Durable goods is a category in American economic statistics, defined as goods expected to last three years or more. Three years. The official threshold for durability in the United States is a period a German would not consider a product life at all.
Built to last
The phrase exists in American English as praise, and Collins and Porras made it a bestselling business book title in 1994 — about companies rather than products. When Americans reach for the phrase, they tend to apply it to institutions.
The leased vehicle
A large share of new American vehicles are leased rather than bought, typically for two or three years. The buyer never owns the thing and never faces the question of how long it lasts.
Depreciation
American accounting and tax practice assigns a useful life to an asset and writes it down across that period, and the vocabulary carries into ordinary speech about cars and equipment. The decline in value is scheduled in advance.
The trade-in
American transactions routinely fold a second valuation into the first — the old car, the old phone, the old equipment. Two negotiations run at once and each can be used against the other, which both parties understand going in.
The upgrade cycle
American consumer technology is sold on an annual or biennial refresh, with trade-in programmes and carrier subsidies structured around it. The replacement is planned by the buyer as well as the seller.
Planned obsolescence
The phrase entered American public argument through Vance Packard’s The Waste Makers in 1960, and the underlying idea had been discussed in American industry decades earlier. The country produced both the practice and the word for criticising it.
“The same product forever?”
Americans rarely want to own a product for an extended period of time. Most are updated, changed, modified on a regular basis, giving them a kind of newness. These include: computers, electronicc, automobiles, and clothing styles.
Even houses are torn down so that new ones can be built in their place. To the extent that a person views themself as a product, some even alter their own physical appearance via cosmetic surgery: lift, tuck, tighten, remove, add.
Americans simply don‘t want to own, use or be seen with the same product for all too long. They want what is new, better, the „next best thing“, whether it is truly better or not.
Think of mobility in the U.S. Large percentages of Americans in a given year move from one place to another. Job mobility has always been a part of the American economy, now more than ever involuntarily.
Americans own cars for shorter amount of years than in most Western cultures. Fashion cycles are short, the trends are frequent. America is the land of fads, crazes, rages. It‘s a very large and diverse market, culture. It is a consume and consumer oriented economy.
Durable is important to Americans, but for a shorter period of time.
Adapt the Oreo?
Durable. Able to exist for a long time without significant deterioration. From Latin durare to last. Adapt: To make fit (as for a new use) often by modification. From Latin adaptare, to fit.
In the American marketplace, innovation is a constant force driving products towards ever greater efficiency and functionality. American products are constantly modified to meet the changing needs of American consumers.
One way to achieve this goal is to simply improve features that already exist. An example is redesigning the display of an alarm clock to make it more readable. Other products will be redesigned and features will be added to them. One example are the new features of each iteration of smatphones and tablets. Battery life is lengthened, screen quality is improved, and features will be adapted based on user feedback.
Americans rarely want to own a product for an extended period of time. There are many products which are constantly updated, changed, modified. These include: computers, electronics, gadgets, automobiles, and clothing styles. Even houses are torn down so that new ones can be built in their place. To the extent that a person is a „product,“ consumers also alter their own physical appearance via cosmetic surgery.
Companies leverage this sentiment by offering incentives for consumers to upgrade their current product. They may offer generous trade-in offers for cell phones or outdated electronics or special leasing deals for expensive items like cars or houses.
They even adapted the Oreo cookie.
„New and improved!“
New and improved! Personal care products seldom change dramatically from year to year in the way that a car manufacturer might add new features or modify the design. Companies redesign the packaging or make some small adjustment and rebrand the product as „new and improved!“ This plays to the American belief that new is inherently good, tapping into the cult of youth, that new equates young with fresh and desirable.
Some products celebrated for their durability are more resistant to rapid change than things like electronics or cars. American-made tools are generally designed to be strong and durable since replacement is expensive and breaking a tool is inconvenient. Durability in the long-lasting, rugged sense is the more desirable quality.
Although old buildings are torn down and replaced with new construction, American building codes specify much more stringent standards than in other parts of the world. What results is high quality – albeit expensive – buildings that endure. Like in many European cities, American historic districts showcase the place’s commitment to the durability of its construction products.