this post was submitted on 11 Oct 2023
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While I see the point they're trying to make, what this person is actually saying is complete nonsense.
Graceful degradation is not the opposite of planned obsolescence they're two completely different concepts with nothing to do with each other.
Graceful degradation is where a product degrades in such a way as to maintain at least some functionality for as long as possible.
Planned obsolescence is where an item is intentionally designed to fail in order to get you to buy the next version.
Completely different concepts.
The actual opposite of graceful degradation, is progressive enhancement.
Yes, you could have both ideas in the same product: it retains some functionality as it fails, but it fails in a planned way to ensure it's lifespan is short enough.
And oddly, the example of the flashlight isn’t even an example of either. Support for heterogeneous batteries is a feature, but it’s a stretch to call it “degradation”. It’s not like batteries fail randomly before they run out of juice.
The degradation in this case happens in the brain when you're trying to remember which type of batteries you need
I feel like the opposite is your multifunction refusing to scan because it needs ink.
vulgar degradation
Malicious degredation.
I'd argue that if you changed the wording of the post "progressive enhancement" could be used to describe the same concept
As in : progressive enhancement is when the more you add batteries to a flashlight the better it works.
It hits slightly different though.
For example graceful degradation could be considered when a device can have different components fail but the rest still work.
Progressive enhancement can be considered to be a device with basic functionality with optional add-ons.
It's basically about the base getting less functional, versus the baseline being upgraded. From a certain point of view they are the same thing but realistically they're not.
If I have a device with an optional add-on and I don't actually have that add-on installed, I wouldn't say the device is "degraded", even though technologically it probably doesn't make much difference.
As opposed to progressive enhancement as the product ages (features added with firmware updates etc.)