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Have you ever wondered why over the past 20-35 years the quality and lifespan of household appliances has been decreasing? Washing machines and dishwashers from the 1950s last longer than modern ones. Manufacturers make money on the sale of new technology by producing fast-breaking cars. When such goods are mass-produced in an "unbreakable" mode, factories face a number of problems: during operation, the owner does not need spare parts to replace broken ones, and consumers are even less interested in new models. Therefore, by making an absolutely reliable product, they seemingly deprive themselves of a significant amount of money.
The story goes from early 1900s when entrepreneurs began to deliberately worsen the quality so that the goods would break more often. Manufacturers of electronic devices, cars and other equipment deliberately shorten the life of products in order to force buyers to run to the store for new purchases.
One example of what could have been in our lives is the Centennial Lamp, an incandescent light bulb that has been burning for 120 years in a fire station in Livermore, California. Even though the "Hundred Years Lamp" is covered with dust and is not very bright, it has already become a tourist attraction. Today anyone can watch it: an image from a webcam is broadcast over the Internet, updated every 30 seconds, to allow everybody to admire the craftsmanship of pioneering light bulb manufacturers. They had been wronged as engineers: we now suddenly appreciate their inventions, 120 years later – a very brief time in history.
Another prime example of quality deterioration is rust. Household appliances are made to rust quickly. New appliances start to rust after a year or two, although there are many 40-year-old washers and dryers that haven't rusted to this day. When household appliances rust, people change them very quickly. Rusty cars harm both people and the environment, and one would expect manufacturers to make cars with paint that lasts for decades. However, manufacturers only make money on the sale of new equipment, and having created quickly rusting cars, they sell more of new ones.
With the net-zero agenda suddenly there is a new move to tackle obsolescence: what should have been thought of hundred years ago at least, has finally come to the attention of everybody because we are pressed on with climate change, so many feel they could finally freely discuss the forbidden topic. Topics must not ever be forbidden provided they are discussed in a mutually respectful way because the truth must not be forbidden ever: the quicker these conversations were had 100 years ago the faster we would have foreseen climate change and resource scarcity problems lurking in the not so far future.
We have solutions for everything: we just need to think and talk about them to find what are the real truths and what are those, which had been promoted by those who could not solve anything in the way, which could be called a really good solution. We can help you solving the problem of obsolescence.
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