10 Days ’til 40: Planned Obsolescence = ROBBING CONSUMERS

About two years ago I bought a car adapter for my iPhone, enabling me to play my phone through my stereo.  This car adapter is the inspiration for today’s post.  Here is a photo:

Recently I have become more aware of planned obsolescence as I have been taking a Coursera course on entrepreneurship.  While I had understood planned obsolescence to some degree prior to enrolling in the course (I mean, don’t we all say, “They don’t make things like they used to.”)?  I really did not understand how purposeful and deliberate this is.  In a day and age when items should be lasting longer, they are being designed to break at record speeds in the name of profits and capitalism – and at the expense of our environment and consumer pocketbooks.

 

273 Days ’til 40: Facebook: Fanaticism, Fiasco and/or Fun?

Today I was thinking about Facebook….  not because it just started selling stock and not because there is already a lawsuit by shareholders….. no, I was thinking of Facebook just because.  I was wondering whether Facebook is a vehicle for fanaticism, fiasco or fun……

 

276 Days ’til 40: Inventions that Change Our Lives

At 276 days ’til 40, I am old, but I am not REALLY old, and with a projected lifespan into the 80′s, I certainly have a long way to go if my genetics and life circumstances choose to cooperate.  That said, when I look around at the world today compared to the world I was born into so much has changed.  I realize that so many of the things I rely on today did not exist, or existed only in their infant forms, when I was young.

 

280 Days ’til 40: Ebooks – Good or Evil?

I recently flew between the US and Italy and this was what I saw next to me on that wing of the flight.  Every person in one row reading a book on an electronic device.  I have heard so many people say to me, “But it is NOT the same!  I NEED a BOOK.”

 

302 Days ’til 40: Are Computers Crushing Community?

Technology has destroyed interrelations in the human community. ~ Theodore Roszak

 

304 Days ’til 40: Preparing Our Children for the Unknown Future World

I like the dreams of the future better than the history of the past. ~ Thomas Jefferson

Thank you to fellow Blogger, Louise Behiel, for reminding me of this important topic and thus, inspiring this post.

 

305 Days ’til 40: Back to the Basics

At the end of some days I pause and ask myself, “Can’t we just go back to the basics?”  Life has become so complex, so driven by demands to keep up with our high-tech society, so fast-paced.  What happened to the simple pleasures?

 

354 Days ’til 40: Handcuffed to My Tech Gadgets

Do you ever feel like a slave to your technology?  I wake up in the morning and check my email on my iPad and when I have time I check into Facebook as well.  I get to work and sign in to my email account, my google calendar, Dropbox, and my work WordPress account.  I am chained to my email most of the day as my primary

 

362 Days ’til 40: Technology Overkill???

As I sit here with my laptop, iPad, iPhone, iPod, flat screen TV, Kindle, Nook (yes, we have BOTH) and video game console I can’t help but wonder how much technology is TOO much???  Today we had some visitors at the school I work at.  I took them on a tour and when they saw the 2nd grade room their comment was, “It is so