Planned Obsolescence

Ever wondered as to why these days, light bulbs do not last as long as they they used to? Or as to why Duracell batteries do not last as long as they used to back in the day? This deliberate production of products with shorter lifespan is called Planned Obsolescence. It is a technique being used by corporate companies for quite a while now. It is practiced by business owners in all walks of life. The most classic example is that of Apple products. For, example the mobile phone chargers manufactured by apple are so delicate and fragile that a three year old can snap it into two. And the cost of replacing the product is way above the price tag of what you would pay for any normal charger. Some other examples are, purposely planting critical bugs in software updates, giving low quality hardware for expensive parts, the trend of irreplaceable batteries in mobile phones, light bulbs which wont work after completing certain hours and many such trends which go unnoticed by the best of us. 

So how to counter it? Well, it is actually very difficult question indeed, because here you cant simply switch to a different company because almost all companies have an agreement among themselves. So, the best practice would be to buy products with extended warranty of at least three years, buy products with easily available spare parts, and the most important one; Please support brands like Casio which build some of the most durable products, which make them really trustworthy.

I Hope this was informative and helps us all to increase self awareness against such small but significant issues with the industry.