What if I told you that there is a light bulb, at the time of writing this article, hanging down the roof of a fire station in California?

Duuh 🙄 Not interested? Okay.

What if I added that the bulb was first lit in 1901 and has been functioning ever since?

Well, let me take you on a quick tour of the world’s oldest known operating bulb famously known as The Centennial Light.

I know at this point you might already be wondering what sort of wizardly is behind it because as you have known your whole life, bulbs barely make it between your birthdays and its perfectly normal.

Perfectly normal, right? Are you sure about that though? 👀🦗 🦗. That begs the next logical question. Why one bulb? Why not manufacture bulbs like the Centennial light and move on with our lives for good?

History 🏛️

In the Year 1924, light bulbs lasted an average of 2,500 hours. However, light bulb manufacturers thought that was too long and so they formed what came to be known as the Phoebus Cartel, based in Geneva, whose chief aim was to reduce the lifespan of light bulbs by 50%. That way they would get their sales up and accumulate enough wealth to light up the world /s🌚. If any company made a light bulb that lasted more than 1,000 hours, they received fines from the cartel; for making a good product. The companies behind it: Philips, Tungsram, Osram and, General Electric.

This was what would later become known as Planned Obsolescence; a term coined in 1932 by one Bernard London — a real estate broker. He proposed planned obsolescence as a mandatory solution to revive the economy during the Great Depression. According to London, giving all products a predetermined lifespan would provoke people to return to buy new things, and “the wheels of industry would be kept going”.

After Effects

Ever since, most companies have manufactured their products based on it and we all live to tell the tale of how it keeps getting worse. The average lifespan of everything has significantly reduced despite advances in technology, which goes against expectations.

It’s why your new top of the line automobile has more mechanic appointments than your toddler’s clinic visits and has a check engine light that has more consistency than the headlights.

AC?

Air Conditioning ❌

Absolutely Cooked ✔️

Let’s not even get started on your 13-month old phone; yes, perfectly timed after your warranty, that recently has you typing 3wph (words per hour) while the screen blinks more than your favourite club’s disco lights. Leave alone the charging port that has had you learning more geometry and trigonometry than your high school teacher could ever get you to understand. How’s that for the math that you “never get to use”?

How about that new pair of jeans you just purchased and tried to wash only to confuse it with your older pair on the hanging line because of how much they’re already twinning colour wise? We all suddenly seem to be competing with the Milan Fashion Week models on who rocks new fashion faster rather than better.

I could go on and on but I think you already get the trend. Standard, long-lasting products seem like an utopian dream that civilization at large has decided to make peace with. It’s no surprise, then, that today’s most profitable companies are the ones who’ve perfected the dark art of anti-repair for the devices and appliances which they “sell” to you at exorbitant prices that have you questioning your entire existence.

Repair? Congratulations, you’ve just earned your wannabe low-budget Bob the Builder certification that not only comes with a voided warranty but also a lower social status. How about a “I am pleased to announce….” post on your favourite platform and sit back and wait for all the cliche riddled congratulatory messages /s !!!

Reforms 🛠️

All this has led to interventions such as the European Union's Right to Repair Directive (R2RD) and France’s legistlation - “anti-waste bill for a circular economy”.

The anti-waste bill introduced a couple of reforms such as:

• A mandatory repairability scoring system where electronics are rated on a scale of 1-10 based on how easy to repair they are and published by manufacurers for verification by NGOs.
• Banning of non-repairable items such as those that are glued together.
• More durable, repairable products being rewarded with a lower tax than disposable products.
• Discounts being made available for citizens who go to professional repairers.
• Consumers who choose repair over replacement benefitting from 6 months of additional guarantee on their product.

All these efforts towards advocating for The Right to Repair, are efforts by people to reverse the absurdity of the malady that now plagues us with the hopes that maybe, just maybe, we all get back to claw back to the golden age of sanity where we could actually own nice things that didn’t fall apart faster than your elected politician’s manifesto 💀

Let us all stop settling for sub-standard junk and contribute to the evolution of a better world, shall we?