Thursday, December 10, 2009 By Parbi Boodaghian - Nika Nabifar Advertising Abyss of the consumer world (December 10, 2009) -- It had roughly been two years that replacing my $1300 laptop seemed to be an absolute must. Physically, the device was in good shape. However, the programs ran extremely slow, the built-in webcam had stopped working, the battery was draining at an extraordinary speed, etc. Furthermore, it would overheat and automatically restart itself even though the fan was working. Perhaps most of these problems were fixable (or at least improvable), but there was something else going on. When an electronic device becomes problematic, we tend to use that as an excuse for ourselves—and/or possibly for our parents (financial providers)—to get rid of it. Why? Because new products are constantly coming to the market and who wouldn’t love to have them? Who would want to stick to the old clunker if he has the chance of getting the brand new appliance? My so-called problematic laptop resulted in the purchase of a brand new desktop. I was a victim of planned obsolescence followed by a perceived obsolescence. Planned obsolescence is the intentional breakdown of a device set by the manufacturer, whereas perceived obsolescence is our perception of obsolescence based on fashion and style rather than functionality, which is mainly caused by the advertisements and glorification of the new products. Usually, planned obsolescence makes a suitable climate for perceived obsolescence to have prodigious effects. The obsession with buying new products and constantly staying up to date with our electronics is part of our lifestyles. We did not plan for this to happen—but others did it for us. By “others” I mean the corporations. While a corporation is considered a person, it does not possess any ethical values that a person would—under normal conditions—have. Profit maximization is their number one priority, with disregard for the means of achieving it and the effects produced. They have the knowledge, resources and technology to make electronic appliances that could last for decades without becoming obsolete or useless. However, they choose not to, because if they did, they would not be making any money. We consumers are pivotal contributors to a marketing strategy called “perceived obsolescence.” The corporations figured out that depending heavily upon planned obsolescence would not fill their bank accounts to a satisfactory extent. So, they came up with a way to socially manipulate us through our peers, media and advertisements to feel the need and desire to buy their new products. We are all part of this inevitable cycle. Sometimes we are the ones unknowingly and unintentionally manipulating others to buy a certain product. Sometimes others are doing the same to us in a similar fashion. We buy new electronic products and carelessly throw away our so-called old ones with no concern for their effects on our health and environment whatsoever. It rarely crosses our minds where that “junk” ends up. Do they really become recycled? Are they recyclable at all? Most western countries ship their E-waste to eastern countries like China. They dump the refuse in rural villages, which compromises the quality of life for the people living there. The corporations will keep taking advantage of our sheeplike habits if we don’t change our perception of obsolescence. There are factors that we cannot control like planned obsolescence. However, we can try not to be influenced by perceived obsolescence. We know if a product we are buying is truly needed or not. We know if that product is going to make our lives easier or we are just buying it because the social pressures dictate us to do so. And sometimes, even if we do not need a product, we go ahead and buy it and choose to live in denial and convince ourselves that there is nothing wrong with what we are doing. And sometimes, just sometimes, we may stop convincing ourselves…

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