Tony, the thing to understand about planned obsolescence is that it is not an incidental crime or the result of particular avarice, but a basic component of the prevailing industrial-economic model. Contrary to popular belief, that model is not demand-driven but technique-driven. Production volumes are not determined by real need or, more importantly, anything like spontaneous desire but by the requirements of the chosen technique of production, and those are positively chosen - and developed where they do not exist - expressly to achieve their greatest profitability at the highest possible optimal rate of output. To this end no effort is spared in manufacturing demand. Of this advertising is a very visible but really relatively small part. Much more central are the cultivation of need structures; the domestication of governments to ensure protection from innovative competition through petty and prettily-pretexted regulation; and the planned obsolescence that this enables.
(A book I'd recommend here is Jacques Ellul, "The Technological Society": http://www.amazon.com/The-Technological-Society-Jacques-Ellul/dp/0394703901) The great common misconception is that the volume of industrial output is definite because it is tied to independent demand. The volume of industrial output - the diameter of the pie - is in fact quite indefinite because demand is anything but independent. And anyone given sovereignty over a profitable pie would surely want that pie to be as large as possible. The bigger the pie, the bigger the power. The answer is not cutting up the pie better. It is certainly not cutting up the pie with a longer-faced expression. It is not even baking a pie with reputedly healthier ingredients - supposing that this can be done without again doubling the recipe. It is baking a smaller pie. I don't know about batteries, but my guess with regard to automobiles is that if one could somehow separate out real, spontaneous demand it would be found to be something like 5% of current consumption. Because planned obsolescence is not an exceptional criminal intrusion into a basically honourable model but the normal function of a dishonourable model, it does no good to decree that the model be conducted honourably. Doing so will - and does - simply exacerbate all that is wrong with it. Regards Dawie Coetzee >________________________________ > From: Tony <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >To: sustainablelorgbiofuel@sustainablelists.org >Sent: Tuesday, 7 August 2012, 6:22 >Subject: Re: [Biofuel] Solar, Wind & other Alternatives > > >Kirk Unfortunately over the past 30 to 40 years Built in obsolescence >and greed has become a huge industry. > >Why would a company make ( in this case batteries) that last forever ? >they would consider that a bad deal for future sales. > >When in reality if you produce a product that lasts for as long as possible >more people would purchase the product and you would probable make >far more money corporate industry is more interested in Domination >of the market place rather than conserving resources. > >I used to do Leather work for years belts, dog leashes, leather sandals, >Coin Purses, etc my ethic was to do myself out of a job and produce >the best product >I could for the cheapest price that would last the longest period of time. >( Arthritis got me instead ) > >When I stopped doing leather work 20 years ago ( still have all my >tools though) >I used to do it in our shopping centers we a group of craft people >got together >and made and sold our wares to attract people into the shopping centers >we made money and so did the other shop owners >I still have people calling me 20 years later asking if I could sell them >more belts if the locals see me They ask if they can get another >coat of dye on the belt >to freshen it up which I usually do for free , > >If our society changed from thinking about self all the time and thinking from >a wholistic approach the world would be a far better place. > > > > > > > >At 09:58 AM 6/08/2012 -0700, you wrote: >>Some of Edison's cells are in use a century later. Nickel iron >>battery for stationary use - superior to lead acid in transportation as well. >>But the life! Why are things built to be replaced so soon? >>Something wrong about leaving a set of batteries to your grand-kids? >>-K >> >>You learn from your mistakes...Today I hope not to learn_too_ much. >> > > >_______________________________________________ >Biofuel mailing list >Biofuel@sustainablelists.org >http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainablelorgbiofuel > >Biofuel at Journey to Forever: >http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html > >Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (70,000 messages): >http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/ > > > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: /pipermail/attachments/20120807/f5e5124e/attachment.html _______________________________________________ Biofuel mailing list Biofuel@sustainablelists.org http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainablelorgbiofuel Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (70,000 messages): http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/
