2. How does the video relate to G.Hertz text?
Desire drives consumerism. In Hertz’s text, early industrial designers such as Brooks Stevens popularized the
dynamic of planned obsolescence, instilling “a desire to own something a little newer, a little better, a
little sooner than necessary”.
Concept of planned obsolescence. The video supports that there can be emotional connect to a product or
service. Prior to 1920s, products were sold on the basis of needs, so the majority of the products were
advertised as necessities. In Hertz's article, London saw the Great Depression emerging as a result of
consumers using products long past their purchase date. In the video, Bernays created a paradigm shift as
he advocated the need for people to be conditioned to desire, such that people must want new things
before the old have been entirely consumed. Bernays’ ideas foreshadow the concept of planned
obsolescence.
What is the most surprising statement in the documentary?
1. "You have taken over the job of creating desire and have transformed people into
constantly moving happiness machines. Machines which have become the key to
economic progress." – President Hoover (1928)
2. "Human beings could never truly be allowed to express themselves because it was
too dangerous. They must always be controlled, and thus will always be discontent." -
Sigmund Freud
3. 3. “If human beings were in reality driven by unconscious irrational forces then it was
necessary to re-think democracy.” - Walter Lippmann
4. “People must be trained to desire, to want new things, even before the old has
been entirely consumed, man's desires should overshadow his needs” - Paul Mazer,
Lehman Brothers
Do we enslave people through design or we liberate them?
Enslave Liberate
Designs can create over-dependency eg Good usability factor in design to make
smartphones sure design works
The human mind is a notion of Liberate a small minority of people who
unconscious drive where we receive cues wants to be different/think out of the
from designs and interactions with the box eg Jailbreaking iOS
designs. Eg TV Commercials
Blackboxed system constrains Hacking/DIY can liberate the increasing
understanding and custom modifications number of people cooped under the
umbrella of "the black box"
Bad Designs create frustration and Good Designs can prevent inconvenience
inefficiency (eg. British Telecom and confusion eg Floppy Disk*
4. Can we empower people through design and how?
Yes, good design can serve as a counter to a society that is saturated with planned obsolescence and based on
a consumerist needs-based culture. Rather than having to subscribe to this consumerist culture, design can
be questioned and reapplied to derive new uses and contexts, such that even the less wealthy can meet
their actual needs.
Technology and Context Empowerment
"Liter of Light" project from improves the living standards of
Philippines impoverished Filipinos living without
Uses water bottles to provide indoor electricity
lighting for households
"Embrace" Infant Warmer project from Provides needy parents with a cheap
USA alternative to expensive incubators
Helps premature babies survive even that consumes much electricity
without electricity
"Hippo" water roller in rural Africa Provides a cheap and efficient water
transportation method
"Open Office" open-source word Provides a free alternative to an
processing software that emulates the expensive, yet essential software
same functions as Microsoft Office from the market-dominating
