Waste Not, Want Not...

[Atheist]

I read that Henry Ford sent people out to examine old car corpses to see what bits were still intact after their demise, and found that the diddlydums were usually in good nick after the rest of the car was worn out. So he changed the design of those parts to make them as weak as the rest and therefore save himself money and materials by not wasting time on making them overbuilt. And from that came the idea of built-in obsolescence. Clever guy.

[Buenchico]

The concept of planned obsolescence within the motor industry is attributed to Alfred P Sloan, who was the CEO of General Motors.  Henry Ford totally hated the idea and sold his cars with repair kits, so that owners could keep them on the road indefinitely.

https://www.treehugger.com/how-planned-obsolescence-began-4856701

[Atheist]

Thanks, Buen. I have been misinformed.

[Khandro]

A typically cynical view. Longevity in automobiles costs.   Henry Ford was making vehicles at the lowest price that the working man - including his own work force - could afford.

Almost all of the vastly more expensive Rolls Royces, Bentleys, Hispano Suizas, Ferraris etc are all extant & running.

 'Built-in obsolescence' is a myth, If the car you buy deteriorates rapidly the next one you buy will be from a different manufacturer. 

 

[Atheist]

/'Built-in obsolescence' is a myth./

Of course it isn't. Stuff goes out of date (technically, e.g. computer stuff) and out of fashion very rapidly, and so most of it is designed and built to take that into account.

[Khandro]

Atheist; Everything more or less, goes out of date. It's the idea that it is 'built in' which is the myth.