Plan for Obsolescence

Samsung unveiled its Galaxy Note 8 today, and a lot of people are reeling from the shock of a $960 price point. But they shouldn’t be. This is a trend that’s long in the making, and will only get worse from here.

This newest phone is the largest they’ve produced, has curved glass spilling off both sides, is nearly bezel-less, comes with its stylus tucked away inside of it, and is made from super high-end materials. That’s a long list of expensive, hard-to-make parts before even mentioning the top of the line chips and non-explosive battery tucked neatly inside. This is a slab that justifies its price tag. The Note 8 could replace your tablet and probably laptop; provided you buy the right accessories.

On the software side, Samsung has spent a lot of time fine-tuning the S-Pen functionality, and went really hard on Bixby (their AI Assistant)this past year. Plus, with the recall of their beloved but explosion-prone Galaxy Note 7, Samsung needs to make up lost ground and also turn a profit. But this isn’t an Android-only trend. The price of the last several iPhones have slowly been climbing higher as well. And if the rumors about the iPhone X hold true, it’s price could even surpass the $1k price point this September.

We are paying the price for expensive materials and impossibly intricate manufacturing processes, just so we can own a fancy new thing and turn it in for another new thing one year later. We want the newest camera, the faster fingerprint scanner, the new color and finish, the bezelless screen.

I’m guilty of this new device greed and maybe you are too.

We are part of the problem.

If you believe theories about planned obsolescence (which forces users to upgrade after only a few short years) this might sound crazy, but maybe phones should move towards real, actual planned obsolescence. Make them out of material which only lasts as long as we need; cardboard, wood, bioplastics. Double-down on modular phone concepts, not like the failed consumer focused upgrades, but manufacturer focused ones; building systems which can be iterated on and designed for year after year. Figure out ways to make smartdevices without rare earth metals and toxic fumes. Stop creating problems by moving the camera and buttons with every new product update.

A lot of these ideas will take time to be realized, and maybe not all of them are feasible, but there are steps we can take in the meantime to cut down costs and reduce the impact of this demanding industry: minimize the amount of packaging, ship items more responsibly, and encourage upgrades/returns though loan programs like Apple does.

I understand that aluminum and glass are highly recyclable, so maybe alternative materials aren’t the best way forward. But the question at the heart of this post is still worth asking: if these tiny computers are only used for 1–2 years, why build them to last forever?

Why not build them to last as long as we need, and focus on getting everyone the most recent device as soon as possible.