[elsporko]

The business model for a laptop and technology in general has become one of planned obsolescence. Products need to be cheap so that a new one can be purchased in a short time.

I do not necessarily subscribe to that notion myself. My phone is a Samsung Fascinate that was purchased in 2010 and runs Froyo. I have no tendency toward latest and greatest however I do not dictate the market either.

You make an interesting point on housing.

[sliverstorm]

The planned obsolescence came from the huge strides the market was making. I don't care that old Pentium 3 chips don't last for fifty years, because they are already relics twenty years later.

Making consumer goods bombproof when they will be comically obsolete in a decade or two seems like a waste of time, money, and resources.