Friday, September 18, 2009

Planned obsolescence and the Kindle?

Just finished reading the newest article on Science Matters put out by the The David Suzuki Foundation called "It’s time to rethink our approach to garbage"By David Suzuki with Faisal Moola. And it got me thinking about the Kindle. So I Googled "Planned obsolescence and the Kindle and what was at the top of the list?

Made to Break: Technology and Obsolescence in America (Kindle Edition)


Ironic isn't it. Try it yourself type in "Planned obsolescence and the Kindle" and see what you get before Amazon finds some why to change the search results.

Excerpt from "It's time to rethink our approach to garbage":
"Every day, more people, stores, and cities are finding ways to cut down on use of disposable plastic bags, but we still create a lot of unnecessary packaging and products. Planned obsolescence – the absurd practice of producing goods that won’t last so that the consumer cycle can continue – is still very much with us. We can all avoid buying products that are over-packaged or that are “disposable” – and encourage producers to be more responsible. When we consumers take the time to let stores, businesses, and governments know that we want less packaging and that we want goods that last, we will make a difference. Our changing attitude about plastic bags is a perfect example."

http://www.cbc.ca/smartshift/2009/09/its-time-to-rethink-our-approach-to-garbage.html

2 comments:

  1. How many Kindles and similar digital book readers will end up in our landfills, when newer version come out. How many cell phones are in our landfills now?

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  2. I hate buying something with the expectation that it will last only two or three years. My daughter is reading the same children's books that me, my siblings and my cousins read. Some of those books are over forty years old (obviously purchased many years before the birth of all my twenty-nine year old family members). The bindings are starting to give way to age but those books have been under the ungentle care of countless toddlers and children in the last half century. On the other hand, how do you know your kindle collection won't go the way of your eight track collection, cassette tape collection, and now CD collection? When I chose books for my daughter's birthday gift this year I chose hardcover books to last through her childhood and perhaps that of her children.

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