The planned obsolescence scam. The case of my refrigerator
The little game of planned obsolescence leads to the waste of mineral and energy resources, pollution of all kinds and to an abnormal consumption of the soil, yet everyone is silent (even the pseudo-ecologists). Riccardo Ruggeri's Cameo
Our refrigerator, from a once prestigious brand, has started producing frost. I called assistance, after three days a young technician arrived. I pointed out to him the abnormal production of frost: could a metal tube detached from the wall be the culprit? Shot a few photos, talked to his boss, consulted the iPad. Discovered the date of birth of the fridge, disgusted, it exploded: "But he's over thirty!". Suddenly he becomes cold, I cease to be a customer, I am an old idiot again. His sentence is definitive: "It cannot be repaired, replace it immediately with a modern one, taking advantage of the "discount trail" (sic!) of Black Friday". Then, to sell me a new one, he wraps himself in blah blah with incomprehensible brochure terminology (he must have recently taken a slogan marketing course).
Unbeknownst to her, the young man had come to the wrong kitchen. Little did he know that when that refrigerator was designed, over forty years ago, obscene "planned obsolescence" was not yet dominant. And he, in his ignorant arrogance, doesn't even know today what it is.
The concept of planned obsolescence (a communist term to actually indicate criminal capitalist behavior) has always been part of my cultural background. I immediately judged it a trick in terms of turnover, therefore of GDP, but above all a dirty aberration in ethical-strategic terms of the relationship with the customer. Other than the market, other than competition, this was systemic fraud towards customers, dumbfounded by false pseudo-technological communication.
What is it about? During development and design, technical choices are deliberately made which lead to structural deficiencies in the products, such as to shorten their life and make it inconvenient to repair them. Then we work, in terms of marketing and communication, investing in influencers (by now reduced to corrupt priests of the regime) who try to instill the concept of "perceived obsolescence" in young people addicted to the web.
The reason for this smut is obvious. The high durability of the products, their second life, if maintained correctly, would undermine the cyclical rhythm of consumption. Manufacturers therefore try to eliminate the risk of falling turnover, therefore profits, therefore CEO bonuses, thanks to planned obsolescence.
You may wonder why both the technicians and the employees, aware of this shady game, are silent? Of course, even the workers, even the trade unionists, even the mid-level managers must defend their jobs. And the pseudo-ecologists are also silent, who are perfectly aware of the contraindications of planned obsolescence: the waste of mineral and energy resources, pollution of all kinds, an abnormal consumption of soil, and at the end of the cycle, multiple problems linked to all the possible variants of pollution . This is CEO capitalism , honey! A trivial criminal association of individuals who live on the backs of fools.
How did the story of my old refrigerator producing frost end? He's back as perky as ever!
Having liquidated the “young man with the iPad” (a “woke” version of Jan Vermeer's Girl with a Pearl Earring ) I call “G”, a technician suggested to me by a friend. He is over fifty and self-employed, who many years ago chose to repair those products that manufacturers said they shouldn't repair, because it wasn't convenient to do so: today he has a small company with three employees. He arrives with a bag that reminds me of that of the doctors conducted in the 1950s. He asks for a hair dryer to remove the frost, removes the rust from the wound, cleans it with extreme care, inserts a pin and a washer thus blocking the metal tube. It's been ten minutes, he turns it back on, it works! He asks me for my tax code and email to send me the invoice for €40. I pay 50, I give him one of my books, I ask him to call me when he's finished to comment on it together at Nadia's bar. A decent person from a world that has been decent.
I feel sadness, a lot, for the unaware "young man with the iPad". I wonder: in such an obscene context, what kind of life will he have? Will he keep the arrogance about the nothing they're instilling in him? In such an ignoble world, of mystical cancel&woke , what life will my grandchildren have?
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/mondo/vi-racconto-la-truffa-dellobsolescenza-pianificata-il-caso-del-mio-frigorifero/ on Sun, 12 Mar 2023 06:22:58 +0000.