What's the story with 'made to break': If you have ever suspected that things just aren't made to last anymore, it will be scant consolation to find that you're right. According to a new book much modern technology is indeed, as the title puts it, Made To Break.
Its author, Canadian cultural historian Giles Slade, details how many of your favourite electrical goods are doomed from the moment they leave the production line. Many items, he writes, come with a built-in "death-date" that will render it prematurely obsolete. In a marketplace that thrives on disposability, goods really aren't made the way they used to be. And even when they do last, the regular arrival of newer, flashier models means that millions of perfectly good phones, video players, computers and stereos are being stored away in the attics and basements of the world.
The simple lightbulb has long been a prime example of a product made with a shortened life span, but Slade considers Apple's iPod to be the modern icon of what is termed "planned obsolescence". The battery in the music player, he points out, begins to decline after a year. And as its owners know, replacing it is an awkward and expensive business. To Apple's profit, many people simply opt to buy a new one.
Elsewhere, computers come with parts that cost as much to replace as the machine cost in the first place, while printers arrive for which spare parts cannot be bought.
And even if your old computer has survived the years, its longevity is not rewarded. Those who use Windows 98 on their PC, for instance, can forget about dialling Microsoft's costumer support line in case of a problem. The company stopped providing assistance for it last week.
The trend began with Motorola, who in the 1950s produced pocket radios that were soldered shut at the back, making them irreparable. It was easier to get a new one. "Deliberate obsolescence in all its forms - technological, psychological or planned - is a uniquely American invention," writes Slade. "Not only did we invent disposable products, ranging from diapers to cameras to contact lenses, but we invented the very concept of disposability itself."
It has since spread across the world, making "planned obsolescence" the norm. In 2003, the Consumers' Association and An Taisce called for manufacturers to let us in on some of their trade secrets. If they spend so much time testing the durability of their products, why not release the results? A nice idea, perhaps, but utterly unlikely to happen.
The consequences are bad not only for the costumer, argues Slade, but for the environment. His book is not just about the manufacture of modern must-haves, but how bad they are for the planet when they become must-bins.
It is a terrible waste, contributing to a global pollution problem when they could be put to practical use. At least 90 per cent of the 315 million unbroken personal computers that were thrown away in North America last year were simply destroyed.
Much of it doesn't need to be thrown away, but is down to what Slade calls "psychological obsolescence", where consumers are persuaded to update their gadgets to the latest model, even if the changes are largely cosmetic. Apple, again, is masterful at bringing out new iPods at regular intervals, so consumers feel not only that it's not worth the trouble to fix their old model, but that they should buy a new one even when the old one is working fine.
It means that perfectly functional items are made obsolete simply by virtue of technology overtaking them. Some 75 per cent of North American homes have usable VCRs, stereos, DVD players, camcorders, phones and televisions rusting away in the attic.
The mobile phone has become a particular icon of disposability. There are an estimated 15 million old mobile phones lying around Irish homes, and they are ultimately nasty to the environment, as they contain toxic components too small to disassemble and recycle.
While the EU WEEE (waste electrical and electronic equipment) directive slapped a recycling charge on each new electrical item sold here, across the world it is proving to be a major pollutant. In Ireland, this disposability is hitting the consumer in the pocket. The WEEE directive has led to problems, the Consumers' Association says, because for all the good it does the environment, in a disposable age consumers have found that every time an item needs replacing, they are faced with the added charge.
With the advent of new technology, there will only be more to throw out. The advent of high definition television means that there will be plenty of TV sets heading for the great sitting room in the sky. As music downloads become the norm, how many unwanted CDs - and their packaging - will find their way into landfill?
As one designer explained as far back as 1958: "We make good products, induce people to buy them, and then next year deliberately introduce something that will make those products old-fashioned, out of date, obsolete. We do that for the soundest reason: to make money."
Made to Break: Technology and Obsolescence in America by Giles Slade is published by Harvard University Press
