Image by James Provost via Flickr
Many years ago I heard someone, don’t know who, talk about planned obsolescence. He said that technology would make change happen so quickly that what was new one day would be old the next. And that manufacturers would not produce things meant to last a long time but things that would last no more than 2-5 years.
There are 2 reasons this long ago interview came to mind; my television and my cell phone.
With the change in options that Netflix announced I am trying to decide if I should just have DVD’s or just streaming movies. Right now I get DVD’s and I watch the streaming movies on my computer. If I have just the streaming I would want a screen bigger than my ‘puter but it seems my TV is too old and I will have to buy a Blu-ray player to make the streaming work.
What a bummer. I have a DVD player that works just fine but is old (everything in my condo is old, the TV, the DVD player, me, the cat…) so it won’t do the streaming thing. The TV and DVD are all of 6 years old but basically obsolete.
Then there is my cell phone, my only phone. Sometimes it doesn’t ring. Sometimes the voice mail notification beep doesn’t sound and the icon doesn’t show. So not only do I not know someone has called I don’t know they have left a message. (As far as I know the texting is still ok.) When I called to ask why this was happening and how to fix it I was told that my phone is old and probably won’t always work and should be replaced. My phone is maybe 3 years old…and obsolete.
I think my parents had 2 TV’s in their life time. It would have been 1 but color came into play so the black and white was replaced. And I don’t remember ever having a phone not work. The only reason they got a new phone was because you can’t do the prompt stuff with an old rotary phone, gotta have those little buttons to press.
Today, I think I need to get with the program and when I finally figure out how to use something just accept the fact that it is time to get a new one.
![75px-Tired_20-year-old_cat[1]](https://todayithink.files.wordpress.com/2011/07/75px-tired_20-year-old_cat1.jpg "75px-Tired_20-year-old_cat[1]")
Patricia's Place 
It sounds to me like you know more about this tech stuff than I do! I don’t even have Netflix, I still have quite a lot of movies on VHS tapes, I have all my old cassettes (but nothing to play them on, so that’s strange)… Things do move too fast for me. I love my smart phone I got just before last Christmas, but I’ve been worried too that these new-fangled things don’t last as long. Every time it freezes, I think “What’s wrong, is it going to break? It didn’t used to do this!” I have no faith in the newest thing. Maybe I already knew, without realizing it, that everything you said about obsolescence is true.
As an “old person” I try to keep up but I am slower than a snail with arthritis.
I don’t know if everything you read here is true–it is my opinion–and I have been known to change my mind. But, of course, I have never been known to be wrong 😉
You are sp spot on! And the sad thing about all this is that our land fills are piling up with this so-called “old stuff” because so many people want the newest thing. There are programs in someplaces that allow for recycling the “old” bits of technology – for instance, older cell phones are reconditioned and given to women’s shelters, or to the elderly to be able to call 911, etc. I think the same goes for computersand other things.
I went ahead and did the streaming thing only with Netflix, because I’m generally the only one who watches movies, and I do it a lot, so I just pull my laptop into bed with me and watch away! It’s cheaper than the combo – but neither arae very expensive.
Good luck with changing over.. .
For all the good of the tech world there is also bad. Not only filling up landfills but with dangerous stuff. A couple times a year the city collects old TV’s and computers and the stuff that gets attached to them. Most are recycled in one way or another.
I love your thinking for today! 🙂 And I can so relate. I am old and have old things too. I’m a dinosaur. haha! God bless you and thank you for helping know I’m not alone in this!
I like old things for the most part. Old tee shirts and sweatpants that you can no longer wear in public and when you do wear them hope there isn’t a fire or something. I also like old sheets and quilts. They are best when they are all soft and cozy…sort of like old me 😉
I wanted a new battery for my last cell phone . . . it was cheaper to replace the phone.
I ended up with a pre-paid plan from Verizon that it perfect for us ~ $100 for 400+ minutes that don’t expire for a year. Less than $10 a month for all the calls I want to make.
I dropped the streaming from Netflix because I don’t enjoy watching movies other than on the TV and I only want 1-2 a week anyway. So, I’m back to 1 at a time, unlimited for $8.
Technology is crazy! I think I will keep the phone for now and just have something to complain about…
I will probably just get the disc because the streaming doesn’t have the newer movies as soon as on a disc. But it is nice to watch something when waiting for a new disc to arrive.