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Built-in software ‘death dates’ are sending thousands of schools’ Chromebooks to the recycling bin (www.mercurynews.com)
submitted 3 years ago by to c/technology@beehaw.org
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There are few things quite as emblematic of late stage capitalism than the concept of "planned obsolescence".

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[–] 8 points 3 years ago* (7 children)

I would have agreed with that statement until I saw the most recent Technology Connections video about why the incandescent light bulb has planned obsolescence built in. Sometimes it's not malicious but to actually provide a compromise leading to an overall better product.

I don't think software death dates count, tho.

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  • [–] 9 points 3 years ago

    That wasn't planned obsolescence though, it was an industry-created standard for the tradeoff between efficiency, brightness, and lifespan. Planned obsolescence is specifically when a product is made to break sooner than it needs to.

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  • [–] 4 points 3 years ago

    Light bulbs aren't planned obsolescence though, he even said as much in the video, light bulbs more akin to dish-soap which eventually runs out then a device made to be obsolete faster. They are consumable items, which run out or burn out, they are not expensive appliances with long lives, hell he even pointed out that some utilities gave them away for free.

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  • [–] 2 points 3 years ago (2 children)

    but to actually provide a compromise leading to an overall better product.

    Could you elaborate a bit more on that?

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  • [–] 1 point 3 years ago (1 child)

    For incandescent lightbulbs, his point was that bulbs can burn fast and bright or low and slow, and standardizing on a lifespan of 1000 hours was a sweet spot between performance and longevity. For example, it makes 60W bulbs from different manufacturers more interchangeable and less prone to tricky marketing gimmicks like a "long life" 60W bulb that's dimmer.

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  • [–] 2 points 3 years ago

    Thank you for explaining this concept. I still don't see how it can be considered planned obsolescence, though. It looks more like a matter of optimizing the output and doing a tradeoff for more performance.

    I see planned obsolescence as artificially limiting the longevity or repairability of a product, without any benefit at all, but with the intention of making it less durable. A good example could be locked smartphones without updates.

    But perhaps, the definition of planned obsolescence is broader than i think.

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  • [–] 2 points 3 years ago

    TLDR: I'm still very suspicious of how that is quantified - "leading to an overall better product".

    Who quantifies that and how, on a case by case basis, especially in the form of Chromebooks or phones for revenant, popular examples?

    Let's say it was a laptop: I can see issues with lithium batteries perhaps reaching a cycle count that lead them to be dangerous. Wouldn't that mean though you should produce a good that has replaceable batteries? Is the battery designed in such a manner on purpose?

    Businesses with shareholders that live quarter to quarterly profit are the issue. There is no authoritarian legislator that reallocates resources like China did the last few years, for example, whether you like it or not.

    The US relies on legislation to be passed to mandate the changes or prohibit a device from being built a certain way. That legislation can be lobbied for loopholes, have various people in power also own percentages of the companies, etc. Whether you agree with it or not, there are many checks and balances and simultaneously a lack thereof.

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