Traces the history of planned obsolescence, a practice originating in the 1920s by which a product is designed to have a shortened lifespan for the purpose of increasing corporate profit.

Chapters include: - Planned obsolescence and the Cold War. - The gardening prince. - A designer's view. - Why washing machines won't last. - Complaining with a twist. - A glow from the past. - Two planets and a joke. - "La grande bouffe".