On The "Planned Obsolescence" In Industrial Design From The Viewpoint Of "The Compatible Of Righteousness And Benefit"

The concept of the “Planned Obsolescence” is represented by the “Phoebus cartel” in the European light bulb industry in the 1920 s and the “Annual Model Change” proposed by General Motors in the United States at the same time.Today,almost all product development,design and sales are under the control of this model.“Planned Obsolescence” is a production method used by manufacturers to take advantage of market demand.It has witnessed that production and consumption are two sides of one.Human needs and desires have always existed in the development of human society.Commercial groups' need of profitability constitutes the main reason for the emergence of “Planned Obsolescence”.The advancement of science and technology and the demand of human nature have promoted the advent of the era of consumerism,which is also the main reason for the adjustment of production with market demand.Generally,the application of “Planned Obsolescence” in design can be divided into three types: namely “function”,“style” and “quality”.With the development of the times,the roles played by these three types are constantly adjusted as the general environment changes.The implementation of “Planned Obsolescence” stimulates consumption and accelerates the prosperity of business,and promotes industrial design to gradually become professional and comprehensive,and after it penetrates into people's daily life,it brings a wealth of products and services and improves people's quality of life.At the same time,the linear production and consumption model,as well as the combined influence of abandoning society and consumerism,have caused many problems that have to be paid attention to.For example,the deterioration of the ecological environment,the excessive consumption of limited resources,the changes in personal consumption and values.This is “Planned Obsolescence” may have a profound impact on the future of mankind.The reflection and correction of the far-reaching impact of “Planned Obsolescence” has become an important topic discussed by many researchers since Victor Papanek.Thinking from the perspective of design ethics has become increasingly important.Many design concepts are constantly being constructed,such as “green design”,“sustainable development” and other concepts,which are produced on the basis of this kind of reflection.In addition,more organizations and individuals have taken practical actions to participate in the reflection and change actions that cause problems in “Planned Obsolescence”.For example,by designing underdeveloped areas for the underprivileged group,as well as providing the products needed to solve basic life;or by raising second-hand products for people who need them more,not only can they extend and expand the value and service life of the products,but also reduce waste.In order to solve the problems caused by “Planned Obsolescence”,the results of these actions are still in vain.It depends on the attention and participation of more people,and there is still a lot of room for improvement.Most design researchers and environmentalists are reserved towards “Planned Obsolescence”.In this process of changing,how to correct the conflict between ideal core values and practical interests,satisfy the interests of producers and consumers to cover all ethnic groups,and not at the cost of sacrificing the living environment of the next generation,have become one of the important issues of current and future design development.How to grasp the contradictory relationship between “where there is benefit” and “there is the trend” has become a challenge that “humanity” must face.This also reminds us that we cannot simply explore the idealization of “science and technology” progress.The evaluation of “Planned Obsolescence” is not simply a matter of good or bad.Otherwise,it is easy for us to fall into the misunderstanding that “where there is benefit,there is the trend.”This article is not to propose a new design proposal to solve the impact of“Planned Obsolescence”,but to use the philosophy of the sages to try to explain its purpose of “compliance with human nature”.At the same time,under the premise of“making good use of technology” which fully understands the essence of “Planned Obsolescence”,we have carried out more in-depth thinking about the existing propositions and trends of thought used to reflect on it.These will be the beginning of the next step to start the “design philosophy” research of the sages.