Made to Break: technology and obsolescence in America
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Description
If you've replaced a computer lately--or a cell phone, a camera, a television--chances are, the old one still worked. And chances are even greater that the latest model won't last as long as the one it replaced. Welcome to the world of planned obsolescence--a business model, a way of life, and a uniquely American invention that this eye-opening book explores from its beginnings to its perilous implications for the very near future. Made to Break is a history of twentieth-century technology as seen through the prism of obsolescence. America invented everything that is now disposable, Giles Slade tells us, and he explains how disposability was in fact a necessary condition for America's rejection of tradition and our acceptance of change and impermanence. His book shows us the ideas behind obsolescence at work in such American milestones as the inventions of branding, packaging, and advertising; the contest for market dominance between GM and Ford; the struggle for a national communications network, the development of electronic technologies--and with it the avalanche of electronic consumer waste that will overwhelm America's landfills and poison its water within the coming decade. History reserves a privileged place for those societies that built things to last--forever, if possible. What place will it hold for a society addicted to consumption--a whole culture made to break? This book gives us a detailed and harrowing picture of how, by choosing to support ever-shorter product lives we may well be shortening the future of our way of life as well.
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ISBN:
9781927401675
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Grouping Information
Grouped Work ID | cce1430c-43b4-bab4-01d0-e299cdd1cab9 |
---|---|
Grouping Title | made to break technology and obsolescence in america |
Grouping Author | giles slade |
Grouping Category | book |
Grouping Language | English (eng) |
Last Grouping Update | 2024-04-03 23:11:02PM |
Last Indexed | 2024-04-24 02:34:49AM |
Solr Fields
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0
accelerated_reader_reading_level
0
auth_author2
Puttonen, Michael
author
Slade, Giles
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Puttonen, Michael,reader
hoopla digital
hoopla digital
author_display
Slade, Giles
display_description
If you've replaced a computer lately--or a cell phone, a camera, a television--chances are, the old one still worked. And chances are even greater that the latest model won't last as long as the one it replaced. Welcome to the world of planned obsolescence--a business model, a way of life, and a uniquely American invention that this eye-opening book explores from its beginnings to its perilous implications for the very near future. Made to Break is a history of twentieth-century technology as seen through the prism of obsolescence. America invented everything that is now disposable, Giles Slade tells us, and he explains how disposability was in fact a necessary condition for America's rejection of tradition and our acceptance of change and impermanence. His book shows us the ideas behind obsolescence at work in such American milestones as the inventions of branding, packaging, and advertising; the contest for market dominance between GM and Ford; the struggle for a national communications network, the development of electronic technologies--and with it the avalanche of electronic consumer waste that will overwhelm America's landfills and poison its water within the coming decade. History reserves a privileged place for those societies that built things to last--forever, if possible. What place will it hold for a society addicted to consumption--a whole culture made to break? This book gives us a detailed and harrowing picture of how, by choosing to support ever-shorter product lives we may well be shortening the future of our way of life as well.
id
cce1430c-43b4-bab4-01d0-e299cdd1cab9
isbn
9781927401675
last_indexed
2024-04-24T08:34:49.415Z
lexile_score
-1
literary_form
Unknown
literary_form_full
Unknown
primary_isbn
9781927401675
publishDate
2013
publisher
Post Hypnotic Press
recordtype
grouped_work
subject_facet
Science
title_display
Made to Break : technology and obsolescence in America
title_full
Made to Break : technology and obsolescence in America [electronic resource] / Giles Slade
title_short
Made to Break
title_sub
technology and obsolescence in America
topic_facet
Science
Solr Details Tables
item_details
Bib Id | Item Id | Shelf Loc | Call Num | Format | Format Category | Num Copies | Is Order Item | Is eContent | eContent Source | eContent URL | Detailed Status | Last Checkin | Location |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
hoopla:MWT11187588 | Online Hoopla Collection | Online Hoopla | eAudiobook | Audio Books | 1 | false | true | Hoopla | https://www.hoopladigital.com/title/11187588?utm_source=MARC&Lid=hh4435 | Available Online |
record_details
Bib Id | Format | Format Category | Edition | Language | Publisher | Publication Date | Physical Description | Abridged |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
hoopla:MWT11187588 | eAudiobook | Audio Books | Unabridged | English | Post Hypnotic Press | 2013 | 1 online resource (1 audio file (9hr., 55 min.)) : digital. |