re is something very post modern about this review. I was offered a copy of this new book (out 3 January 2017) to review, but what I got was an ebook hobbled by Digital Rights Management. It expires in a month and I am not allowed to cut and paste any quotations from it. Now I may not know much about copyright but I do understand the concept of “fair use”: which includes quotation!

I am going to cut and paste what I can from the blurb on netgalley and the publisher’s press release. (see below the line)

The reason that I wanted to read the book was my irritation at getting this tweet

"Apple Support: We see you are unable to upgrade to iOS10. This is because your iPad mini is not compatible with this version of iOS"

The iPad mini in question is less than two years old. I have determined by reference to the book that I am not alone in this experience, and indeed it appears to be a long established policy of Apple. Indeed within the product cycle, the life of the hardware is prescribed – and there will inevitably come a day, long before the device in question is beyond repair, when its operating system will not get updated any more. There is a case in the book of the iPod whose battery life was designed to be 18 months, and the battery could not be replaced by the user. There is also a documented legal case of an iPod mini designed and sold as an adjunct to exercise which failed when it came into contact with human sweat. Apple’s advertising showed the device attached to human bodies under exertion!

There is nothing new about planned obsolescence. I read Vance Packard’s The Wastemakers at East Ham Grammar School when I studied A Level Economics (1964-66). Everybody knows about GM’s policy of annual model changes based simply on design as opposed to technical innovation. And the cartel of lightbulb makers who made their products fail earlier so that they could sell more of them. My Dad told me about British carmaker Armstrong Siddeley that went bust because their cars were built to last – and no-one ever bought another one having no need since the first one they got was so well made and reliable. I fully expect my 2007 Toyota Yaris to see me out – unless there is a sea change at the strata council and I could install a charger for an electric car. Or Modo relents and puts a shared car in our neighbourhood.

If you are a student then you will be comfortable reading this book. It is remarkably short – I read it cover to cover in two hours or so – and is well annotated and referenced. It does acknowledge Brexit – which will probably remove British consumers from all the EU protection offered to consumers, which is remarkably advanced compared to North America. But was obviously written pre Trump. With leaders like Trudeau and Clark we cannot expect anything other than continuing adherence to the best interests of their funders. And just as the fossil fuel industries will ignore the carbon bubble for as long as possible, we can confidently expect the 0.01% and the corporations they control to continue to ignore both the pile up of garbage and pollution and the growing shortage of critical raw materials (like rare earths) as long as their profits increase and remain largely untaxed. So acquiring this book if you are an activist and wishing to bring about some change is likely to disappointing.

But if you are really in need of an education in the theory of planned obsolescence this might be worth forty quid to you (CAN$66.45 at the time of writing). But as far as prescriptions go, there’s not much. The certainty that the “current hegemonic paradigm will not allow humans to remain on this planet much longer” – and therefore the need to “walk in search of new patterns, new models, new meanings to then build new paths, new paradigms”.

And that is about it.

Understanding Planned Obsolescence: Unsustainability Through Production, Consumption and Waste Management by Kamila Pope is a dissertation on the current trend in economics. Pope is an Environmental Law and Bio-law lecturer, researcher, and lawyer. She has published a plethora of articles, chapters and papers covering Environmental Law, Sustainability, Planned Obsolescence and Waste Management. She holds a Master's in Law, Environment and Political Ecology and is studying for her Ph.D. in Law, Politics, and Society.

I remember as a child watching television and the Curtis Mathes commercial would air. An old couple would say how many years, 17 I think, they had the same television. It was a statement that if you paid extra for a Curtis Mathes it would be worth it in longevity and warranty. Before, when someone bought something they bought for quality knowing that it will last longer. Quality was something that Americans took pride in. There was the thought that something older meant it was built to be durable and better than new models. Although quality and longevity were sought after features for consumers, it is not for manufacturers. Capitalism relies on growth to succeed. After WWII, America had a growing worldwide market as much of Europe was in ruins. America grew until markets became saturated and Europe and Japan recovered. The possibility of expanding the markets and growth stalled. There needed to be a new way to encourage consumption. Planned obsolescence was expanded upon as a new way to grow the market. Suddenly older wasn’t better. Newer meant better technology. A quick look at cell phones today and “new every two” shows how quickly we adapted to new features, better camera, faster data, and more storage. These are not major upgrades like the change from analog to digital. There is no real reason why an old I-Phone3 cell phone would not work today, except for software updates making them incompatible. The phone can last much longer than a few years.

Pope examines and follows human development from primitive hunter-gatherer to modern consumerism and shows the changes that have taken place. At one time, man was part of the ecosystem. Moving from place to place to stay with the food without out depleting one area. Man moved to agriculture which brought cities and consumer goods. The industrial revolution freed man from labor and created even more consumer goods. Eventually, we came to where we are today. We control the environment -- Chemical fertilizers, urbanization, depleting wildlife, and large-scale removal of natural resources. There is not the effort of to conserve or buy less. We are bombarded in every form of media to buy more. It used to be just fashion being “so last year.” Now everything is heading in that direction. We are driven to consume new things even though our old things are still good. There was a time, just recently, when we could fix things. Products could be rebuilt now they are simply replaced. First, it was components that were replaced now complete systems.

Pope also gives some practical examples of how society could change to a sustainable system. Her methods would not be easy. Human greed is a powerful force to fight. Getting rich (or going into debt) and buying new things are the common mentality today. There seems to be a want that can not be quenched. Pope combines history, economics, and consumer psychology to that brings to light many things that people rarely think about. Consuming just seems part of human nature. An excellent and timely book.