Planned Obsolescence (Light Bulb Conspiracy)

On the movie Light Bulb Conspiracy it is shown how over the years things have change, in the past a light bulb used to last over 2500 hours, but now a days they are planned to work only to 1000 hours as top. After the depression on the U.S. things changed, before and during it things lasted a lot, in order to get out of the depression they came out with a plan, to make people believe that things with time became useless and the newer the product was the better. This plan was created in order for they to be always consumers and for business to always have profits. The first companies that used planned obsolescence were the light bulb companies like Osram and Philips.

In order to started with planned obsolescence cartels were created by this companies. At the start of the 1930 light bulb lasted 2500 hours and only in two years they fall to 1500 hours of usage. The companies had meetings in order to shorten the life of the bulbs, with the pressure of the cartels scientist had to came out with a solution to make the bulb last for no more than 1000 hours and by the 1940 it happen. Planned obsolescence came out by the hand of mass production and consumer society, it began in the industrial revolution. With the mass production the prices felt and people started buying for fun rather han for need. Planned obsolescence, for the first time after the repression was though as a law, by Bernard London, but it was until 1950 that commercials and publicity  convinced the people of the lasting of the products, the planned obsolescence became part of our society.

Photo Credit: New Media Rising

MLA Citations:

Anane, Mike, Michael Braungar, and Steve Bunn. "The Light Bulb Conspiracy." Top Documentary Films RSS. Top Documentary Films, 16 Dec. 2010. Web. 30 Apr. 2014. <http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/light-bulb-conspiracy/>.