It's not just Apple. Seems like lots of companies make products that are designed with obsolescence in mind, or in such a way that it's impractical, or impossible to maintain and repair.
Those are things I look for in a product. Can I fix it, and is it needlessly disposable?
Well made, serviceable products always catch my eye. Shame there aren't more of them. I wish that would become a trend again.
It is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it is hard to argue that manufacturers don't build obsolescence into their designs as part of a business strategy. We see this particularly with automobiles. There is no financial reward to build a car that will last 15 years. The design specs focus on a 5 year lifespan, because this coincides with the financing period most people take on a car. This not only serves the manufacturers to sell more products, but it serves the banks to continuously generate returns on their capital.
The problem, however, is that when it comes to technology products there is a natural obsolescence if the product line is subject to innovation. Owning a really solid and well made Palm Pilot would be laughable given the advances in mobile phones and in retrospect if you paid 3x as much for the Palm Pilot, only to find it is obsolete then it would not be a wise financial strategy.
So yes, I agree that if you buy something you should have the right to do with it what you want. Repair, resell, etc. But to force the consumer to pay 3x as much because you are going to build things that will go naturally out of date with the highest quality may be putting effort in the wrong place.
@beunconstrained, Yea! I understand. That's why I said NEEDLESSLY disposable. You wouldn't want reusable toilet paper, for example (haha), and some things, like electronics, by nature have a shelf life of sorts.
When we get into things like electronics, though, there's a grey area. Sometimes, even though tech will quickly advance, there are cases where it doesn't make sense to upgrade every couple years.
The U.S. Navy is one example (not that I'm a fan). They still use Windows XP! Here is an article about it. This type of situation could just as easily apply to a large company. So some consumers NEED it to be at least somewhat serviceable for an extended period of time.
As for individuals, some people get familiar with what they have, and don't care to have the latest tech. I have personally known people that make $70k + a year that are still walking around with flip phones. It's not that they can't afford it, they just don't feel like they need anything more, and don't care to spend the time learning anything new.
I guess my point is, people like options, and there is some demand out there for such products.
As for other industries, I don't know how true it is. I think they only believe that designed obsolescence is going to sell more products. Look at the firearm industry! Simplicity, durability, and quality are consistently on the rise, yet they sell like crazy!
I go looking for a good second hand item if I can first before going to the store, chances are you'll find much better quality!