The Light Bulb Conspiracy

Intriguing documentary on planned obsolescence. Yes kids, there really is a conspiracy to make crap that will fail before long, forcing you to buy new. 

The lightbulb that has been burning for over a century is astonishing. 

I often have to think about computers and software. I love them, they allow me to do so much, and yet....I’ve lost track of how much money I’ve spent on them (my chin quivers thinking of the days when a Mac was the equivalent of a sizeable down payment on a house - and a door stop a few years later), on replacing hard disks, on scrambling to keep up with ever changing storage mediums, on having to constantly upgrade software (even though there is really nothing wrong with earlier versions - all we’re really getting is bloatware), on having to constantly upgrade hardware to keep up with the software upgrades. It’s an utterly maddening hamster wheel. And it’s one I can’t get off of. None of us can.

How much computing power is enough computing power? I would happily, happily go back to the computer I was using 15 years ago, with an earlier version of FreeHand, because very little I do today in the way of drawing, requires more processing power than what I needed back then. The new shiny gadgets are nice and all, but at some point I have to wonder if we’re not being bamboozled. I use a nine year old cell phone. Sure there is better out there, but it allows me to make and receive calls, send and receive texts. Do I really need more? Yeah I see some of the fancy stuff that an iPhone can do, but at what cost? Human misery in the Congo so slave labourers can extract Coltan, plumes of burning plastic smoke in Ghana or China from our e-waste? Foolishly naive and optimistic to even consider stuff like that perhaps, but it is a reality of our ever expanding range of electronic goods. And yet, can any of us really get off that crazy carousel ride?

I have tools of my dads, some that he made, that are 60 years old. I will likely hand them over to my kids or grandkids. My computers? Ha!

I always strive to buy and make things to a fairly rugged standard. It may cost more, it may be heavier and bulkier. But in the long run, I think the cost is less. Both for the wallet and the earth.