PLANNED OBSOLESCENCE

As some of you know, I’ve been working on a theory of obsolescence. I dont have it very well developed, but I’ve been talking about it, if only to spread around the fact that I am working on it now, lest I be credited as a copycat after someone else comes out with a fully developed theory.

In any case, this topic will probably take more space on this blog as I get around to filling the theory out and work on the details. In the mean time, you might want to listen to this podcast:

The Leonard Lopate Show interviews Giles Slade (mp3)

If human history reserves a privileged place for the Egyptians because of their rich conception of the afterlife, what place will it reserve for the people who, in their seeming worship of convienence and greed, left behind mountains of electronic debris?

Its a really interesting interview, and discusses the rise of planned obsolescence in consumer culture, the role of women and Sputnik in legitimizing the practice, and the future of technological waste. Slade just published a book, Made to Break: Technology and Obsolescence in America, which I just ordered and am looking forward to reading over the summer. It deals mainly with the consumer aspects of obsolescence, so I think my philosophical theory is safe.

For now.