Made To Break--Technology and Obsolescence in America

Author and historian Giles, we are a society of waste. There is no waste not, want not for us--oh, no. We always want bigger, better, newer. We get rid of things not because we have to, but because we want to. Giles tells readers how, during the 19th century, many new materials were discovered which allowed for the creation of disposable goods. So much for our ethic of conservation and re-use. Enter the big-time manufacturers' profitability of repetitive consumption. Always driven by the almighty dollar. Of course, not all disposable products are evil. We can be eternally grateful for many of the disposable personal/hygiene products invented--diapers, sanitary napkins, and condoms, for example. However, do we REALLY need ALL of the disposable products that are available to us? Not only are we wasting money, but we are destroying the planet we live on.

Slade feels that we dispose of objects out of sheer obsolescence, not because of the objects' failure. He talks about the unethical "planned obsolescence", the deliberate use of shoddy, poor quality materials in products to necessitate their replacement after a short life span that was perfectly planned as such by the manufacturers. Slade also talks about "psychological obsolescence", saying that companies use tactics to stimulate a perpetual dissatisfaction among consumers. We are willing to "trade up" just for style, and not just technological improvements, long before our products are ready for the trashcans. Take clothing/fashion, for example. It's impossible to keep up with the never-ending trends and must-haves. Of course, we may try, and it's very easy to get caught up in it all. We have to keep ourselves from falling into all these traps that are constantly being set up for us. Another example is the iPhone. I have a first generation iPhone, and still love it. I have absolutely no problems with it. However, Apple has since released several newer and "better" versions of the iPhone, trying to lure me in. Yes, it's tempting, but thankfully, I'm not easily swayed.

Slade says it all when he says, "Deliberate obsolescence in all its forms--technological, psychological, or planned--is a uniquely American invention. Not only did we invent disposable products...but we invented the very concept of disposability itself." I think that in today's economy, we need to re-think this obsolescence...we keep digging ourselves into deeper and deeper holes--and these holes, by the way, are already filled with all the other stuff we've tossed away over the years.