Many devices fail. Chronicling them is the whole point of this site (or so it is claimed), but what about obsolescence? What happens to technology when it still works, but is no longer desired? It is hidden away, or sold on craigslist, or disposed of however possible. The way must be cleared for a new and better product that will be outdated by the time it reaches the doorstep. The UPS driver knows it, the FedEx guy knows it, and now you know it. Knowing is not half the battle, however. It is not part of the battle at all. Take computer graphics cards, for instance. They let you drink in the maximum framerate of your First Person Shooter until a better model comes out or Microsoft DirectX does not work with your current model. But for that brief time, you are on top of the world. It is not like a better frame rate will give a significant edge in gameplay. Human eyes and neural systems are only capable of responding so fast. As long as playing Doom XVII does not give you a seizure from the flickering screen, you are probably OK. That is not the point. Graphics cards are no longer upgradeable in any meaningful way. You can get more graphics cards and chain them together sometimes, but at the end of the road, a new card awaits.
Planned obsolescence has long been a part of American culture. There is no point in fighting it. Just let your tech go to the nursing home until it is forgotten and disappears.

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