There have been many times during my travels when I've needed something repaired, from broken zips to memory cards that have lost data. From India to Ethiopia, I have had 1 trouble in finding menders to repair what is broken. But in rich countries, such items would often be 2 and replaced with new ones.
Now the idea that something that works fine should be replaced is now so deeply-rooted in our 3 that few people question it. We are increasingly convinced by manufacturers to 4 replace a product. The earliest example may be the so-called "lightbulb scheme", in which a group of companies signed an agreement that 5 each other to sell lightbulbs with a longer than 1000-hour lifespan (寿命), even though bulbs lasting more than 100000 hours 6.The result was that households needed to replace their bulbs regularly, greatly 7 the consumer market.
This way of selling more products by designing products that 8 fail, cannot be repaired, or have a set lifespan is known as “planned obsolescence (报废)". However, it is not just a way for 9 to increase profits, many politicians believe it to be a societal necessity. During the 1930s Depression in the US, it was seen as a way to get the 10 moving again by urging people to buy more stuff. By the 1950s, it had become the dominant practice in large-scale production with things no longer built to 11. Clever advertising persuaded people to shop. Consumer culture was born.
Some industries, such as fashion, rely heavily on "planned obsolescence" with items being made to last a single season or less. Other industries are 12 fashion to bring out products that will soon appear dated. For example, 13 lifespans are programmed into chips (芯片), so that printers will stop working after a preset number of pages.
14, some consumers are starting to hit back, advising people on the Internet how to find and remove the printer chip. They began taking apart computers and other equipment, getting around the copyright protection. People like them are contributing to a 15 of the consumer culture. Instead of being driven by it, they choose new products based on how long-lasting they are and how easy they are to be repaired. Perhaps, "planned obsolescence" will begin to see its end.
