|
Volvos and Mercedes got a lot safer because their designers knew that protecting the owners of their cars was the right thing to do. They added passenger protection cells and shoulder seat belts and crumple zones. They put four wheel disk brakes with dual circuits of hydraulics (that each works on both front and one rear brake) and these saved lives.
But the car companies who are only motivated to change the "style" and "features" and actually *wanted* their cars to wear out quickly, couldn't be arsed to add *seatbelts* and *collapsible* steering columns and *disk brakes*, let alone exploding gas tanks or care two shakes about the weight or aerodynamics - why should we stand for that?
Planned obsolescence is probably the worst idea in modern economic history; because it has done more damage to our economy and even more importantly, it has done more damage to our world - without which our economy is meaningless.
|