]

Spot on

[@randompanda2391]

@@Horvath_Gabor I read somewhere that shaving body hair for women was also introduced this way by big shaving companies... By shaming women into thinking that their natural body hair is ugly and unattractive.

[@Johan-vk5yd]

I spot a great potential for reducing co2 emissions without sacrificing standard of living.

[@Smidgefishh]

I've been thinking about this a lot... its wildly annoying. I visited my grandparents a few years back. And one day it rained, so I borrowed their umbrella to walk dads dog. Their umbrella was from 1985, and in perfect condition. No rust or holes, nothing wrong. However at home, I have to buy a new umbrella every time it rains, or deal with an older umbrella which is either stuck, rusted of cracked/broken somewhere. It doesn't matter how nicely I treat my umbrellas, they just fall apart like a sandcastle being washed away by a wave. And it doesn't seem to matter what price they go for. I'm sure I could order an umbrella from wish for 1 dollar, and get something better than what I paid 20 dollars for here. I am so tired of this happening to almost all our things that we need. I am tired of having to replace everything almost the instant we get it. Idk, maybe we are buying the worst batch of everything, but... really though? what's the odds of buying a defunct product every single time?

[@katbryce]

I remember 1985. There were a lot of umbrellas that would disintegrate with the slightest breath of wind. They’ve long since gone to landfill, leaving only the few decent survivors.

[@Smidgefishh]

@@katbryce with that in mind I hope I one day can find a unicorn umbrella ☂️ haha :^D

[@kasoffice9342]

​@@Smidgefishh When you hate something so much due to its "absurd quality", you started to create your version instead. And that's where the DIY trend landed in.

[@kasoffice9342]

​@@Smidgefishh "I become a top-class scientist to create myself an everlasting umbrella, and dress"

[@Smidgefishh]

@@kasoffice9342 to be fair, I'd love to make my own umbrella that lasts for ages, but I feel like I'd need some expensive equipment to do so xD

[@MrPenguin91809]

This really shows you how the world revolves around money and not about the well being of the people. “We are of the people, by the people and for the people” my butt

[@AlexDisibio]

The real reason that we can't have nice things is that we let companies get away with these things. We keep buying their products and don't call them out. People actually believe them when they are told they need the "latest and greatest". If we want nice things, we need to stop following marketing and start holding companies accountable.

[@stefanl5183]

This is true and is also a significant part of the problem. In essence we've become a society of convenience and a "throw away" society. Look at things like food packaging. Take for example bottles. There was a time when things like soft drinks and milk came in reusable bottles. The first time you purchased it you put up a small deposit on the bottle. from then on you just carrying the empty bottle to store or leave it the front doorstep for the milk man and avoid paying the deposit. The bottles were washed, inspected, and reused. nowadays that would be considered way too much inconvenience by most people and they'd never do it. Yet, those very same people will often cry and moan about "saving the planet" as long as it requires no effort whatsoever on their part.

[@schwiftyasfuck8575]

It's almost as if our current economic system is somewhat misaligned with the interests of the vast majority of people

[@robinbantigny8640]

They do not only get a significant margin that did not change financial inequalities, they also build up a system of over-extraction without even considering that the volume of waste will follow the one of sales up to the environmental breakdown we are in.

[@coganaj]

@@stefanl5183 Bottle washing, cleaning, recycling, etc., etc., etc. &and etc. could mean jobs in those fields or/and related robotics jobs building and programming robots to do said bottle washing, cleaning, recycling, etc., etc., etc., and etc. It's called jobs, not inconveniences.

[@DeathBringer769]

Every time someone tries to hold Apple responsible, for example, they eventually settle out of court for hundreds of millions, which is small compared to how much they make overall from planned obsolescence/blocking repair and battery replacement as much as possible/etc because sadly even most people who claim to not want to let companies get away with these things get swayed to go away and shut up once they are offered a cut of those millions of dollars, lol. I wish all those class action lawsuits wouldn't have settled out of court. Defeats the whole point just for some money.

[@cookiecrumbler2345]

it took me a while to realize that this video is LITERALLY EXPLAINING WHY WE CANT HAVE NICE THINGS

[@codehardr1209]

Yes we can and we have. Every time when I look at some new phone I ask myself if my current one can do 95% of the new one. If it can, then why spend the money? Same with computers or any gadget. I use galaxy s8 and I'm happy with it, It can play music, take pictures, play games, run apps, and even can fit into pocket. Why should I buy a new one? Same with a computer. Have a macbook from about the same time I bought my s8. Great screen, fast enough for work, editing pictures, playing movies, browsing web. What else can a new laptop do that one from 4 or 5 years ago can't? There was a time when computers was so slow that every two years it was worth the upgrade, but now you can do basically anything on any computer. Only if you are a professional that needs power for a specific software, like 3d rendering, only then you might get a value from an upgrade. I like how companies tries to brainwash you that their new product is 10% faster, even though practically it makes no difference. No one should care if you can render your 20 minutes video 2 minutes faster. No one sits and looks and the screen while it's rendering something. tldr; don't be a brainless sheep and think about what you actually need and not about what you want and you will realize that the nice things are all around you.

[@ileanaprofeanu7626]

Same happened to me haha

[@cookiecrumbler2345]

@@codehardr1209 i understand that but you get what i was saying

[@ylstorage7085]

"Blame China! ...yep, that should do it"

[@zenokarlsbach4292]

@im300kmh but today's light bulbs are pretty resistent.

[@MisterFribble]

Another great story on this is in David Halberstam's book "The Reckoning". It's a story about how the introduction of Japanese cars to the US in the 70s disrupted the careful planned obsolescence balance of Detroit and managed to win over the country.

[@junkscience6397]

Well that and a rather large oil crisis or two...

[@coupledyetivonvanderburg5385]

@@junkscience6397 Four banger brrrrr

[@Savvas1640]

15:35 No. The LED bulbs I have in my house, from various "reputable" companies, last for around 3 years. Same old story.

[@ricalamino]

Same here...

[@ricalamino]

Maximum 4 or 5 years

[@MrSigmaSharp]

Any influencer that advocates critical thinking is automatically cinsidered a hero in my mind.

[@usedatatoviewphoto584]

Sory to correct you but its spelled considered. I dident mean to offend you i swear!

[@reflectedcrosssite2848]

@@usedatatoviewphoto584 it's spelled "didn't" :p , also you used "its" wrong Edit: and "sorry", wait am I being wooshed?

[@Steve_Johnson_]

Space Seat Grow a spine. Don’t grovel like some blithering coward when you correct someone.

[@gratchmole8793]

@@Steve_Johnson_ Or just...be nice because you can?

[@pinaz993]

And almost as automatically doomed to have a limited reach.

[@trublgrl]

Corning followed this principle with their Corningware ceramic cookware. You know the white enameled cooking dishes you use in the oven? After many improvements over time, by the 1950's, they realized that their product was so unbreakable, so heat resistant, so perfectly cleanable, that no one needed to buy any more. One Ceramic dish might be used by several generations, as long-lived as the family silver. They saturated the market, everyone had a few of these, and the customer base was drying up. So they quietly reformulated Corningwear so it DID break more easily, and it DID stain and get dingy over time. Today, old Corningwear is highly valued and sought after, and new Corningware is considered a limited lifespan product, like most other kitchenware.

[@BrotherCheng]

I believe you are talking about the Pyroceram cookware from Corningware. It's interesting because they got discontinued in 2000 and replaced with inferior stoneware products after the Corningware brand was sold off. But interestingly, eventually they were brought back after 10 years or so, so you can now buy the original type Corningware again. I'm not sure what motivated them to do so though. Maybe after all these years they decided there's enough market for it again.

[@snoglydox]

. Just about every company that sold through Walmart were/are required to reduce the quality of their product in order to sell at Walmart stores.

[@skeeter8297]

i still use an old 50s stovetop coffee pot made by them . its stronger than a toilet

[@trublgrl]

@@skeeter8297 That should be their slogan.

[@trublgrl]

@@snoglydox I noticed that a few years ago with a brand of undies, and just recently, I bought the same bathroom tissue I normally buy at Costco, and the Walmart one, packaged exactly the same, is far thinner and cheaper. Infuriating.

[@kevnar]

"A secret meeting of top executives..." Nothing good ever comes out of secret meetings of top executives of any industry.

[@cessposter]

usb (although I believe in serial port superiority)

[@vorpal22]

That's because the people most likely to become successful top executives have sociopathy / psychopathy. You usually don't get rich by being generous and virtuous.

[@eltwarg6388]

@@vorpal22 ... or just an average person.

[@saxxy4306]

@@vorpal22 i think like you. thats a solid point

[@vorpal22]

@@eltwarg6388 Studies have shown that people with sociopathy are more likely to be successful in business, or be complete failures in life, while people without this personality disorder are less likely to be successful businesspeople. Certainly that doesn't imply that every CEO is a psychopath, but a disproportionate number of CEOs are psychopaths.

[@JoshuaMatthias]

It is interesting to note that planned obsolescence revolves around 2 simple things at the cost of many other things. First, to make a product that is just good enough for people to keep buying, and 2nd that people will indeed keep buying it. It is businessmen and those in power who stifle progress, inventors of all types keep finding ways to improve upon an idea and coming up with new ideas. The concept of leaving a legacy or an inheritance is void in a business model. I believe it is short sighted people who drive planned obsolescence because they can not imagine what could be different or better. Unfortunately, those who invent seldom have the capital to make things into fruition, and those who have capital seldom have the foresight to think long term about what is best for everyone.

[@gnilhtims]

Imagine just how advanced we would be if it wasn't for business practices like this

[@rawdog7220]

Depends, we might all still be driving cars from the 30's and washing our shirts from the 40s🤔

[@lawrencemorris2261]

A lot of business and other practices like a lot of things in the modern world.

[@EmyajNosdrahcirEniacSovereign]

Exactly. A world that voids merchants and money is a paradise.

[@lukeyznaga7627]

your not kidding, Potato. ANYBODY REMEMBER the dreams of various World Fairs in the past? all those ideas should have become reality. again, I have to use the tired old stereotype, the Jetsons cartoon. But if you look at NASA technology and our Military tech, you know that these things ALREADY exist but the government and the military WON'T LET PEOPLE have these things!

[@yuvtube1]

@@rawdog7220 Not necessarily. People will still buy a modern laptop even if their old typewriter is working fine. They don't need to break their products to be able to sell new improved products.

[@stoojinator]

This is one of the best videos on KZbin and needs to be shared far and wide. There's so many people being shafted by companies like Apple, and no one (apart from small number of people) seem to care. We need to stop this.

[@kaldo_kaldo]

It's not that people don't care, it's that people are happy to be shafted. Do you think people really don't notice they're buying another phone they don't need? They know it. They just think they need it.

[@lordsiomai]

@@kaldo_kaldo yup. and its really annoying it works ugh. we need to wake up to the truth please

[@ccsutherland4621]

I used to NEED the newest iPhone every year but I am still content with my iPhone X & plan to keep it until it’s gives out on me. One of the biggest eye openers for me was learning how bad it is to upgrade our phones annually. We all need to be cautious consumers.

[@kaldo_kaldo]

@@ccsutherland4621 Yep. I bought a $500 phone in the middle of 2019 and it's still perfectly fine, I don't see any reason to change it until it breaks. Phones aren't going to do new things, they're not going to be so much faster. Everything is a small change. Even if it takes 5 years I don't think a new phone in 2024 will be mindblowing.

[@cfvgd]

It's all according to plan. If you want to stop this you need to replace your leaders

[@qwerty_and_azerty]

My parents love pointing out to me how everything made in their day was actually higher quality. It makes me so sad to not have nice things. And it makes the planet sad. Imagine how much less pollution there would be if things lasted decades instead of a single year.

[@BenJaminLongTime]

I hate people that say that, it is not universally true that things were better. You think an aircraft from their day was better than the ones today? Nah bro. But I do have first hand experience and would agree many things built back then were in fact better, such as a 1930 tractor we have on my familys farm, that thing will run all day eevery day no matter what, meanwhile you go to the tractor shop buy or rent a brand new one straight from germany and it has a broken gas gauge due to arizona heat causing the plastic tank to expand and break the sensor, then you proceed to drive it and break more stuff on it... this is just my experience and I was always highly against the idea that things were made better. I have since agreed that yes, some things were definitly better. Keep in mind the tractors Im comparing were massively different, the old one has little that can go wrong, the new one is far far bigger and complicated with a lot of computer components as well. So definitly a grain of salt.

[@gwanael34]

Our first refrigerator lasted 25 years. And even then we only threw it away cause the freezer was freezing (it could still refrigerate)

[@ness576]

@@BenJaminLongTime well maybe their parent werent buying aircrafts and tractors left and right. Maybe they refer to domestic or daily life items. Even if technology has gotten exponentially better each decade you wouldt make a toaster out of graphite or a dresser out of some fancy alloy.

[@qwerty_and_azerty]

@@gwanael34 Of course it’s not universally true. Smart phones, for example, didn’t even exist back then. But it’s true of enough consumer products as to be a noticeable trend. When I said “everything” in my original statement, I was hyperbolizing. In reality, my parents would point to specific things and discuss those, not make blanket statements.

[@Beregorn88]

Things were also way more expensive: if the trend is to buy the cheapest thing, no matter the quality, then the average quality would drop...

[@FinnTheHumen]

What I find Interesting about this topic is if you build a vehicle so reliable that they barely need to go into the mechanics, will you kill that business, meaning when something eventually does go wrong you will have trouble finding someone to fix it or do small repairs and have to fully replace it, I’m not sure if this concept is better for the environment but it’s interesting to think about. Making something so reliable that people only have to buy it once, 1. Would that kill that business? 2. Would that mean we could put our money and resources into bigger and better ideas? 3. Are we slowing down the evolution of technology due to this? 4. Will technological advancement holt to keep people and businesses afloat?

[@realherobrine5636]

Toyota makes super reliable cars and you could easily find any part for them, toyota is also one of the biggest car companies

[@Hi.ImKiba]

Damn they really wanted us to buy a new car every year? Im still in shirts from 10 years ago man

[@ericmann1781]

This. All my coats are 10+ years old lol I even bought an LG V20 at the end of it's "career" because it was the only phone I could buy with a replaceable battery. Just bought a new li-po battery for it because there's no way in hell I am paying the price of today's phone + plan, as long as the damn thing turns on and I can call/text/gps, I'm going to keep using it.

[@Redmanticore]

every year for a new car... sure, if I can rent it as a service for a minuscule monthly price.. there are also other kinds of planned obsolescence, in the software world. I would use my 2013 Samsung galaxy s4 still, but my banking and post-office applications just started complaining, that for them to keep updating and hence for me to continue their use, I would need to update the phone´s operating system from android 5, which was the last update to it, or they would seize to work. which would mean buying the latest cheap phone with the latest operating system, or deleting the old operating system from the phone and crack it to install a new unofficial operating system, which is, of course, not officially supported by Samsung. but still, the software-side short cycle of official support policy continues on the newest phones too, maybe at two years worth of operating system updates, at max. not even that is promised by all phone makers. the korean s4 had been working just fine, just replaced a battery once, so ill keep it as a backup phone if decide to change to a cheap Chinese one. of which components will probably start failing in a year.

[@DJRonnieG]

@@Redmanticore I keep my note 3 around as a backup and even gave a few battery packs that I can can charge independently. All of my newer phones have non-removable batteries which used to bother me. I like that I can use my Note 8 in the shower... even after buying a used Galaxy Fold fromfriend, I still keep my SIM in the note because it's so versatile for my rough use.

[@dubious6718]

I didn't buy any new clothes in 2020, cause I have a washing machine and reuse my clothes.. In 2021 o far I have bought socks

[@DJRonnieG]

@@dubious6718 I bought pea coat that doesn't fit.

[@esdev92]

"Quality over quantity, just make sure there's not too much quality, else there will be no quantity."

[@testacals]

@@anonwithamnesia Let say you made a ever lasting phone . You can only sell what 7 billion after that you have to move on

[@moving.quotes]

I think the solution is to "embrace the change". Train the people to not just get stuck in one job but rotate their jobs. This way if we have reached pinnacle of light bulb we can use the workforce for some other challenge. Skill set of individual should free them not trap them in a job. The software industry has embraced this. People in IT keep learning throughout their career. If they don't learn they get irrelevant. The learning pace is cut throat as well. Learning is good for individuals! It basically gives the individual the confidence to stand in the face of change.

[@marzipancutter8144]

@@testacals Oh woe is me, after getting stupid rich off of a single invention now I might have to use my genius-level intellect capable of creating an everlasting phone for some other productive thing, rather than sitting on that single achievement for the rest of my life and three generations of my heirs doing the same.

[@ozanmrcan]

@@marzipancutter8144 that might be the reason why you are not a businessman

[@Mikelica69]

@@moving.quotes THIS

[@secondopinion6654]

Mercedes used to build what they called "forever cars." They built cars with the specific intention of lasting. Then they switched to planned obsolescence like everyone else. The last of their forever cars were their W123 series. Even the original bulbs on those cars and their much older cars were built to last. To this day you can find original working bulbs on those cars which is even more interesting knowing they've always been in a moving/vibrating environment. On a W123 the original bulbs have "West Germany" on the metal base. The usual death of one of those bulbs? Someone drops it.

[@risingstar1309]

I do believe the 126 was a “forever car” sure felt like it when I got mine at 28 years since it was built.

[@MattH-wg7ou]

Such a shame. My friend just bought a pristine 1986 S class and it is a glorious piece of work... The best cars.

[@youngblood4826]

my uncle still owns one in very good condition

[@dipling.pitzler7650]

That actually only applied to the mechanical parts of MB and the W 123 , the engine often outlasted the bodies that rusted depending on climate, though slower than market average. New MB cars are far better protected against rust with 30 year warranties , the limiting factor now is the complexity and electronic parts.

[@secondopinion6654]

@@dipling.pitzler7650 Yes, in fact MB's official policy now is they will stop supporting their vehicles after 7 years. Newer Mercedes will go to salvage now in 10 years average. These are vehicles that you need an MB Dealer computer to work on. These are vehicles that have headlight assemblies that cost $5,000 per side...used. After 30 years now a W123 will go another 30 years with some basic effort from a basic mechanic. After 10 years even Mercedes' biggest effort won't be able to make a new MB run.

[@smharmon21]

This video is three years old. Three years ago I moved into a house with all new LED light fixtures. I've had to replace virtually all of them in the last year. What makes it worse is they were LED incorporated fixtures, not bulbs. So, in my opion, the optimism at the end of the video is alredy gone. The expensive LED bulbs from 5-10 years ago that still work many years later are gone and the planned obsolescence bulbs and fixtures of today rein supreme. We've repeated the same cycle presented at the beginning of this video. It's sad and frustrating.

[@UXXV]

Was going to write the same comment.

[@orions2908]

You can still buy the expensive led's, don't cheap out and they'll last

[@UXXV]

@@orions2908 which ones though and how do you know ?

[@TinkerManMick]

Apple was the best example you could have used for planned obsolescence. Great video thank you!

[@PfropfNo1]

How exactly is the company that produce products with highest longevity the best example for planned obsolence?

[@kaithedoge5861]

@@PfropfNo1 look throught the video

[@PfropfNo1]

@@kaithedoge5861 yeah, i have watched. The video refers to an update where apple made iphones slow down rather than completely shutting off, when an old battery cant deliver enough power in extreme cold. After complaints apple introduced a setting, where you can choose to have your battery damaged and have your phone shut down or make it slower instead. People love when they find news that supports their views and are too afraid to dig deeper in because they could find out the background is not what they initially thought.

[@granthoover9045]

@@PfropfNo1 lol the irony here is astounding. The lack of self awareness is par for the course, I suppose.

[@PfropfNo1]

@@granthoover9045 do you have any actual arguments or only ad hominem?

[@DJNHmusic]

It's terrifying to think about the implications of this. We are so madly obsessed with profit and acquiring more material goods, we'll burn through our planet's resources like it's nothing. This really feels like end times.

[@karliszalite933]

I mean whats the alternative?

[@horseman4now]

It is. We're in the Fourth Horseman, Revelation 6:7,8, the green (chloros) horse. It began on 9/11/2001. It calls for 1/4 of the earth dead. No prophecy of the Bible has failed, in over 4,000 years.

[@jtjpro13]

@@karliszalite933 The alternative is we make hard decisions to ensure humanity's survival in Earth's history. The future is guaranteed. Humanity's isn't. Personally, I'm not too fussed. Doesn't seem likely that we're bound to live to next millennium, and it's natural selection in action. The only way we survive is we prove we deserve to survive by being smart enough.

[@akemdam9824]

Go watch a "programmed obsolescence " documentary to be more afraid 🤧

[@akemdam9824]

@@horseman4now 🤣🤣

[@OkieOtaku]

Fact Clarification here: The lightbulb has been turned off a few times. Once when being moved to its current location in 1976, and again most recently on May 20, 2013 for 10 hours for an issue that turned out to be with it's UPS generator. Generator was bypassed, and it flickered on again, and hasn't had issues since. Plus the multiple power outages during its early years before it was connected to a backup power system, and the 2 times it was reportedly moved before. All this info is easily found on their website, along with a livestream! 120 years, and still glowing! So to say "longest continuously burning" is true, comes with an asterisk. I think they say total off time since first installed, is less than that of a day. Cool stuff

[@BillAnt]

Also incandescent light bulbs usually burn out at the moment they are turned on, when the heat expansion of the filament is the greatest. Obviously in a normal home they are being turned on and off frequently putting a strain on the filament, while the old "everlasting bulb" has only been turned on and off just a few times. Hope that makes sense.

[@Tyler_Mayhem]

Thanks

[@jeaniebird999]

That makes that bulb even cooler. It's _that_ old and can _still_ be turned off and on.

[@cyberwar5949]

Turning it on and off puts insane stress on bulbs if they stay on permanent they will have a far longer durability

[@codyrinehart5479]

You out nerded the nerd. Feel cool?

[@Lord--Farquaad]

Planned obsolescence should be highly illegal. It should literally put people in prison if found guilty. The fact that there are some idiots in primaloft golf vests that are, at this very moment, intentionally making their products worse to increase sales over time is just horrifying and I hope there'll be justice one day.

[@josephjoestar1596]

THISSSSSSS

[@SirSpartAfterDark]

"Good products are bad for the economy" is something I never thought I would hear.

[@tyapca7]

Neither did I, although I knew it ;-) Economy is about psychology, not technology.

[@EclecticBuddha]

Just another way to say that broken windows are good for the economy. That's Paul krugman levels of stupid.

[@uhohhotdog]

They’re great for the economy. They’re bad for profits

[@Naturamorpho]

I would put it differently: "The western capitalist post industrial revolution paradigm is bad for good products" And no, I am not sugesting what ever would be better than that. I wish I knew.

[@nowonmetube]

That's why the system must change

[@ohaider123]

Somewhere, Louis Rossmann got an extra 20 minutes of sleep because of the release of this video.

[@fr0styy202]

HAHAHAHA

[@PiniiXever]

Literally

[@TheBetterGame]

Louis is going on vacation. Not a joke, in his last video he said he's taking a break and going away.

[@randomjasmicisrandom]

The poor guy needs it. Have you seen the bags under his eyes!?

[@skydivekrazy76]

Lol, you bet.

[@spencerlukay5809]

This gets even more nefarious when you think about how a handful of large companies have monopolized their influence across the majority of companies.

[@ippanpedrozo1162]

yup, just apply this video's concept to farming, food, clothing, and housing: we (specifically mostly just US companies) throw away perfectly edible food, of which could be given away for free and feed literally the entire world population. companies actually hire police to guard their dumpsters overflowing with food, and pour bleach all over the dumpsters so that anyone desperate enough to dig through trash would get poisoned. companies throw away and destroy excess/buy up second hand brand clothes so that their brand's clothing supply stays artificially low to drive inflated prices. there are enough empty housing and space to house every single human on earth, yet companies would rather a paying customer buy houses than save the lives of human beings trying to survive against the outside elements. capitalism with it's infinite growth model is illogical and evil. this video should be proof enough that the myth "capitalism breeds innovation" is just a myth.

[@DavidHRyall]

@@ippanpedrozo1162 apply it to pharma too. 5 boosters later and annual boosters on the horizon. Nothing will be cured while subscription services are more profitable

[@jamesdinius7769]

​​@@ippanpedrozo1162You had a good point, until you went into the housing issue. The food and clothing issues are deplorable, but complaining that builders don't give away the houses they built, spending their money on building materials, construction workers, permitting and inspections is just idiotic. That's not remotely comparable to poisoning waste food you can no longer sell or destroying second hand clothing. Building a home is a massive investment, and if you require builders to operate as a charity, giving away their hard work, guess what happens?HARDLY ANYONE ONE WOULD EVER BUILD A HOUSE! Do you expect Habitat for Humanity to pick up the slack if you drive every single for-profit builder out of business? Oh wait, they can't. You've also driven the lumberyards and quarries out of business by destroying their main customers.

[@mouseshadow-f5k]

​@@jamesdinius7769I think more in reference of how much land is owned by how few, or the real estate groups that buy most of the houses in an area and jack the prices up through false inflation and then immediately resell said houses to people that were trying to buy them at the original price.

[@painkillerjones6232]

That's nothing compared to the half-handful of billionaires who own the MSM.

[@Ghousthu]

Veritasium: How much do you bet the IPhone 14 has rounded edges? IPhone 15: I guess you wonder where I've been

[@anexpertonthematter1468]

How bro felt after making this comment: 😂🤣😂🤣👹👹🥵🥵🥵🥶🥶🥶🥶🤑🤑🤑

[@PhantasmXYZ]

15:53 you optimistically say we've "finally reached the point of what is essentially an everlasting light bulb" for LED lights... Buuuuttt... Big Clive had a teardown of several LED light bulbs recently. His findings? Many use similar internals, the same circuit designs, and they ALL overdrive the LED to put out more light at the expense of life span. In other words, we have LEDs and circuits of higher quality, easily capable of extremely long life, BUT there seems to be similar market forces at play yet again, where the manufacturers of the most common bulbs are artificially keeping their products from being "TOO GOOD."

[@the_retag]

Lupine lighting systems from germany makes top tier outdoor lights, undervolting the leds for battery life, repairs for ages, excellent customer service, and even upgrades for older lights (my fathers flashlight has i think only the case original, the batteries and worn out switch were replaced and the leds upgraded) this comes at the expense of being one of, if not the most expensive brand for outdoor and bike lighting (luckily their new streetlegal bike lights are quite popular)

[@MsHumanOfTheDecade]

i saw that too and it got me paranoid. i destroyed many led bulbs like this (why can't they just make them disassembleable...) but midpriced ones from aliexpress are actually UNDERVOLTED with gigantic heatsinks. since then im using them around the house and only 1 has failed and that was from a really unfortunate event and a proper electrician mucking about in the apartment above.

[@timdec5488]

So I made a comment in the main feed. But this is exactly what I was referring to. It's the Dubai light bulb from Philips. They use more LED filiments so they don't overload them and they use way less wattage to light. I'm not an electrical neard so I can't tell you all the details off the top of my head. Look it up if you aren't already aware.

[@XanderProduction]

@@MsHumanOfTheDecade can you give us the link 🥺

[@danmerillat]

@@timdec5488 Those are called Dubai light bulbs because they'll never be sold outside Dubai. They only begrudgingly make them for dubai because the alternative was to be banned from the country entirely.

[@hoopoloatucd]

I'm so glad you included the Right to Repair discussion.

[@mf--]

Wish he included Louis Rossmann.

[@aMondayMorning]

I don't like the word "discussion" when referring to right to repair. It should be factual with no abiguity.

[@rlemoyne007]

Tesla will have to provide information about its cars.

[@DeadpoolJust]

@@mf-- I'm actually glad he wasn't included. It feels like there is more probability of a movement gaining long-term progress if it can't be taken down by discrediting 1 single individual. Think of it as diversification in investment.

[@lonestarr1490]

@@rlemoyne007 They already do so. Otherwise they wouldn't be able to acquire patents for it.

[@sakuhaapakka2693]

The most insane thing is that people are so unaware of this and so surprised when they hear about this, almost unable to believe. "Whaat!? The mega companies don't love us!?"

[@smh9902]

Worst yet, when I explain these things to them they paint me as a tinfoil hat wearing "conspiracy theorist" smh these people deserve to be exploited.

[@katiebarber407]

capitalism does a great job of brainwashing the population that is it really the best system we could have, this is ofcourse, a lie

[@cradleofanal]

@@smh9902 some of the want to abuse you.. some of the want to be abused..

[@cradleofanal]

@@katiebarber407 they stimulate the population with stimulant and then feed their ego that they are better than others.. and like magic you are under their spell..

[@smh9902]

@@katiebarber407 I'm a free market entrepreneur and I'm of the opinion given my experience on these matters that much of these issues stem from regulatory capture creating conditions that allow cartels to easily form and maintain dominance.

[@mariaashot5648]

Incandescent lights cast a prettier light, not only more flattering, but also more cheering. Halogen is also good - but more expensive & more complicated to replace. Thank you for this excellent video.

[@1234567895182]

How are we meant to reduce waste and move forward if so many companies models are literally, "let's make this stuff turn into garbage as quick as possible"

[@N9ROBES]

The other end to this is the fact that a lot of these companies will offer discounts on purchases of new products in exchange for the old items. They make a sale at a small loss for the discount, but in return they get the old items from you that they can reuse and repurpose. Our resources are finite.. this is the only way that I could see one justifying planned obsolescence. I still don't like it tho. 😒

[@alwaystired1]

youre dead on, pollution is primarily an issues with mega corps, not your average person. but they're great at shifting the blame onto straws ffs

[@Miranox2]

It will not happen until they are *forced* to change, either by us or by the environment.

[@Miranox2]

@@alwaystired1 This is why public recycling is a sham. Over 90% of what you put in recycling ends up in a garbage dump anyway, but you are asked to recycle so that blame is shifted away from corporations.

[@yurigouveawagner9432]

My mom had a washing machine for 20 years, and it worked perfectly. When a piece broke, she called the company. Turns out they had stopped making those pieces. She had to buy a new one. It didn't last two months before its first problem required maintenance. it still breaks every three or four months.

[@leexabyz]

2 months?? Damn bro, didn't you have a warranty or something? 2 months is far too quick even for planned obsolescence

[@yurigouveawagner9432]

@Sfs rocket lab yeah, they started lasting less when global economy needed more profit. we have an immensely productive system, but the fact that we can solve a problem becomes poison to a system that lives off of selling solutions.

[@yurigouveawagner9432]

@@leexabyz oops, my bad. i'm pretty sure it had its first problem after two months, but I was editing the comment before posting and forgot to add that we didn't have to throw the machine away after the first problem, just pay someone to fix it. it kept having more problems every three or four months.

[@tamaica7770]

leexabyz lol.

[@dillonvandergriff4124]

That's like my great-grandfathers microwave. It lasted over 20 years before it broke. They've had to get 2 new ones in the last 5 years :(

[@viperzero8501]

Just for information, "TEPCO" is not "Tokyo Electric", it is "Tokyo Electric Power Company" which provides power to the East half of Japan (except Hokkaido). "Tokyo Electric" is a company that existed from 1890 to 1939, which merged with another electric company "Shibaura Seisakujo" to become the company we know today as "Toshiba".

[@arkonarcaxe1808]

interesting...i learned something today. thanks

[@kingaj3286]

Wow, thanks for the information bro

[@Supremax67]

The issue was never about technology being better, but humans being greedy and greed should never be the solution to fix anything

[@viperzero8501]

I didn't think my comment would be interesting to anyone, basically. Thank you! to the Veritasium viewers who thought it contributed something (at least) to the community 😊

[@amiriarzoo4136]

@×

[@Monikyukyu]

I never realized my light bulbs are yet another live subscription service

[@Bonovasitch]

Man, the fact a lot of these obsolescent trends began cropping up around the 1920's/30's really adds a whole new level of context to the Great Depression, which I think is really fascinating as a rare but extremely enlightening crossroads between science, history, and economic principles.

[@ericmacrae6871]

that was all predicted by Karl Marx

[@brynleytalbot778]

The age of invention eventually collided with the age of advertising. Once marketing emerged with easy to earn sales commission and easy no down payment credit everything changed. We’ve been deceived ever since. The green economy is little more than a marketing sham. If you sell an ideology hard enough people succumb to crowd psychology and flock to buy into it even though it’s selling claims are dubious.

[@Citizens4DefenseLLC]

The Global Slave Masters want a modern Great Recession and they call it the "Great Reset" The answer to this is the GREAT AWAKENING where humanity purges the Technocrats for their crimes against humanity.

[@jessicakakern4571]

@@ericmacrae6871 most government officials also saw it coming decades before it happened. And it would start with farmers as predicted. They experienced there depression almost 10 years before the stock market depression

[@solomon7722]

Yooo thank you for opening my eyes to this

[@defaultsoop8723]

I used to live near that lightbulb, and seeing it in over 4 years fills me with happiness and nostalgia

[@blyndd]

Damn. I live here too. Small world eh

[@antifacisme]

Damn. I don’t. Small wor.. nah.

[@SomeUsernameSomeoneElseTookIt]

Big world

[@frey2688]

@@SomeUsernameSomeoneElseTookIt lol

[@alexanderiliev9434]

Now imagine a firefighter that worked there 40 years ago or more