Is Your Tech Designed to Break? The Truth About Planned Obsolescence

Your New Phone is Already Old: The Obsolescence Machine and You

 

By Sanju Sapkota | sanjusapkota.com.np

We buy the latest phone, feeling modern and connected. The screen is brighter, the camera sharper. It feels like progress. But that feeling has a dark twin: the nagging suspicion that your old device, which worked perfectly fine, is now suddenly too slow, too outdated, too uncool. That's not an accident. It's the work of what I call the Obsolescence Machine.

This isn't just about gadgets gathering dust in a drawer. The Obsolescence Machine is a system—part design, part marketing, part pure pace—that creates waste on three fronts: the devices in our hands, the skills in our brains, and the attention in our daily lives. Let's break down how it works, because the first step to fighting a machine is understanding its gears.

The Repair That Isn't: When You Don't Really Own Your Stuff

Remember when you could pop open the back of a phone and swap the battery yourself? Those days are gone by design. We're sold the idea of "user-replaceable parts," but the reality is often a software-locked mirage.

• You might buy a compatible battery from a third party, only to have your phone flash a scary "unauthorized part" warning.

• Manufacturers use special screws, industrial glue, and parts that are digitally "paired" to the motherboard.

• The message is clear: repairs are for us, not for you.

The result? A drawer full of "dead" tech and a planet choking on e-waste. It's the fastest-growing waste stream in the world. We're hoarding broken gadgets because fixing them is either too expensive, too complicated, or just plain impossible. Movements like Right to Repair are fighting back, but it's an uphill battle against a system designed for you to buy new, not fix old. More hidden tech realities are here. 

The Developer's Treadmill: Skills That Expire

If you think your phone becomes obsolete quickly, talk to a software developer. In the tech world, the Obsolescence Machine operates at light speed.

A developer spends months mastering a framework like React, Vue, or Angular. They build projects, solve complex problems, and become an expert. Then, a major update rolls out. Suddenly, the way they've been doing things is "legacy code." Their hard-earned expertise has a built-in expiry date.

• The constant churn of new libraries, tools, and "best practices" creates immense pressure.

• It leads to burnout, anxiety, and a feeling that you're running on a treadmill just to stay in place.

• Valuable human knowledge and experience are treated as disposable, turned into a kind of digital e-waste.

It's a system that values the new over the deeply understood, forcing a relentless cycle of learning that often sacrifices mastery for mere survival. If you're curious about how old hardware holds up against this 'Obsolescence Machine,' check out my review of the Samsung Note 10+ in 2025. 

The Attention Factory: Your Focus is the Product

This is the most personal and pervasive form of waste. Our apps and platforms aren't neutral tools; they're attention factories. Every feature is a carefully engineered hook.

Think about it:

• Why is the feed endless? So you never have a reason to stop scrolling.

• Why do videos autoplay? To remove the conscious choice to click "next."

• Why are notifications red? Because that color triggers urgency.

These apps aren't designed for use; they're designed for compulsive checking. They fragment our concentration, making it harder to read a book, finish a work task, or have an uninterrupted conversation. The waste here is our time and our mental clarity. We pay for "free" services with our most non-renewable resource: our focused attention.

You should be aware about AI Chat, They are leaking.

How to Press Pause

The Obsolescence Machine is powerful, but it's not unbeatable. Resistance starts with small, conscious choices.

For Your Devices:
Support companies that design for longevity. Consider buying refurbished. Before you replace, ask, "Can this be fixed?" Even small repairs are acts of defiance.

For Your Skills:
If you're in tech, focus on learning fundamental principles that don't change—how the internet works, core programming logic—rather than just chasing the latest framework. Depth can be more durable than speed.

For Your Attention:
Take back control. Audit your phone's notifications and turn off everything that isn't essential. Use website blockers during work hours. Put your phone in another room. Your focus is yours to protect.

The promise of technology was to give us more freedom. The Obsolescence Machine quietly sells that freedom back to us, piece by piece, as waste. By seeing the machine at work, we can start to make choices that are truly our own.