Tag Archive for 'iphone'

Remember planned obsolescence? Now it’s more like planned obsoleteness.

In an era of easy credit, consumer want can fan the flames of economic growth, like it did for the past five decades. And companies can feed that want with an endless supply of useless crap designed to amuse and ultimately be tossed out for the next bright shiny object. As Jesse Taylor of Pandagon puts it:

A substantial portion of our retail economy has been built on providing things that are, above all else, easy to buy.  We don’t need them, we don’t even necessarily want them, but they’re there, and it’s nice to have them, and if it only costs $60 a month, interest free, surely that can be swung.

Link

It was this model that the larger portion of our economy was built on. For a more graphic depiction, see The Story of Stuff, a ” 20-minute, fast-paced, fact-filled look at the underside of our production and consumption patterns” and required viewing for anyone who uses te phrase “iPhone killer.”

Now, with credit as tight as it’s ever been, writing about a flat panel monitor that’s flatter than last year’s flat panel monitor seems silly, or even disingenuous.

I mentioned before that what really bothered me about the CES coverage in the blogosphere was the awestruck tone about any new toy no matter how useless. I mean are we really going to all toss out our iPhones and buy Pres (there’s gotta be a better way to put that)? Will trading in my SD FlipCam for an HD model really make a difference in my life?

In other words folks, do we need all of this crap? And more importantly, do we need the best and brightest, the supposed A-list of the blogosphere blabbering insensently about the latest and greatest?

Then again, maybe they aren’t the best and the brightest after all.