The Phoebus Conspiracy

There have been a few recent weblog posts being critical of those who take too much stock in conspiracy theories. I think Occam’s Razor makes sense more often than not. But on occasion, when I think there isn’t a conspiracy, it turns out that there is. 

“Planned obsolescence” means that manufacturers purposefully create goods that will wear out or break after a certain amount of time. Then the consumer has to purchase the same item again. I think the music industry loved that people bought the same music first as a record, then a cassette, maybe a little later an eight track tape, and finally a compact disc. With streaming, that world has completely changed.

With technology advancing so quickly it isn’t uncommon for people to buy the latest iPhone even if their “old” one is working just fine. I don’t think that's a conspiracy and I want to think that generally manufacturers are trying to maximize their profits in ethical and legal ways. However, we have the "Phoebus Conspiracy" in the 1920s and ending with the beginning of World War II.

This “cartel” was an agreement among major lightbulb manufacturers in North America (Philips and General Electric) and Europe to standardize, and shorten, the lifespan of light bulbs. The standard became 1000 hours and that was down from the previous expected lifespan of 2500 hours. Obviously, a shortened lifespan would increase sales. The cartel established production quotas and monitored the lifespan of their competitors. They all agreed any manufacturer who produced a better lightbulb would be fined.