Systems and Innovation

Planned Obsolescence 1 The Engineered Expiration – Part 1: How Designed Decay Became the Core Business Model 2 The Engineered Expiration – Part 2: Software Lock-Ins and the Digital Decay of Connected Devices 3 The Engineered Expiration – Part 3: Dismantling the Fix-It Culture Through Planned Repair Prevention 4 The Engineered Expiration – Part 4: From Corporate Profit to Corporate Crime: The Environmental Cost of Artificial Limits 5 The Engineered Expiration – Part 5: The Regulatory Tide: Right to Repair and the Global Push for Longevity ← Series Home The Paradox of Profitable Destruction Planned obsolescence, while a common business strategy designed to bolster private profit, simultaneously carries far-reaching ecological and social consequences. The practice creates an inherent tension because in the short term, manufacturers gain competitive advantage and extract maximum profit through continuous updated product models. Yet, this narrow focus is achieved at the expense of consumer interests and environmental sustainability, leaving the product prematurely obsolete and destined for the waste heap. This intersection of legal corporate activity leading to massive societal and ecological harm raises critical questions about corporate accountability. ...

Planned Obsolescence 1 The Engineered Expiration – Part 1: How Designed Decay Became the Core Business Model 2 The Engineered Expiration – Part 2: Software Lock-Ins and the Digital Decay of Connected Devices 3 The Engineered Expiration – Part 3: Dismantling the Fix-It Culture Through Planned Repair Prevention 4 The Engineered Expiration – Part 4: From Corporate Profit to Corporate Crime: The Environmental Cost of Artificial Limits 5 The Engineered Expiration – Part 5: The Regulatory Tide: Right to Repair and the Global Push for Longevity ← Series Home The Implosion of Repairability Planned obsolescence strategies extend far beyond merely timing a component failure or withholding a software update; they actively sabotage the consumer’s ability to repair products. This systematic creation of barriers dismantles the historical “fix-it culture” and reinforces the “throw-away society”. Manufacturers often ensure that repairs are not cost-effective, time-consuming, or virtually impossible for consumers and independent technicians to perform. The intention is clear: make buying new seem simpler and cheaper than fixing old, creating a condition known as economic obsolescence, where the cost of repair is prohibitive compared to replacement. ...

Planned Obsolescence 1 The Engineered Expiration – Part 1: How Designed Decay Became the Core Business Model 2 The Engineered Expiration – Part 2: Software Lock-Ins and the Digital Decay of Connected Devices 3 The Engineered Expiration – Part 3: Dismantling the Fix-It Culture Through Planned Repair Prevention 4 The Engineered Expiration – Part 4: From Corporate Profit to Corporate Crime: The Environmental Cost of Artificial Limits 5 The Engineered Expiration – Part 5: The Regulatory Tide: Right to Repair and the Global Push for Longevity ← Series Home The Invisible Kill Switch Programmed into Hardware While physical deterioration remains a common mechanism of planned obsolescence, modern electronics introduce a new, more insidious form: software-induced obsolescence. In contemporary consumer electronics, planned obsolescence can be literally programmed into devices, especially those that are networked, through predetermined breaking points, or Sollbruchstelle. Unlike physical wear and tear, software decay means that a product can remain perfectly functional physically but becomes vulnerable, useless, or incompatible because software support is withdrawn or degraded. ...

Planned Obsolescence 1 The Engineered Expiration – Part 1: How Designed Decay Became the Core Business Model 2 The Engineered Expiration – Part 2: Software Lock-Ins and the Digital Decay of Connected Devices 3 The Engineered Expiration – Part 3: Dismantling the Fix-It Culture Through Planned Repair Prevention 4 The Engineered Expiration – Part 4: From Corporate Profit to Corporate Crime: The Environmental Cost of Artificial Limits 5 The Engineered Expiration – Part 5: The Regulatory Tide: Right to Repair and the Global Push for Longevity ← Series Home The Cartel that Codified the Concept of Consumption In December 1924, a clandestine agreement was reached by the world’s largest light bulb manufacturers, including Philips, General Electric, Osram, and Compagnie des Lampes. This group, known historically as the Phoebus Cartel, moved deliberately to limit the lifespan of their products. Before the cartel, the incandescent light bulbs invented by Thomas Edison and Adolphe Chaillet were intended to last multiple decades. The established market standard of 2,500 burning hours was systematically reduced to just 1,000 hours by 1940. This calculated decision marked the emergence of what would become known as planned obsolescence. ...

The Material Mind Series Navigation Part 1: The Anatomy of Steel Part 2: The Anatomy of Cement Part 3: The Anatomy of Plastic Part 4: The Anatomy of Silicon The Lithographic Mind of the Digital Age We have audited the skeleton, the flesh, and the skin of our world. But we now arrive at the Cerebrum—the “Lithographic Mind” of the 21st century: Silicon. Silicon is the second most abundant element in the earth’s crust, yet it is the material that requires the most “Extreme Precision” to master. We have taken the “Sand of the Sea” and, through a “Kinetic Chain” of high-vacuum chemistry and atomic-scale light, turned it into the “Invisible Logic” that runs our lives. ...

The Material Mind Series Navigation Part 1: The Anatomy of Steel Part 2: The Anatomy of Cement Part 3: The Anatomy of Plastic Part 4: The Anatomy of Silicon The Polymer Plague and the Miracle of Convenience If steel is the skeleton and cement is the flesh, then plastic is the Synthetic Skin of the modern world. It is the ultimate “Maker’s Tool”—a material that can be “Programmed” to be as transparent as glass, as flexible as skin, or as rigid as bone. We have created a world of “Infinite Malleability,” where a single “Material Mind” can produce everything from life-saving heart valves to the “Single-Use” lid of a coffee cup. Plastic is the “Kinetic Chain” of the consumer age, enabling the “Global Velocity” of goods by making them weightless and indestructible. ...

The Material Mind Series Navigation Part 1: The Anatomy of Steel Part 2: The Anatomy of Cement Part 3: The Anatomy of Plastic Part 4: The Anatomy of Silicon The Gray Blanket of Civilization If steel is the skeleton of the modern world, then cement is its flesh. We live in a civilization paved in “Liquid Stone”—a substance so ubiquitous that we have become blind to its incredible engineering logic. From the massive dams that harness the power of rivers to the high-rise foundations that anchor our urban lives, cement is the literal “Glue” of the Anthropocene. It is the only material that allows us to turn a slurry into a monolith, granting us the power to reshape the earth’s crust in our own image. ...

The Material Mind Series Navigation Part 1: The Anatomy of Steel Part 2: The Anatomy of Cement Part 3: The Anatomy of Plastic Part 4: The Anatomy of Silicon The Invisible Skeleton of the Anthropocene We live in an age of digital transparency, yet we are surrounded by a physical substance that is almost entirely opaque to our understanding: Steel. Every skyscraper that defies the wind, every container ship that bridges the oceans, and every surgical needle that saves a life is a testament to the “Material Mind.” We have built a civilization on the back of an alloy that combines the brute force of iron with the surgical precision of carbon. Yet, for most of us, steel is just “metal”—a static, cold commodity. ...

Key Takeaways Italian Origins: The first Lada was a Fiat 124 with 800+ modifications to survive Soviet roads and Siberian winters. Designed to Break – and Be Fixed: In a country with no repair shops, Ladas came with 21-piece toolkits and interchangeable parts any owner could swap. Third Best-Selling Platform Ever: Only the VW Beetle and Ford Model T sold more units of a single-generation design. The Niva Pioneered SUVs: The 1977 Lada Niva was the world's first monocoque-bodied SUV – a concept copied for decades. Full Circle: After 20 years of Renault partnership and modernization, 2022 sanctions returned Lada to isolation, producing cars without airbags or ABS. The Lada brand occupies a unique and paradoxical space in automotive history. It is at once a symbol of Soviet industrial might, the subject of persistent Western derision, and an enduring icon of rugged simplicity. ...

When you hear the term “plastic car” today, you might picture something cheap, flimsy, or disposable. But in the resource-scarce landscape of post-war East Germany, “plastic” wasn’t a pejorative—it was the future. Engineers were pioneering a revolutionary material that was not only tough and lightweight but was also derived from some of the most unassuming industrial and agricultural byproducts. The car was the AWZ P70, and its body was crafted from a remarkable composite called Duroplast. This wasn’t the flimsy plastic of modern stereotypes; it was a testament to ingenuity in an era of scarcity. Here are five surprising truths about this forgotten wonder material that challenge everything we think we know about “plastic” cars. ...