If this is how you feel about things, dont buy stuff "made in china".

"planned obsolescence" is a waste imo.

"E-waste is the fastest growing waste stream in the world"

In germany & france they have started useing the law, to cut down on it (enviromentalists doing us all some good).
If you want something that lasts, get something "made in germany".
I know its like a running joke, but theres some truth to it.

And Tungsten lightbulbs are being prohibited and replaced by better lightbulbs, more efficient, less harmful to the environment, and with a lot longer lifetime. Exactly the opposite of the "planned obsolescence".

Yeah, look at me! I've been made in Germany and I've been posting shit on the internet for decades now without any signs of degradation.

planned obsolescence exists. It isn't so much about failing products though, it is about support lifecycles. parts are produced for X time, software updates are available for X time. capacitor quality with known lifetimes because that is all they need them to last. Smartphones are the classic model with planned obsolescence, try getting parts or software updates for a 3 or 4 year old phone from most manufacturers, hell many you will struggle getting an update or parts after just 1-2 years.

and no this isn't some conspiracy theory, it is simply how you engineer and produce a product, especially iterative products, you determine lifetime and usually at release you already know what will be in the next version that will make the current one obsolete and usually you even know the release date.

There are *supposedly* research studies that prove it isnt (and no, i havnt bother to read them).

Everything has to be made as cheap as possible, thank competition playing on instant gratification for that. My parents took over the refrigerator from my grand parents, the thing work for over 60 years. It would still work if the chemicals inside had not been banned.

TVs are not made to last anymore. LCD/LED panels, plasma, oled, it degrades or fades over time. Sure it still works, yet how many people use the same tv for 30 years nowadays. My grandparents did. Of course tech changes much faster nowadays. My 20 year old amplifier is build like a tank, however no hdmi makes it unusable nowadays. And now hdmi 1.4 receivers can't even pass through 2.0 signals. My parents used the same stereo tower for as long as I can remember, just added a CD player later.

It's a different mindset nowadays when I hear 5 years is a good product cycle time... Meanwhile I'm on the 4th instant coffee maker in 6 years, 3rd water cooler in 10, 5th oscillating sprinkler, 3rd lawnmower, 3rd vacuum cleaner, 7th electric razor. (I'm now buying a cheap new one every year, same price as replacement blades and the only option with a cord, rechargeable batteries don't last either)

And then there's more complicated tech, not so much build to break, already build from broken parts. It's so fragile to increase yields GPU yields are increased by disabling the bad parts and selling them in different tiers. Same with mechanical hdds in the past that had bad sectors from the start.

In the past it was also normal to get things fixed or fix it yourself. Nowadays you can hardly open stuff up let alone find spare parts. Cheaper to replace.

I don't agree with it. Because I don't go out and buy the latest thing. You determine it. Even phones you can still keep using. Yes, the iPhone 4 can't use IOS 10. But nothing is stopping you from using it. What does IOS 10 really give you, that you go nuts for. I don't upgrade my phone, when companies make new versions. I only do it when I find the two things I want, actually improve. Battery Life and Space.

I never got a iPhone 1-4 or 6. I can get a 7 now. Since it has 256GB space, and better battery. But I won't bother for the next upgrade, in till 500GB is added to the phone line. TV's same thing. I have my HDTV from 2009. Before that, my CRT TV from 1998. I only replace, when it breaks. I take care of my things. So the failure rate obsolecence, I never see. 3 more years, my HDTV will be as old as my CRT was, when it died.

I didn't throw out my DVD collection. When BD came out. That is a waste of time and money. Just because there's something "better" doesn't mean you need to have it. Don't care about 4K. Tired of the resolution game. When my TV breaks. I'll get a 4K TV. Only because that will be the only thing available. But will not be caring or getting any content, at that resolution. So that I have to go threw the same cycle, when 8K-Infinity becomes the norm? Tired of it.

It depends on what you call planned obsolescence then. Yeah, I agree that companies do not support their products for a lifetime. That's expected. But here in France, when I hear talks about it (even with the politics), it's always about "50 years ago a car lasted 20 years and now it lasts 5 years and fails after the warranty is over, that's planned obsolescence". No, it's not.

And when I read the french wikipedia page about planned obsolescence, it does specify that it should be about pushing people to buy a new product even when yours still works, but that this term is in fact used to talk about defects. This use is wrong and closer to the conspiracy theory, that's my point. And it was what was used in the OP ("90' TVs lasted longer than now").

About nanarchy's comment, I agree. That part is not my specialty, but I'm pretty sure there are also other reasons for this. You can't really produce spare parts for a product that you no longer sell for example, you would lose money for almost nothing. We could say that the PS4 and the Xbox One are expected to be replaced by new consoles in a few years, but is it really "planned obsolescence"? Or is it just a normal innovation, production and market cycle? I still play my PS3 sometimes even with my PS4 and my new PC in the room, it's not obsolete whatsoever and still does exactly what it's supposed to...

I hate planned obsolescence in household producs more than anything. I mean how many times are you going to reinvent the mixer for christssake? Just give me something sturdy that will last. I'd even pay extra to get around this planned obsolescence bull.

It should be my decision if and when i want to adopt new hardware, not the sellers. I see the benefits of a refrigerator or a washing machine that uses less energy and I might even get one without my old model failing first, but small household appliances like mixers, juicers and graters should be build to last.

Printers are one of the worst offenders of this. I haven't had a single one in recent memory last me longer than 3 years and they are usually build to discurage repairability, with moving parts like the printerheads build in and impossible to replace.

Apparantly products break easier now than they did decades ago? I mean besides phones (given this might be neglect or poor design choice by the richest company in the world) I don't really see it.