Planned Obsolescence. A term we live by everyday, but one that many might not even know or be aware about.

To simplify, it is:

"... a policy of deliberately planning or designing a product with a limited useful life, so it will become obsolete or nonfunctional after a certain period of time. "

And as such, it has successfully become the driving force in today's consumer market, where consumers buy products repeatedly to sustain market growth.

Today, we are surrounded by all forms of obsolescence. Technical/functional obsolescence determines that a product fails after a given lifespan, and that cost of repairs is comparable to a replacement unit. Proprietary lithium-based batteries that not only discharge after a fixed number of cycles, but are also soldered into your gadgets making replacement almost impossible.

Obsolescence in healthcare, in which patients are offered life-long drugs instead of a one-off cure. Systemic obsolescence, in which new systems or OS are released periodically, and newer programs are not backwards compatible. The consumer is not given an option to improve/upgrade his/her older system or OS and thus is forced to buy the new releases. Finally, style obsolescence in which fashion changes and repeats in a cycles, thus pushing you to re-buy items that you once deemed obsolete and had discarded.

It is true that in some areas, the issue of safety demands the need for planned obsolescence, such as changing of needles in healthcare, or disposables in laboratory work. It is also true that in a profit-driven market, planned obsolescence is a necessary evil.

However, in a world where resources are finite, and the strain or even monopoly of such resources has started taking place, perhaps it is time for us to ponder and reflect. As consumers, we do have a choice against planned obsolescence. Are we able to look past the immediate benefits/drawbacks, be it cost, fashion or function, and settle for something more sustainable?