Larry Shell on Mother of Hope

The earliest example of planned obsolescence were women’s stockings or “nylons.” The mid century pre WW2 were sturdy and tough. They disappeared during the war to make parachutes. Sometime after the war though they realized that if they weakened the product to snag and run women will always need to buy more. In a related vein, the movement to a subscription model means people will keep paying indefinitely (rather than actually owning CDs or DVDs). Makes. Me. Crazy.