"Made to break," by Giles Slade, gives insight to the evolution of how products became produces to essentially break. These products range from the watch on your wrist to the car that you drive. American business have produced a nation that worships the saying of out with the old and in with the new. The book explains the history of how the American industry developed obsolescence to increase sales of their products. Its not good business to make something that will last forever, but rather invent a way to keep the customer coming back for the same thing.
This notion of progressive obsolescence has a large impact on society. It has developed a culture of people that constantly want new things with no end in sight. I too am guilty of this as well from buying TVs, cars, cell phones, and computer when all of my previous items were still usable. This way of life is also a large producer of waste. Products are being mass produced at such an alarming rate only to soon be outdated or not functional. This creates a waste problem that is depicted on the cover of Slade's book. It is no question that the the notion of a made to break society has drastic negative effects. As time goes on and technology becomes more and more advanced, I believe that this will only get worse. Companies are going to find way to make things cheaper and cheaper to increase their profits, and decrease the quality of the products.
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