Blog Entry #6

Slade Part 1

For this blog I have studied the first section of Giles Slade's book, “Made to Break; Technology and Obsolescence in America.”  The title of this book is a great basic of what the book will be about.  Throughout this section, Slade proves the idea that technology is “made to break.”  With the idea that technology, and innovation are constantly changing, he explains three stages of product obsolescence. Slade also portrays ideas throughout history that can justify American’s motives when purchasing new electronics and other products.

The first stage that Slade describes is referred to as “technological obsolescence.”  This stage occurs when new innovations replace old ideas about how to perform a task.  The effort to have the most effective device in order to get the job done is the main reason this first stage is known to replace old technology.  The second stage, “the annual model change’ is similar to the first stage but is seen mainly when initial devices are updated or changed by the company in order to bring in more customers.  Although it seems like company does this to sell more products, it also is an updated version of the old product motivating more people to buy the new version.  The third stage of obsolescence described by Slade is “planned obsolescence.”  This stage is best understood as it is simply talking about products durability. As he describes this stage, Slade suggests that companies will plan for an object to not be relied on as a lifetime device as some parts of it are bound to become old and ineffective.  While the efforts behind this stage are attempts to make a consumer buy a new product, Slade informs us that this planning is not legal but is still seen throughout our market economy.

As Slade describes the stages that have led to American’s upgrades in technology he continues to explain in detail how we feel the need to get rid of these products.  Slade describes American Disposability as a habit we have accustomed over the years that will be hard to break.  Since we know that in today’s society, new technology will eventually replace our old objects, it is hard to keep ourselves from wanting new ones.  This idea also begins to float into the social aspect of new technology.  Slade writes, “this self-conscious concern about being out-of-fashion is the key feature of psychological obsolescence” (page 55).  The psychological obsolescence that Slade is talking about is our personal desire for the popular, new technology that is on the market.  This disposal of items paired with the replacement of them is a great example of how technology is a constantly changing and improving in the American culture.

Throughout the first half of Slade’s book, “Made to Break: Technology and Obsolescence in America,” he portrays the idea that technology is always changing.  To justify this idea, Slade proposes the three stages that possibly contribute to the average American’s desire for a product as well as our casual attitude towards how frequently we dispose of things in our everyday lives.  The first half of this book gave me a great understanding of how the consumer market can effect my perspective of technology and also that when I maybe WANT a new cell phone or iPod, I don’t necessarily NEED one.