Why does your lightbulb burn out every year?
The investigation
It’s not bad luck; it’s a business plan. In 1924, the major lightbulb companies formed the Phoebus Cartel and agreed to limit the lifespan of bulbs to 1,000 hours. They actually fined factories if their bulbs lasted too long.
This is called Planned Obsolescence. Companies design products to break so you have to buy them again. We see this today with smartphones. Apple even settled a lawsuit for deliberately slowing down older iPhones.
The glitch isn’t in the device; it’s in the business model.