Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for obsolescence In the United States, automotive design reached a turning point in 1924 when the U.S. domestic car market reached saturation. To maintain sales, General Motors CEO Alfred P. Sloan Jr. proposed annual model year design changes to convince car owners that they had to buy a new replacement every year, an idea adopted by the bike industry, though the concept is often mistakenly attributed to Sloan. [9] Critics have called his strategy “planned obsolescence.” Sloan preferred the term “dynamic obsolescence.” [10] Camille Paglia characterizes contemporary academic discourse, influenced by French theorists such as Lacan, Derrida and Foucault, as the academic equivalent of branded consumption. “Lacan, Derrida and Foucault,” she says, “are the academic equivalents of BMW, Rolex and Cuisinart. [34] Inspired by the latest academic fashion, academic planned obsolescence is about producing low-value content for the same reason fashion designers launch new fashions. Inventory obsolescence occurs when retailers and other suppliers confuse inventory with planned future sales that prove too slow to materialize.
Excessive inventory levels or an overestimation of potential demand increase the risk of products becoming obsolete and negatively affect the company`s cash flow. Companies can solve this problem alongside periodic inventory counting by assessing which of their inventory items are moving slowly or not selling at all. [8] In 2015, as part of a broader movement against planned obsolescence across the European Union, the France passed a law requiring equipment manufacturers and sellers to declare the expected lifespan of the product and inform consumers of the manufacturing time of spare parts for a particular product. Starting in 2016, device manufacturers will be required to repair or replace defective products free of charge within two years of the original purchase date. This effectively creates a mandatory two-year warranty. [30] With the increasing and easier collection of consumer data, many companies are introducing new planned obsolescence models in which they can trigger the obsolescence of individual devices based on location, purchasing power, interest in upgrading (ItO) or the availability of new consumer features. A hypothetical example of Bejarane describes how a smartphone can limit its own battery capacity, processor power, or flash memory based on how many times the user searched for new models, implying that the user was interested in updating the device, and then positively reinforce that decision by making a quantifiable change in the device`s current performance. The data needed to trigger the change can be obtained not only from the smartphone itself (keyboard/touchscreen recording), but also from record providers such as social media systems and online retailers, who store each customer`s data to create more specific merchandising campaigns. Finally, since the change can be made dynamically, the consumer will assume that the device will only fail while wearing it, without being aware of the slow change in performance triggered by the previous actions. Russell Jacoby notes in the 1970s that intellectual production has succumbed to the same model of planned obsolescence used by manufacturing firms to create ever-changing demand for their products. After all, planned obsolescence also affects car manufacturers, who launch new versions of their models every year. Planned systemic obsolescence is the deliberate attempt to render a product obsolete by modifying the system in which it is used in such a way as to make its subsequent use more difficult.
Common examples of planned systemic obsolescence include not considering backward compatibility in software or regularly changing the design of screws or fasteners so that they cannot be easily used with existing tools. Packard has divided planned obsolescence into two subcategories: The shortening of the exchange cycle has critics and supporters. Philip Kotler asserts: “Much of what is called planned obsolescence is the operation of competing and technological forces in a free society – forces that lead to ever better goods and services.” [31] In 2015, the French National Assembly imposed fines of up to €300,000 and prison sentences of up to two years on manufacturers who planned in advance for the failure of their products. [35] The regime is relevant not only because of the sanctions it provides, but also because it is the first time that a legislator has recognized the existence of planned obsolescence. [36] These techniques may include “the intentional introduction of an error, weakness, planned downtime, technical limitation, incompatibility or other obstacle to remedy.” [ref. Legal obsolescence refers to weakening the usability of products through legislation, as well as making it easier to buy a new product by offering benefits. The international standard IEC 62402:2019 Obsolescence Management defines obsolescence as the “transition from available to not available from the manufacturer according to the original specification”. [3] Obsolete also refers to something that is already abandoned, discarded, or obsolete. [4] Typically, obsolescence is preceded by a gradual decline in popularity. Consumers often react negatively to planned obsolescence, especially when new generations of products do not offer sufficient improvements over previous versions. Brands can be obscured by artificially fueling demand through this method, which ends up driving customers away. Artificial durability is a strategy to shorten the life of a product before it is put on the market by designing it to deteriorate rapidly.
[4] The design of all consumer products includes an expected average lifespan that permeates all stages of development.