obsolescence

planned obsolescence

Planned obsolescence is a capitalist strategy where companies design and produce things with a limited useful lifespan — on purpose. The intention is to encourage new purchases, when none would be necessary. This tactic emerged in the early 20th century and has become common across all industries and especially in electronics, fashion, and home appliances. Companies implement obsolescence through various approaches.

planned longevity

Planned longevity is the opposite of planned obsolescence: the way of designing systems, especially hardware, so that it supports lifespan maximization.

lifespan maximization

Lifespan maximization is the extension of hardware lifespan by the users. It may be supported by planned longevity from the manufacturer's side, but it rarely is.

Commitments on model deprecation and preservation

Anthropic is an AI safety and research company that's working to build reliable, interpretable, and steerable AI systems.

software rot

Software rot is generally thought of as degradation of software due to a changing environment. For example, a program written a decade ago may no longer work with new versions of the libraries it depends on because some of them have changed without retaining backwards compatibility. This kind of thinking encourages a culture where software becomes obsolete unless it is constantly maintained.

reuse

Reuse means the use of a piece of technology for new purposes, often ones that were never envisioned by the original designers. Reusability refers to design that makes reuse possible.

Deprecations | OpenAI API

Find information about OpenAI API deprecations and recommended replacements.

Apple Doesn't Believe The iPhone Will Last Another Decade - BGR

The iPhone end is near, as Apple doesn't believe its revolutionary product will last for another decade. Here's what a top executive said.

The Missing Middle of Open Source

Why serious, maintainer-driven projects struggle to sustain themselves—and what it will take to fix it.

The New Software Lifecycle

I co-wrote a Google whitepaper about how AI is changing the software lifecycle. I'm not going to summarize the whole thing. Instead, here are the handful of ...

The Matrix of Convivial Technology – Assessing technologies for degrowth

This article introduces the notion of convivial technology as a conceptual framework for technologies suitable for degrowth societies. This paper is inspired by Ivan Illich's notion of convivial tools but reconsiders it in the light of current practices and discussions. Looking for a definition of convivial technologies it uses qualitative empirical research conducted with degrowth-oriented groups developing or adapting grassroots technologies like Open Source cargo bikes or composting toilets in Germany. The basic ethical values and design criteria that guide these different groups in relation to technology are summed up into five dimensions: relatedness, adaptability, accessibility, bio-interaction and appropriateness. These dimensions can be correlated with the four life-cycle levels material, production, use and infrastructure to form the Matrix for Convivial Technology (MCT). The MCT is a 20-field schema that can be filled in. Experiences with the tool in different fields are presented. The MCT is itself a convivial tool as it allows for degrowth-oriented groups to self-assess their work and products in a qualitative, context-sensitive and independent way. It is a normative schema that fosters discussion concerning degrowth technologies in contexts of political education. And it is a research method as it helps collecting data about underlying ethical assumptions and aspirations of individuals and groups engaged in developing technology.

Wrap to 2025, Proem to 2026

Technological Paradigm Shifts are fundamental changes in technology that reshape industries and society.

If you think your profession is dying, it could soon be gone

Younger workers once foresaw the demise of horse-drawn carriages — but anticipating obsolescence can be self-fulfilling

Why exe.dev VMs are persistent - exe.dev blog

On the design decision to make VMs persistent, with persistent disks.

Sustainable Open Source: The Maintainers Perspective or: How I Learned to Stop Caring and Love Open Source