planned obsolescence

noun

1. a method of stimulating consumer demand by designing products that wear out or become outmoded after limited use.

planned obsolescence

noun

1. the policy of deliberately limiting the life of a product in order to encourage the purchaser to replace it Also calledbuilt-in obsolescence

planned obsolescence

1. Incorporating into a product features that will almost certainly go out of favor in a short time, thereby inducing the consumer to purchase a new model of the product. Placing sweeping tail fins on an automobile was an example of planned obsolescence.

Word History and Origins

Origin of planned obsolescence¹

First recorded in 1965–70

Example Sentences

Because he collects and dissects so many discarded and auctioned-off laptops and phones, he has a unique vantage point on the wasteful effects of planned obsolescence and technology addiction.

From New York Times

Plastics helped make that possible, but so do dastardly corporate strategies like “planned obsolescence” that phase out your iPhone so you have to buy a new one.

From Seattle Times

If you want to know what the opposite of “planned obsolescence” looks like in tech, then all you’ve had to do for the last 20 years in look up at the sky and watch the International Space Station pass overhead.

From Salon

“Why do most 40-year-old refrigerators work like the day they were purchased but top-of-the-line new refrigerators barely last a decade if you’re lucky? That’s not innovation; that’s planned obsolescence,” said Nick Lapis, director of advocacy for Californians Against Waste, which lobbied for the legislation.

From Los Angeles Times

The revolt of the machines is less dramatic than our ancestors dreamed: You disconnect a switch, you go on a trip, you break the charger, you let planned obsolescence do its thing.

From Slate