This article about
planned obsolescence is good, and it tells me we'll never reach a consensus.
Quote:
Some suggested that yes, Apple is deliberately limiting its technology’s lifespan to harvest more sales from its existing user base. Others said no — the brand hit that Apple would take for doing this would be too damaging, and Apple knows it. Since the column was published, I have likewise seen plenty of reader emails and technology blog posts insisting that Apple is either obviously engaging in planned obsolescence or obviously not.
But the answer is not particularly obvious. The best one can do is look at whether Apple would even have the incentive to cause its products to deteriorate more quickly over time. Economic theory is somewhat ambiguous on this point; it really depends on your assumptions about the competitiveness of the high-end smartphone market.
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