In the final reading from Made to Break, we see how examples of obsolescence can be seen not only regarding physical objects, but also intelligence and skills. The first chapter of this section reminded me of part of a clip that we watched in the beginning of the semester. The clip gave many facts about technology and the impact it is making on our culture, one of them being that after just two years of schooling, your education will be outdated. I found this similar to what Slade was referring to when he discussed how knowledge and skills can now be outdated. New versions of video games, word processor and other applications are being constantly updated, which requires users to be continuously learning how to use these new products. Slade’s discussion of video games proves to be a great example of just how fast these technologies move. At one point, there were so many video games available, consumers were overwhelmed and chose to simply not buy any (221). We are advancing at such a rapid rate, that it is becoming very hard to keep up. As individuals gain more information, products become outdated as new ones are created, and then society is forced to learn to adapt and gain more knowledge on how to utilize these new tools. It is a vicious circle.
Arriving to the second chapter and finding the word “weaponizing” was quite surprising to me. Referring to obsolescence as a weapon is a bold statement and I was unsure as to where Slade was going with this idea, but after reading this scheme that Slade uses as an example, I gained a better understanding and was surprised to see that American society, in some ways, seems to be unchanging. Slade describes how during the Cold War, the U.S. used obsolescence as a tactic to help gain control over the Russians. The U.S. knew that the Russians would try to gain power by taking the technologies that the U.S. had, and so by creating a technology that they knew would purposely fail and hurt the Russians, the U.S. managed to put a short halt to the Russian’s progress. This is clearly a very different type of obsolescence. Although it is not used to make a profit, it is easily seen that obsolescence is used to gain advantage. As mentioned early, we are a culture of instant gratification. This is obviously not the most moral way to gaining an advantage on one’s opponent, but as history shows, American culture is predominantly about doing whatever we can do to get what we want and as fast as possible.
Slade ended his book with the discussion of cell phones becoming our biggest downfall. I definitely found this section to be the most relatable. Personally, I am content with a cell phone if it is able to make and retrieve calls as well as send and receive text messages, but many of my friends feel the need to have the latest and greatest phone that can do much more than their previous device. Now, many cell phone contracts have a “free upgrade” every two years or so. This concept of an “upgrade” makes people feel obligated to get a new cell phone when they don’t even really need one. It seems as if until a change is made and people are informed that their actions are leading to severe consequences, new strategies of planned obsolescence will continue as a theme in American society.
This book definitely had an impact on me and left me thinking what I can do to help save our environment. America’s consumer attitude and approach is harming our not only our country, but countries around the world. We do not realize that technologies are made from things that are extremely harmful to environment, and therefore do not think twice when throwing away our “junk”. Slade is not preaching that we all become environmentalists. Instead, he is giving us a warning. He is helping us recognize what our future holds if we continue to throw away. As technology increases at an exponential rate, so does this problem. There is no more taking care of the problem later as the problem is occurring now, and therefore Slade strongly advises that we consider the repercussions of our actions. Technological breakthroughs are increasing this idea of obsolescence. As culture that is so eager and willing to throw things away, our growing and improving technologies are only making it easier to throw things away. I think we have to consider if a new cell phone is worth harming our planet.
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