Bitcoin and Planned Obsolescence

I’m working out a thought here, so feel free to chime in or correct me… I’ve been thinking if bitcoin ever does gain currency adoption, that among the many paradigm shifts would be consumer companies would be pressured towards producing products that were durable and long lasting.

For those not familiar, companies intentionally design their products to artificially fail or go out of style. This is known in the business as “planned obsolescence”. Engineering majors in college often learn about this as a topic for study. A descent documentary on this is a documentary available on youtube called “The Lightbulb Conspiracy” which talks about how the original lightbulb manufacturers produced lightbulbs that can last indefinitely. The documentary showcases a lightbulb currently in a fire station in Livermore, CA that is more than 100 years old and still working. It also covers Apple and printers. Also check out the wikipedia on planned obsolescence.

Anywho, on a bitcoin standard where bitcoin incentivizes people to save, companies will need to offer products that are more valuable to the customer to entice purchasing. I’m thinking this will lead to higher quality products that are not planned to become obsolete. Just imagine how great it will be to actually buy stuff that lasts your entire life. Also, the benefits to the environment would be tremendous, as our society wouldn’t be cycling through products and discarding consumer waste as heavily.