“The second a new phone gets announced my current one always slows down”.
I’ve said it, you’ve said it, it seems like everyone and their mother is lamenting electronic device drops for their reputation of slowing down our current ones. The term used to describe this ridiculously annoying problem is planned obsolescence. While from a business perspective planned obsolescence is necessary for growth, it is a deeply problematic practice that has lasting consequences on both consumers and the environment.
What is planned obsolescence?
From Lieselot Bisschop, Yogi Hendlin and Jelle Jaspers article Designed to break: planned obsolescence as corporate environmental crime, planned obsolescence is described as, “the practice of deliberately designing products to limit their life span to encourage replacement”¹. Manufacturers do this through efforts like purposely using low quality materials to construct products or putting out updates that aren’t optimized for older models.
While we mostly hear about this in the context of electronic devices, the strategy isn’t new. Planned obsolescence traces its roots to 1924, when the 4 largest light bulb companies at the time decided to shorten the lifespan of their products to ensure repeat customers. Manufacturers discovered various ways to tweak their products, effectively reducing their burn time from 2,500 hours to 1,000.
Today planned obsolescence takes many forms, spanning outside the field of electronics and into other areas of our lives. Some of the biggest culprits of this practice are toy manufacturers, the clothing industry, and single use items. The running theme is using cheap materials that are made to break or designed to become unfashionable shortly after purchase. This leaves us in a constant cycle of purchasing, breaking, and repurchasing.
Why planned obsolescence is problematic
Besides the fact that it’s frustrating and expensive to continuously buy new stuff that could have just been manufactured better, planned obsolescence has major consequences throughout the supply chain and on our environment.
Environmental impacts
Phones and computers use lithium-ion batteries to provide a rechargeable and long-lasting life. While these batteries have been revolutionary in both the development of modern digital devices and environmentally friendly advances like electric cars, the materials used to create them are not so clean. A whole host of metals and minerals are required to make rechargeable batteries, all of which have to be mined, processed, and transported before they end up in your pocket or backpack. While the batteries themselves are far more green than energy sources like coal, the process of extracting them has a high environmental cost.
In South America, Argentina, Chile, and Bolivia comprise what is known as the lithium triangle. These countries hold much of the world’s lithium supply, and their economies have shifted to support the growing demand. A majority of the lithium exists in salt flats, and the process to extract it requires a lot of water. Lithium mining also releases a lot of pollution, having toxic impacts on the flora and fauna around these areas.
Economic and social impacts
Many of the materials used in phones are conflict minerals. Conflict minerals are those which come from areas of the world that are currently undergoing violent conflict. The sale of these minerals helps to support the conflicts. Even in regions that aren’t undergoing conflict, the extraction of these minerals is dangerous and workers are often not provided with proper tools or fairly compensated.
While the net effect of lithium-ion batteries is positive over energy sources like coal, planned obsolescence makes the overconsumption of these products all too easy. On average, people in the United States are replacing their phones every 2.65 years. With roughly 85% of a phone's carbon emissions coming from its production, this cycle of buy and break is placing a massive strain on our environment and natural resources.
Fighting back against planned obsolescence
While it’s widely accepted that planned obsolescence is a real thing that’s going on in the electronics industry, the legal ramifications for the companies responsible have been less than grand. Currently, the United States has no laws protecting consumers against planned obsolescence. There have been lawsuits brought to electronics companies in both Brazil and Europe against planned obsolescence, but it’s hard to prove that a company is manufacturing faulty products on purpose. While the law is not on the consumer's side here, there are ways we can ensure the longevity of our digital devices and cut down on consumption.
Take care of your device’s battery
Even though they’re often regarded as one of the top proponents of planned obsolescence, Apple offers guidelines to help users optimize their battery health. Some of these tricks include turning off your Wi-Fi and blue tooth when not in use, using energy saver mode, and keeping your brightness low.
Probably the most acclaimed tip to enhancing the longevity of your digital device’s batteries is proper charging hygiene. Electronics manufacturers and tech specialists warn against regularly letting your device charge to 100%, as it creates excess heat and long term exposure to high voltage that can wear out your battery. Keeping your battery in the middle and only charging it when needed helps to preserve its lifespan.
Buy second hand
While there is undoubtedly something satisfying about peeling the protective film off a new phone and powering it up for the first time, purchasing a refurbished model from a certified seller is the best kept secret to fighting back against planned obsolescence. You can often find the newest or second-newest generation of any given device second hand for a couple of hundred dollars off. These devices often work just like new, and save both your wallet and the environment. Just make sure to do some research on different sellers before purchasing.
Learn to troubleshoot your own problems
With the world at our fingertips and an assortment of software programs designed to be our own personal IT department, it’s easier than ever to fix virtual problems ourselves.
Both our Speed Test for Chrome and full service software are designed to help users keep tabs on their device performance and respond to small issues before they become larger problems. If you’re interested in learning more, you can reach out to us here.
Planned obsolescence, however annoying it may be, is not guarantee that we are going to be stuck buying the newest product for a premium price every time. Being aware of the cycle, understanding the ramifications, and finding ways to fight back are the key to slowing down planned obsolescence and protecting both our money and the environment.
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¹Bisschop, L., Hendlin, Y. & Jaspers, J. Designed to break: planned obsolescence as corporate
environmental crime. Crime Law Soc Change 78, 271–293 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10611-022-10023-4
