ABSTRACT
The corporate strategy of planned obsolescence emerges at the beginning of the 20th century. The human consequences of obsolescence are myriad, and this was a milestone in the work lives of many people. Obsolescence is planned by corporations; it is shaped by technological developers; it is accepted by consumers as an aspect of cultural life under capitalism; it is embraced by artists and collectors; and it is used by scholars to explain the role of media in the lives. Obsolescence is a concept and category, a practice and a designation that derives from material conditions and which impacts many different strains of social and economic relations that extend beyond that of consumption or imagination. The end of production of the Carousel projector marks a moment distinct from that of strict obsolescence. It comes over twenty-five years after what might be termed the “literal” moment of obsolescence, when the first digital presentation software emerged.
