Obsolescence is the state of being which occurs when an object, service or practice is no longer wanted even though it may still be in good working order. Obsolescence frequently occurs because a replacement has become available that is superior in one or more aspects. Obsolete refers to something that is already disused or discarded, or antiquated. Typically, obsolescence is preceded by a gradual decline in popularity.

Types of obsolescence

Technical obsolescence

Technical obsolescence may occur when a new product or technology supersedes the old, and it becomes preferred to utilize the new technology in place of the old. Historical examples of superseding technologies causing obsolescence include higher-quality multimedia DVD over videocassette recorder and the telephone, with audio transmission, over the telegraph's coded electrical signals. On a smaller scale, particular products may become obsolete due to replacement by a newer version of the product. Many products in the computer industry become obsolete in this manner; for example, Central processing units frequently become obsolete in favor of newer, faster units. Singularly, rapid obsolescence of data formats along with their supporting hardware and software can lead to loss of critical information, a process known as digital obsolescence.

Another complementary reason for obsolescence can be that supporting technologies may no longer be available to produce or even repair a product. For example many integrated circuits, including CPUs, memory and even some relatively simple logic chips may no longer be produced because the technology has been superseded, their original developer has gone out of business or a competitor has bought them out and effectively killed off their products to remove competition. It is rarely worth redeveloping a product to get around these issues since its overall functionality and price/performance ratio has usually been superseded by that time as well.

Some products are rendered technologically obsolete due to changes in complementary products which results in the function of the first product being made unnecessary. For example, buggy whips became obsolete when people started to travel in cars rather than in horse-drawn buggies.

Functional obsolescence

Particular items may become functionally obsolete when they do not function in the manner that they did when they were created. This may be due to natural wear, or due to some intervening act. For example, if a new mobile phone technology is adopted, and there is no longer a provider who provides service based on the old technology, any mobile phone using that technology would be rendered obsolete due to the inability to access service.

Products which naturally wear out or break down may become obsolete if replacement parts are no longer available, or when the cost of repairs or replacement parts is higher than the cost of a new item. A product may intentionally be designed to use a faster wearing component - for example, use of soft rubber soles on shoes rather than for example rubber used in tires.

Planned obsolescence

Sometimes marketers deliberately introduce obsolescence into their product strategy, with the objective of generating long-term sales volume by reducing the time between repeat purchases. One example might be producing an appliance which is deliberately designed to wear out within five years of its purchase, pushing consumers to replace it within five years.

Style obsolescence

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When a product is no longer desirable because it has gone out of the popular fashion, its style is obsolete. One example is flared leg jeans; although this article of clothing may still be perfectly functional, it is no longer desirable because style trends have moved away from the flared leg cut.

Because of the "fashion cycle", stylistically obsolete products may eventually regain popularity and cease to be obsolete. A current example is "acid-wash" jeans, which were popular in the 1980s, became stylistically obsolete in the mid to late 1990s, and returned to popularity in the 2000s.

Postponement obsolescence

Postponement obsolescence refers to a situation where technological improvements are not introduced to a product, even though they could be. One possible example is when an auto manufacturer develops a new feature for its line of cars, but chooses not to implement that feature in the production of the least expensive car in its product line.

Obsolescence management

Obsolescence management refers to the activities that are undertaken to mitigate the effects of obsolescence. Activities can include last-time buys, life-time buys and obsolescence monitoring.

See also

Disruptive technology

Moore's law

DMSMS

Planned Obsolescence

References

Category:Product management Category:Economics terminology

Name	Jacque Fresco
Caption	2006 photo
Birth date	March 13, 1916
Birth place	Brooklyn, New York
Residence	Florida
Occupation	Futurist, Social Engineer, Structural, Industrial Designer
Nationality	American
Known for	Sociocyberneering, The Venus Project, Resource-Based Economy
Notable works	Looking Forward (1969), The Best That Money Can't Buy (2002)
Influences	B. F. Skinner, Jacques Loeb,

Jacque Fresco (born March 13, 1916), is a self-educated structural designer, philosopher of science, concept artist, educator, and futurist. His interests span a wide range of disciplines including several in philosophy, science, and engineering. Fresco writes and lectures extensively on his view of subjects ranging from the holistic design of sustainable cities, energy efficiency, natural resource management, cybernated technology, advanced automation, and the role of science in society, focusing on the benefits he claims this will bring. With his colleague, Roxanne Meadows, he is the founder and director of an organization known as The Venus Project, located in Venus, Florida.

In contemporary culture he has been popularized by three documentaries, Future By Design, Zeitgeist Addendum, and , His Venus Project has been inspirational worldwide, especially to activists.

Early life

Youth

Born on March 13, 1916, Jacque Fresco grew up in the minority neighborhood of Bensonhurst in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. Precocious as a child, Fresco's interests did not pertain to the topics presented to him at school. Unwilling, or unable, to conform with the setting of formal education, he sought a self-directed education throughout his later teen years. Fresco spent many days of his youth at the local library. For a short time, Fresco took an interest in attending the Young Communist League wherein he caused commotion. After brief discussion and disagreements with the League president, Fresco was physically removed. Thereafter, Fresco turned his attention to Technocracy. Fresco had long taken an interest in designing flying saucers and tried to interest the aircraft industry at a time when experimental construction was underway. Eventually, Fresco demonstrated such designs in the 1930s. After departing from Douglas due to safety design disagreements, he traveled to Hawaii in late 1939 where he then traveled to the South Sea Islands where he interacted with native islanders. In California, Fresco took various residence in Hermosa Beach and Los Angeles. It received a patent and was thereafter given to the Army Air Force.

In the mid-1940s, Fresco began working with Earl Muntz and Michael Shore who employed Fresco to design a new low cost form of modernistic housing. Its design of light weight, high strength, and long lasting materials allowed for reduced production costs and streamlined production which increased its economic viability. The structure was first exhibited in 1947 at Stage 8 of the Warner Brothers Sunset boulevard. For the next few years the Trend Home was to undergo mass production and was considered by the U.S. government as a possible solution for soldiers returning from World War II. near Hollywood, where he also lived, lectured, and taught technical design, and working on inventions as a freelance inventor and scientific consultant. During these years, Fresco had difficulty managing finances and would face auctioneers as they entered his lab to compensate for his lack of payments.

Also during Fresco's years in Los Angeles, he worked as model designer for science-fiction movies Fresco was noted for his high quality models and special effects despite the low budgets of the B-movie productions. His talents were recommended to Roger Corman for the film The Beast with a Million Eyes, but Corman could not accommodate Fresco into the budget (of $23,000). Fresco also worked as technical adviser in the film industry, most notably for the 1956 Oscar nominated documentary The Naked Eye. Eventually, in the mid-1950s, Fresco left California after his lab was commandeered to build the Golden State Freeway. On the lecture circuit, Fresco sometimes utilized the title of "Dr." based on a doctorate of philosophy that he obtained from Sierra State University in California. Fresco would eventually hold the doctorates degree only as an honorary title. Eventually, he disregarded the title entirely. Later, he acknowledged his lack of formal credentials as being a detriment in academic circles

Fresco spent much of his time in Miami trying to showcase his designs of a circular city and raise funds to get it built. Fresco made much of his living working as an industrial designer for various companies such as Alcoa and the Major Realty Corporation

In 1969, with Ken Keyes, a book was written about Fresco's ideas, entitled Looking Forward. The first half of the book was dedicated to detailing some of the causes of many problems in humanity's thinking and behavior, the changes that humanity will have to make as it enters the future, and a description of three components which can be used to best correctly analyze the future: humanity's values, methods of thinking, and tools i.e. technological developments. All three are described as being interdependent much like a set of gears. The second half of the book was dedicated to a speculative look at the future revolving around the experiences of the fictional characters, Scott, and, Hella. It was one of the earliest publications to theorize the possible social implications of a central network knowledge bank (Corcen) used to bring about a "humanized man-machine symbiosis". Fresco and Keyes gave consideration for a wide range of technological and social possibilities resulting from the technologically governed societal design.

Sociocyberneering

Fresco's ideas for Project Americana continued to evolve and became what was known as Sociocyberneering Inc, a non-profit organization founded in 1971 for which Fresco was president. It was a non-political and non-sectarian membership organization, at its peak, comprising of 250 members, many of whom became Fresco's pupils. Fresco frequently hosted educational lectures in Miami Beach and at his home in Coral Gables. His lecture topics pertained to society, social change, science, technology, engineering, architecture, religion, prudence, semantics, anthropology, psychology, systems theory, and education, among other topics. Aside from educating, Fresco worked with members of the organization to produce designs, films, and literature pertaining to the aims and goals of the organization. The stated goal of Sociocyberneering was to apply “the most sophisticated forms of science and technology toward problem solving…an approach at the restructuring of society in humanistic terms,” and dedicated to finding practical solutions that could be rapidly applied to the many problems that faced society. The primary focus was to "investigate alternative solutions based in conservation of energy, international cooperation in all areas of social endeavor, and the assimilation of a systems approach for the design of cities." There was also heavy emphasis on the prospects of cybernated technology in the societies of human beings, arguing that, "the future of man and his cities does not depend on whether or not this or that design is preferred. It is determined by the forces of social and environmental evolution in which computerized approaches to human and environmental systems will ultimately emerge as the ultimate technique in all areas of the social sequences."

By this time Fresco had designed his circular city to be one mile in diameter with radially connected concentric rings "resembling the spokes of a wheel." Each ring was dedicated to a general function such as agriculture, recreation, housing, among others. At the nucleus center, in the dome, was a supercomputer that was intended to function as the centralized data management system for the automated processes throughout the city.

Throughout the '70s Fresco worked to expand the organization and elevate its exposure to the general public by lecturing at universities and appearing on radio and television. Fresco became acquainted with Larry King when King's career was emerging out of Miami. King featured Fresco on his television show and radio show several times to discuss, with academics and local callers, the proposals of Sociocyberneering.

At the apex of the organization's membership, they began investing in 40 acres of land in Naples. The organization set out to construct an experimental community in which they would live and expand. They encountered a setback in 1978 when members feared that the Collier County zoning board would complicate implementation. The result was a partial dissolution of Sociocyberneering membership. The investment was abandoned and the land was resold. Fresco sold his home With the help of remaining members, Fresco constructed buildings based on the designs of his futuristic renderings. After the move, Sociocyberneering became less popular as many members remained in Miami. Eventually, Sociocyberneering became much less active and through the 1980s Fresco dedicated his time to designing and studying alongside Roxanne Meadows who remained with Fresco as his colleague.

Later life

In 1994, Fresco rebooted Sociocyberneering Inc. under the new title The Venus Project. industrial engineering, and conventional architectural modeling. At one point, Fresco claimed that The Venus Project was under consideration for developing plans to build a theme park/experimental city in Turkey. A similar consideration occurred with Dubai. In 2002, Fresco published his main work The Best That Money Can't Buy. In 2006, William Gazecki directed the semi-biographical film about Fresco in which Fresco was compared to the Renaissance polymath Leonardo Da Vinci. and considers itself the "activist arm" of The Venus Project.

In 2010, Fresco attempted to trademark the phrase "Resource-Based Economy" in the midst of its popularization to preserve his definition of it. The phrase was reviewed and found to be too generic to qualify. The action to trademark Fresco's specific meaning was therefore blocked. Other small internet organizations now profess a version of a resource-based economy based on Fresco's original conception.

Throughout 2010, Fresco traveled with Meadows on a world wide tour in response to the growing popularity of The Venus Project. On January 15, 2011, was released in theaters, again featuring Fresco and a more elaborate articulation of his vision as a possible solution for planetary dilemmas. and has initiated the funding of a major motion picture that may be made which will depict The Venus Project future.

The Venus Project

The Venus Project is an organization depicting, as well as professing, the culmination of Fresco's life work and serves as a foundation that represents his vision of a future without poverty, crime, war, corruption, or waste. It was founded in 1980 and took its name in 1994. It is located in central Florida near west Lake Okeechobee about fifty miles northeast of Fort Myers. On its 21.5-acre lot, there are ten buildings designed by Fresco, which showcase limited versions of Fresco's architectural designs. It is partly a research center for Fresco and Roxanne Meadows, and partly an educational center for supporters of the project. They produce videos and literature depicting and explaining the future vision and the goals to actualize it. Among these goals, the salient are to produce a major motion picture portraying the future world the project promotes; constructing a theme park with the intention of exhibiting technologies and the ideas of the Venus Project; and constructing an experimental city in an attempt to test Fresco's hypotheses. Its ultimate aim is to improve society by moving towards a global, sustainable, technological social design that is termed a "resource-based economy".

Personal Life and Family

Fresco was born to immigrants from Turkey, Isaac and Lena Fresco. and around 1905 immigrated from Istanbul to New York where he worked as a horticulturalist. in Jerusalem and also migrated to New York around 1904. He was a draftsman, a private during WWII, he resurrected his career in the 1960s eventually appearing in many films and television shows. He died in 1997. His wife, Patricia, gave birth to a son, Richard, in 1953 and a daughter, Bambi, in 1956. Richard was an army private and died in 1976. Bambi died of cancer in 2010.

Vision

Fresco's vision has formed as the culmination of many disciplines and schools of thought. The dominant features of it have been compared to earlier thinkers from as early as the nineteenth century. Titles such as The Paradise within the Reach of all Men without Labor by Powers of Nature and Machinery, Emigration to the Tropical World for the Melioration of All Classes of People of All Nations, and The New World or Mechanical System were written in the 1800s by John Adolphus Etzler who has been described as an early forerunner to Fresco's vision. Likewise, Ebenezer Howard and his book Garden Cities of Tomorrow, as well as the Garden City Movement during the early 1900s has been described as another predecessor. Fresco's vision removes the mechanics of modern economics and his view toward modern economics has been compared to Thorstein Veblen's concept of "the predatory phase in human development." Other facets of Fresco's vision have been labeled a "tabula rasa approach." The books 1984 or Brave New World Others accuse him of affiliations with conspirators of a New World Order. Fresco dismisses these accusations.

His hypothesis of a resource-based economy is sometimes equated with marxism, socialism, communism or technocracy. Another writer for CIFS points out,

Perhaps the modern interpretation of the word ‘utopia’ is to blame when the Renaissance man and futurist Jacque Fresco says … he doesn’t want to call his life work, The Venus Project, a utopia. However, this visionary idea of a future society has many characteristics in common with the utopia. …the word utopia carries a double meaning, since in Greek it can mean both the good place (eutopia) and the nonexisting place (outopia). A good place is precisely what Fresco has devoted his life to describing and fighting for."

In response to association with utopianism, Fresco has stated, "“We do not believe in the erroneous notion of a utopian society. There is no such thing. Societies are always in a state of transition. We propose an alternative direction, which addresses the causes of many of our problems. There are no final frontiers for human and technological achievement.”

When asked by a reporter why he has such difficulty actualizing his many ideas, Fresco responded, "Because I can't get to anybody. I have no credentials." General praise appears among futurists, especially the World Future Society who have considered him a visionary engineer in review of his work in the Futurist, commenting, "Whether the future Fresco envisions is probable or even possible is open to debate, but he succeeds in conveying the power of thinking of the future on a grander scale than we're used to." for all attempting to actualize their vision against great odds, as well as Nikola Tesla, and Arthur C. Clarke who, late in his life, briefly tried to help Fresco get exposure for The Venus Project. Synergetics theorist Norman Arthur Coulter appreciated Fresco's vision for his attempt to accomplish it "not for profit, but to meet the needs of human beings." Commenting on what he sees as Fresco's inspirational and charismatic teaching methods, physicist, Paul G. Hewitt, cites Fresco as being one of the three major sources of inspiration, turning him away from work as a sign painter and toward a career in science.

Psychologist and scientist, Jack Catran, notes,

Contemplate the staggering realistic views of the future published by Jacque Fresco...There are many futurists, 'geniuses,' and self-styled seers in our midst who, upon careful examination, turn out to be disappointingly commercial and exploitive. Most extrapolations into the future are made from fixed and narrow points of view. We are all products of today's mediocrity-breeding culture, but if anyone can be called a genius in our money system society, Jacque Fresco should be singled out as the broadest, most aware, individual of our time.

At Drexel University, sociologist and futurist, Arthur B. Shostak, often incorporated Fresco's ideas into his writing and teaching, stating,

His contribution to futuristics is singular, as few, if any around the globe, dare the sweep, the depth, and the drama of his vision. When he writes or speaks, futurists grow quiet, pensive, and finally, appreciative — as his work is sound in its call for a thorough examination of the assumptions under which we labor. While little of his vision may materialize in the lifetime of us all, our grandchildren may yet salute much of what Jacque first helped them set in motion. In 2010, it was announced that Fresco has been selected to receive the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Exemplar-Zero Initiative in the summer of 2011.

Works

Books

Articles

Modern Food Production

Designing the Future: A Cybernetic City For the Next Century in The Futurist. Vol. 28, No. 3. pp. 29–33. (May/June 1994).

The Future and Beyond The Venus Project, Inc. (2000)

with Meadows, Roxanne. Beyond Utopia in Utopian Thinking in Sociology: Creating the Good Society. pp. 86–92 edited by Arthur B. Shostak. American Sociological Association. (2001). OCLC 49561995.

with Meadows, Roxanne. The Future by Design: Beyond Money and Politics in Viable Utopian Ideas: Shaping a Better World. pp. 197–205 edited by Arthur B. Shostak. London/Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe. (2003). ISBN 0765611058. OCLC 473852611.

with Meadows, Roxanne. Reinventing Iraq in In the Shadow of War. pp. 147–154 edited by Arthur B. Shostak. Philadelphia, PA: Chelsea House. (2004). ISBN 9781438124681. OCLC 646806392.

Films

The Venus Project: The Redesign of a Culture (1994)

Welcome to the Future (1998)

Cities in the Sea (2002)

Self-erecting Structures (2002)

Designing the Future (2006)

References

Durrani, Noni. (2007). The Future: Jacque Fresco On The Future, Forbes

Gia Films. (2010). Frequency of Genius, Gia Film Productions

Gazecki, William. (2006) Future By Design, Docflix

Hoving, K. (2002). Engineering the Impossible, Discovery Channel

Joseph, Peter. (2008). Zeitgeist Addendum, Gentle Machine Productions

Joseph, Peter. (2011). Zeitgeist: Moving Forward, Gentle Machine Productions

Maja Borg, M. (2011). Future For Sale, Sonja Henrici, SDI Productions Ltd.

Wachtmeister, J. (2007). Great Expectations: A Journey through the History of Visionary Architecture, Solaris Filmproduktion

External links

The Venus Project | Official Website

The Venus Project | Official Youtube channel

Category:1916 births Category:American social sciences writers Category:Futurologists Category:Living people Category:People from Florida Category:Critics of work and the work ethic