85 years ago, a system of planned obsolescence was invented.
Modern household appliances are not what they were in Soviet times. Other refrigerators "ZIL", which celebrated their half-century anniversary, still regularly freeze food. It would seem that science and technology have gone far ahead. But for some reason, the units break down much more often. For repairs they ask so much that it is easier to buy a new one, and the choice is huge. And all this for a reason. The scheme was developed and launched long ago in the USA.
American eureka
1929, the beginning of the Great Depression. The American economy has collapsed and the country has terrible unemployment. People have nothing to buy groceries, everything else is generally an unaffordable luxury. The best economists of that time vied with each other to offer options for overcoming the crisis. In 1932, big real estate dealer Bernard London publishes a brochure entitled "The End of the Depression through Planned Obsolescence." The offer is this: an expiration date is set for any product. At the end of it, it is prohibited to use the thing, it must be handed over to a special point and destroyed. Thus, the bourgeois was going to kill as many as three birds with one stone: to create a constant demand for a new product, a demand for labor, and provide profit to the capitalists. In his opinion, this should have given impetus to the industry, to develop the consumer market and provide jobs.
Imperceptibly, technology began to control us, and not us technology /
Light bulb effect
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In fact, it all started a little earlier, in December 1924. It's just that no one knew about this for many years, except for the members of the Febus cartel - manufacturers of electrical equipment, including the companies Osram, Philips, General Electric. They suddenly realized that the harder scientists work to extend the life of a light bulb, the less profit goes into the pockets of sellers. At that time, technologies were invented that allowed the electric lamp to work up to 2.5 thousand hours. The participants in the conspiracy decided: this is too much, new bulbs will rarely be bought. Therefore, it is necessary to reduce the service life to 1000 hours maximum. No sooner said than done. Through joint efforts, a special committee was created to monitor compliance with the treaty. Violators received a fine, the amount of which depended on how much the service life of the goods produced exceeded the agreed one. By the way,these measures have reduced the cost of light bulbs. But the companies immediately raised their selling prices, and the collusion diminished competition. The result is a huge profit for all participants.
Once upon a time, housewives had to be persuaded to use household appliances.
The cartel ceased to exist with the outbreak of World War II, but it took much longer to hide the conspiracy. Therefore, in the chemical concern "DuPont" they have reached the planned obsolescence with their minds.
In 1935, nylon was invented in the chemical laboratory of the concern. By 1939, nylon stockings were on sale. It was a revolution! Dense, elastic, unlike silk, not to mention woolen, they did not stretch, did not fall off, erotically fit the leg. And most importantly, they were durable. American women were choking in stores for a novelty, and their men were quietly dragging a curiosity from their wives, because they quickly realized: durable material will always come in handy, say, in a car. Some of them used the stocking as a tow rope on a bet - quite well.
And then the DuPont management realized: when the excitement subsides (in the first year of sales, 64 million pairs were sold) and each lady has two or three pairs of excellent stockings in her dresser, profits will fall sharply. So the chemists were told to make the fibers more brittle. Strong nylon was still produced, but for other purposes, for example, parachutes were made from it. And stockings became consumables - every woman knew that at any moment they could "go".
If the Soviet iron broke, any handy man could figure out the simplest electrical circuit and repair it.
Turn off and throw away
Manufacturers of household appliances have followed a similar path. It would seem that competition spurs to make your refrigerator, TV, washing machine, microwave not only the most convenient, but also long-lived. Yes, only if the unit will serve 20 - 40 years, then the equipment will be updated once a generation. Who benefits from this? Consumer only. But this is not about him, but about profit. This means that we need to make the equipment break down more often. To do this, it is not necessary to make the entire device low-quality. One part is enough, which will quickly fail. In refrigerators, tubes of cooling systems fly - because they are made too thin. In washing machines, rubber gaskets are wiped, plastic drums crack from stress. Heating elements burn out in teapots. The heating temperature regulator stops working in the iron. Microcircuits break down in TVs,which no one will undertake to re-solder. Yes, about the repair of almost any equipment in the service center, they will say that it is easier to buy a new one. Because the cost of the work is set to be comparable to the purchase price.
"ZiS" became the first Soviet compression-type refrigerator - in them the circulation of the refrigerant is forced, due to the compressor.
At the same time, manufacturers always have an excuse: they, they say, reduce the cost of equipment so that it becomes available to everyone. That this is not so is clearly seen in the example of washing machines. Ten years ago, they were all with a metal drum, and the price depended on the brand and the number of functions. Now all the washing machines of the economy segment are equipped with a plastic drum, and not to say that they are much cheaper compared to the models of ten years ago. But for the metal you have to pay well - a car with such a drum is not cheaper than 40 thousand.
The first vacuum cleaner "Raketa" of the Dnepropetrovsk Aggregate Plant was produced in 1956, during the years of space exploration, that is why it received such a name and shape. It roared like a jet engine, but it sucked in any debris. It could be switched to blowing air and used, for example, to whitewash ceilings.
Soviet means excellent
Once upon a time we laughed at the fairness of domestic technology. And now we remember how reliable it was. In a socialist economy, the planned obsolescence made no sense. It was important to work to improve product performance while saving resources. As soon as the USSR was gone, the Western culture of consumption was imposed on us.
Many will probably say that now is better than then. This is probably the case. But you are not gnawed by an unpleasant feeling when it becomes clear that the purchase decision was not independent, it was taken for you, but you did not even notice it?
The food processor was a welcome gift for a wedding - unlike many newlyweds, he knew how to mix dough, squeeze juice, and chop cabbage.
Where does the garbage go
Non-working devices can be extracted from non-ferrous metals, lead, mercury, cadmium. There are technologies to do this in an environmentally friendly way.
Of course, these technologies are very expensive. Therefore, 80 percent of their spent equipment under the guise of second-hand goods or as humanitarian aid are sent to poor countries in Africa, India, Brazil, China. There will always be people who are ready for $ 2 - 3 to disassemble the units with their bare hands, burn out and dissolve the necessary metals from them, poisoning themselves with poisonous smoke. Europe and the United States will then redeem precious metals for a penny. And the consumer of household appliances will pay for such "utilization": everything is initially included in its price.
A lot of money is made from e-waste.
Little tricks
There is a natural process of obsolescence in the production of technology. The invention of semiconductors pushed to the reduction of circuit boards and device sizes. There were disc players instead of cassettes. Mobile phones and computers have gone far ahead in functionality in a short time. But manufacturers add inconveniences to us: they release applications and programs that are not compatible with previous models, and then we have to get rid of the still working gadget.
Ten against one
Experts argue that the shadow market for electronic waste is comparable in income to the drug business. And it is just as difficult to catch violators of the ban on the export of used equipment. Sometimes there are high-profile cases when the Coast Guard stops one ship with containers. But at the same time, ten others successfully slip by.
Just a fact
A kilogram of gold and ten kilograms of silver can be extracted from 50 thousand mobile phones.
Author: Polyakova Anna
