Citation
(2003), "Obsolescence", Work Study, Vol. 52 No. 4. https://doi.org/10.1108/ws.2003.07952daa.004
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2003, MCB UP Limited
Obsolescence
Obsolescence
When I was nothing but a lad (a long time ago), there used to be this belief that manufacturers failed to use technologies, manufacturing processes, finishing processes or after-sales processes that might extend the life of their product longer than was "economically acceptable" (to the manufacturer, of course, not the consumer). This was held to be especially true of car makers. The story was that they were quite able to build cars that lasted for 20 years – but they did not. Instead they used inferior materials and processes to build in a degree of obsolescence that would generate future replacement sales. Of course, something (the Japanese?) changed all that. Certainly cars last much longer than they did – a ten-year-old car now looks quite OK, whereas 20 years ago, a ten-year-old car would have been a wreck. Has this changed the rate at which cars are replaced? Not really. So, if the rumour was ever true, those powerful men (and I think they were all men back then) were also misguided men … they misjudged their customers. Of course, those men are now themselves obsolete … though they probably made a lot of money misjudging us.