Objective/Subjective documentary description
(In square brackets you can find the mistakes that are corrected in the final version)
THE MAN WHO MADE US SPEND
Objective description:
The man who made us spend[AC1] is the first episode of a series presented by Jacques Peretti, where the British journalist goes on a journey accompanied by several experts in [AC2] different fields and business persons in order to explain how planned obsolescence has affected the behaviors of the customers over time. Started [AC3] in the 1920s with the light bulbs, planned obsolescence can be observed in many objects such as washing machines, printers or mobile phones; it can vary from simple ways to more complexed. Moving on after some examples, Peretti links this to mass consumption, and taking as example [AC4] the car industry (reviewed with an engineer of General Motors), shows how companies view [AC5] a chance of making a lot [AC6] of profit when consumers starting [AC7] to consume new products even if their [AC8] utility life didn’t[AC9] finish, as a result of getting used of the planned obsolescence[AC10] . As a result of the crisis at [AC11] the 1970s, the liberal political current saw an opportunity to pacify the situation under the freedom of the market, auguring prosperity. With the introduction of credit, consumers’ behavior changed, starting to aspire to be rich. Combined with the introduction of new technology to make more fashionable products, it started to building [AC12] the revolution in the 1980/90s, [AC13] the design revolution. As a consequence of this revolution, companies such as IKEA or Apple started to taking [AC14] advantage of the fashion cycle of the products[AC15] , which is shorter that utility [AC16] cycle to making[AC17] more and more profits. In summary, the video shows how customers’ behavior has changed among [AC18] the time, being molded by the companies: from the planned obsolescence in the 20s, until more complex strategies of mass consumption [AC19] leaving a world where “consumers chose to be part of the project”.
Correction:
‘The man who made us spend’ is the first episode of a series presented by Jacques Peretti, where the British journalist goes on a journey accompanied by several experts of different fields and business persons in order to explain how planned obsolescence has affected the behaviors of the customers over time. Starting in the 1920s with the light bulbs, planned obsolescence can be observed in many objects such as washing machines, printers or mobile phones; it can vary from simple ways to more complexed. Moving on after some examples, Peretti links this to mass consumption, and taking the example of the car industry (reviewed with an engineer of General Motors), shows how companies saw a chance of making a great deal when consumers started to consume new products. ¡Even if the utility life did not finish! Then, the population started to get used of planned obsolescence. As a result of the crisis in the 1970s, the liberal political current saw an opportunity to pacify the situation under the freedom of the market, auguring prosperity. With the introduction of credit, consumers’ behavior changed, starting to aspire to be rich. Combined with the introduction of new technology to make more fashionable products, it starts to buid the revolution in the 1980/90s, the so-called ‘design revolution’. As a consequence of this revolution, companies such as IKEA or Apple took advantage of the products’ fashion cycle, which is shorter than the utility cycle to make more and more profits. In summary, the video shows how customers’ behavior has changed along the time, being molded by the companies: from the planned obsolescence in the 20s, until more complex strategies of mass consumption, leaving a world where “consumers chose to be part of the project”.
Subjective description:
The men who made us spend [AC1] is a really interesting video,[AC2] where the British journalist Jacques Peretti shows the not so bright history of how business have [AC3] built the customers’ behavior among the [AC4] time. Everything started in the 1920s with the [AC5] light bulbs, with an agreement between the electric companies. They agreed to limit the life cycle [AC6] of the product in order to have more profits, such a great idea, isn’t[AC7] ? Well, I think that depends on the scope we use. Planned obsolescence can be founded [AC8] in almost every device we use, from washing machines, to printers or our iPhones. This made customers being used to buy much earlier than needed some products[AC9] ; taking one example from the video, some people changed their vehicle once per year, as if it was a pair of shoes. This situation created an idyllic prosperity that was only transient, as when wages stop [AC10] increasing but prices didn’t [AC11] in the 70s, the crisis hit the entire world, resulting in strikes and turbulences. At this time, liberal politicians like Thatcher in UK[AC12] , saw the opportunity to assault [AC13] the power under the flag of the freedom. The latest trends heiresses [AC14] of the [AC15] planned obsolescence [AC16] are related to the fashionable cycles, were [AC17] products have two different lifetimes: one regarding the utility life, which is not used; and the fashionable life, that is as shorter as the trend that follows.[AC18] This [AC19] tendencies have allowed that companies like IKEA or Apple started to earning thousands and thousands of euros just adding [AC20] small changes to their products. In summary, the video explains really briefly one of the problems that capitalism has showed over time, but as at the [AC21] beginning of the video, it is “an open secret”, [AC22] everyone knows about it, but no one cares that much to start acting against it. By the way, the men who made us spend is a nice choice for those people who are starting to question how our society works, and it can be treated as an introductory video into this topic.
Correction:
‘The men who made us spend’ is a really interesting video where the British journalist Jacques Peretti shows the not so bright history of how business has built the customers’ behavior along the time. Everything started in the 1920s with light bulbs, with an agreement between the electric companies. They agreed to limit the lifespan of the product to have more profits, such a great idea, is not? Well, I think that depends on the scope we use. Planned obsolescence can be found in almost every device we use, from washing machines, to printers or our iPhones. This made customers being used to buy some products much earlier than needed; taking one example from the video, some people changed their vehicle once per year, as if it was a pair of shoes. This situation created an idyllic prosperity that was only transient, as when wages stopped increasing but prices did not in the 70s, the crisis hit the entire world, resulting in strikes and turbulences. At this time, liberal politicians like Thatcher in the UK, saw the opportunity to get more influence under the flag of the freedom. The trends that are the offspring of planned obsolescence are related to the fashionable cycles, where products have two different lifetimes: one regarding the utility life, which is not used; and the fashionable life, that lasts as long as is fashionable. These tendencies have allowed that companies like IKEA or Apple started to earning thousands and thousands of euros with just adding small changes to their products. In summary, the video explains briefly one of the problems that capitalism has showed over time, but as it is said at the beginning of the video, it is “an open secret”: everyone knows about it, but no one cares that much to start acting against it. By the way, the men who made us spend is a nice choice for those people who are starting to question how our society works, and it can be treated as an introductory video into this topic.
