Technology Can Be Beneficial, But Short Life Spans and “Planned Obsolescence” is Not Beneficial to Our Wallets or The Environment

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March 9, 2018

By B.N. Frank

Tree Huggers Should Be Freaking Out about “E-waste” from 5G, “Smart” Meters, and More…

There is no doubt that technology can save lives.  Any driver who has ever experienced car trouble will attest that a cell phone can be a real life saver.

But cell phones aren’t only simple devices used in emergencies any more.  They also aren’t the only source of “E-waste” that is contributing to air, soil, and water pollution everywhere.

We continue to be told that Climate Change is a problem.  How much “E-waste” is contributing to Climate Change depends on who you ask and who is paying for their opinions.  This can be said about everything regarding new technology.

Regardless, there have been many in-depth articles about electronic, digital, and wireless products being deliberately designed and manufactured to have short life spans.  This is referred to as “Planned Obsolescence.”

The “New Normal” is that everything with electrical, digital, or wireless components malfunctions, breaks, or becomes obsolete within 3-7 years, sometimes even less.  This wasn’t always the case.  You may even know people who still have working appliances in their homes that were made before you or your parents were born.

People were once more inclined to pay for appliances to be repaired instead of buying new ones.  Nowadays it seems that most products are deliberately manufactured to cost more to repair than replace.  It’s become a “Throwaway” culture.

Wireless and digital “smart” meters that have been installed on homes and buildings by utility companies are notorious for their short life spans.  Consumer advocates have accused manufacturers and utility companies of promoting them as being “beneficial to customers” even though there are plenty of reports documenting that they haven’t been.  Unlike other electrical, digital or wireless products, utility companies do not provide customers with manuals or guidelines when they install “smart” meters on homes and buildings.

Besides short life spans, there have been other awful issues documented and reported about utility “smart” meters:

  1. Appliances malfunctioning and breaking
  2. Fires and/or explosions
  3. Measurement errors leading to higher bills
  4. New and increased illnesses – including cancer – among humans and pets from the wireless (WiFi) radiation these meters emit 24/7

Adding insult to injury, customers are often given rate increases for these meters to be installed and replaced.  Millions of utility customers across the U.S, North America and around the world have been fighting to keep them out of their communities.

Even though these utility “smart” meters are sometimes promoted by environmentalists as being beneficial and eco-friendly, this hardly seems possible since these meters need to be replaced so quickly.  Original analog meters that lasted on average 40 years.

I have not heard about any environmental groups bothering to check how many of these burnt, broken, or obsolete meters and their components end up in landfills.  Have you?

Some environmentalists promote these meters as being “energy efficient” as well.  This has also been heavily debated.

Regardless, their short life spans alone fit the description of “Planned Obsolescence” so they can’t be eco-friendly. Even if you don’t care about the environment, you’re still paying for meters that aren’t being tested for the way they are being used that utility companies are insisting are safe and beneficial to customers when they clearly are not.

If you’re concerned about human rights, new technology is often being made by exploiting citizens of less fortunate countries.  This includes very young children.  There have been many in-depth news stories about that, too.

How much we need all this new technology depends on who you ask.  The inventors who originally designed many personal tech devices have been sending their kids to private “low tech” schools and limiting the amount of time their children are exposed to technology in their homes.  So even though the rest of us have been told that these products are necessary to educate other people’s children, tech inventors’ kids still don’t seem to need it.

The current “race” for 5G technology and the Internet of Things (IoT) will create even more e-Waste.

According to many sources, including Dr. Oz, 5G is being promoted and pushed by our elected officials and Telecom Companies as being good for Americans because it will enable us to “binge-watch, surf, and post online” without the threat of our screens freezing up or being disconnected.  This is also what humans did in the 2008 Pixar movie, WALL-E.  None of these humans seemed all that bright, healthy or enlightened.

Many are concerned about what 5G small cell towers will do to us when it is installed everywhere.

We all want what we want.  Many haven’t considered how all of this new technology is affecting all of us in ways besides e-Waste.  Research has already proven that exposure to sources of wireless (WiFi) radiation and/or electrical pollution (Electrosmog) can cause or increase health issues and possibly boost cancer risk.  Digital addiction is even being addressed by those who originally designed new technology.

On a side note, it’s recently been reported that Amazon product, “Alexa”, has been emitting creepy laughter in the middle of the night without being prompted.  Jimmy Kimmel included a segment about it on his show.

Alexa also emits wireless (WiFi) radiation.  Health professionals and media sources encourage everyone  – not just sexy people like Tom Brady and his supermodel wife, Giselle Bundchen – to turn off electronics and other wireless-emitting products while sleeping.

Unprompted creepy laughter in the middle of the night is something most people would prefer living without.  All things considered, many of these new tech products seem to be more trouble than they’re worth even to those trying to recycle them and keep them out of landfills.

According to research, they can also age us faster.  Who wants to look or feel older?  Is it really necessary to ask Alexa about that?

For more articles that reference e-Waste:

 


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3 Comments on "Technology Can Be Beneficial, But Short Life Spans and “Planned Obsolescence” is Not Beneficial to Our Wallets or The Environment"

  1. Paul Panza | March 10, 2018 at 8:10 am |

    AI technology is not neutral as it has an applied agenda. Self actualizing extraterrestrial technology can be fatal. “Technology is another means of going backwards faster” – Aldous Huxley. The benefit is to the creator, manufacturer, and sales department.

  2. Terry Harnden | March 10, 2018 at 4:21 pm |

    Short Life Spans and Planned Obsolescence is being applied to all of us humans and is Not Beneficial. Mercury poisoning then detox, then magnesium depletion the source of all diseases known to man accelerating in the past 100 years.

  3. PeterTocci | March 12, 2018 at 2:27 pm |

    Bravo, BN. It’s not just e-waste, however, but the rape and toxification of the planet to acquire exotic metals, that go into devices – which all use plastics extensively as well. And the fascination and obsession with it are symptomatic of a cultural desperation for fulfillment, which THINGS promise but never really deliver.

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