Natural Vs Forced Obsolescence
Some technologies become irrelevant because something significantly better replaces them. Then some things are replaced just because you are forced to.
In 2001, I saved my C++ project in a box full of floppies. It was the last time that I would use a floppy. I did not know it at the time. I did not mark the occasion; I did not bid farewell to that technology. It just became obsolete.
Every computer I bought thereafter came with a CD-RW and I could accommodate a lot more data in one CD.
A few years later, I burnt my last CD. USB drives started storing greater amounts of data and were much more convenient to us. I do not even remember when I burnt my last CD.
These are cases of natural obsolescence. The technology does not serve a purpose well enough or newer technology is far superior.
Then there is your phone.
Every 4-5 years, you must throw out your old phone and buy a new one.
Why?
Well, first of all, the battery of the phone will give up. You will start charging the device 3-10 times a day. Then your apps will start running slower because the OS is designed to run on the latest chipset. They just support the older phone so that they cannot be accused of purposely driving obsolescence. If you are willing to soldier through all this, the storage will start falling short. They will cram more and more pixels into images and turn what used to be a 500Kb image into a 50 Mb image. The developers have to follow suit to adhere to the new standards and suddenly you realise that the app which used to be 30 Mb in size back in 2011 now occupies 600 Mb while doing more or less the same thing.
This is forced obsolescence. You are not replacing one technology with another. You are being forced to upgrade because - capitalism. How will Apple be valued at $3 Trillion if you could use the same device for 10/15 years?
There was a time when companies used to take pride in how long their products lasted.
Ford was completely opposed to the idea of obsolescence. He thought his cars should last forever.
He believed a craftsman’s pride was in how durable the product was
Then came Alfred P Sloan Jr., hired by GM, who was tasked with turning the company around. The same guy after whom the Business School at MIT is named.
He felt making cosmetic changes to cars such that every three years you are forced to change your car was the way to turn around GM. He separated the Chassis design from the rest of the car. The body of the car, the paints used, and the upholstery - things that would have little to no bearing on the working of the vehicle would be changed regularly so that people feel what they have is old. In other words, he brought fashion to cars and by extension made it disposable.
Ford held out for a long time till he finally had to accept defeat and join the bandwagon to keep his company afloat.
Sloan invented planned (forced) obsolescence. Now it is all pervasive throughout every business.