Planned Obsolescence

Planned Obsolescence is the deliberate shortening of product life spans to guarantee consumer demand. It also means that a product should be designed and produced with the knowledge that it will only be popular, useful and functional for a limited length of time.

The Light Bulb Conspiracy combines investigative research to trace the untold story of Planned Obsolescence, from its beginnings in the 1920s with a secret cartel, set up expressly to limit the life span of light bulbs, to present-day stories involving cutting edge electronics and the growing spirit of resistance amongst ordinary consumers.

The documentary begins by visiting the longest running light bulb in the world, which has burned continuously for over 110 years in Livermore, California. Initially, light bulbs were built to last. But the film finds historical evidence revealing how a cartel in the 1920’s decided to produce bulbs limited to a maximum life of 1000 hours, making the humble light bulb one of the first examples of planned obsolescence and a model for increasing profits on other products.

Shot over three years in Europe, the U.S. and Ghana, The Light Bulb Conspiracy investigates the evolution and impact of planned obsolescence through interviews with historians, economists, designers and manufacturers, along with archival footage and internal company documents. The film profiles several well-known historical advocates -- Bernard London, who famously proposed ending the Great Depression by mandating planned obsolescence, and Brook Stevens, whose post-war ideas became the gospel of the 1950’s and helped shape the throwaway consumer society of today.

The strategy of planned obsolescence is common in the computer industry too. New software is often carefully calculated to reduce the value to consumers of the previous version. This is achieved by making programs upwardly compatible only; in other words, the new versions can read all the files of the old versions, but not the other way round. Someone holding the old version can communicate only with others using the old version.

If we talk about cars? How about we talk about something that has lasted in my family for generations: heirloom furniture that has lasted over 100 years and still usable, still stylish and sturdy - not cheap, weak China-made furniture which only lasts for a couple of years. I'm sick and tired of crap from China that breaks down after a year or two. Our ancestors tried to make as durable products as possible prior to the 1920's. Many of those products are still around today - like buildings.

At last I want to say that Planned obsolescence is one of the biggest threats to this planet, we all need to change the way that we think about our consumerism. It will not change until more people demand things that last longer. Getting rid of planned obsolescence won't stop progress, it will excel progress and improve innovation in a different and sustainable direction. We live on a planet with finite resources, we need to wake up & wake up soon.