I wrote a book.

A common critiqued trope in superhero media is how easy it would be to discover heroes' secret IDs. So how do so many heroes keep their secret?

Because we don't really question it? Secret IDs were grandfathered in from the golden age of comics. But newer superhero media don't really follow that anymore. Namely, stuff like My Hero and other new-age superhero stuff because they often stage superhero as a career that one can pursue in competition against other heroes. Which require taxes, and 401ks, and all the stuff comics are supposed to escape.

But the golden age didn't have the capitalism we have today. Golden Age capitalism were actual free markets where hard work could get you somewhere, but also required a lot less work. I remember stories of businessmen just going home after lunch because there was nothing for them to do, and no one faulted them because they did their jobs so what could you even say?

Now we live in a time where information is beamed directly into your eyes at all times. A time often called Late Stage Capitalism where corporations spend time and money to extract every penny out of every nickel. Where cell phones track every piss you take and sneeze you fake. Where you work until it's time to take off and only if your boss approves.

During The Golden Age, Superman could take an extra long lunch and no one cared so long as the Sunday Headliner was drafted on time. But when exactly is Late Stage Capitalism Superman supposed to stop the latest meteorite from destroying the planet? After work?

"planned obsolescence" is an awfully bad term for what it's talking about.

it makes it seem like there is a shadow conspiration bent on making consumer goods worse and not last as long, but there isn't. consumer goods are worse and don't last as long, but it's not because of an evil plot by companies, it's a systemic problem where things have to be cheaper to produce both because the parts and the labor have gotten more expensive so you have to compensate for that somehow, and also because consumers want cheaper Things because salaries have not gone up at the same rate as prices, and so to make things cheaper you cut costs and quality. things are made faster by people who are less qualified and have less time to work on them, from worse materials, and thus breaks more quickly and gives you a worse experience. or it's much more expensive. or both!

anyway yeah. systemic obsolescence sounds like a better name

planned obsolescence does happen (people blocking right to repair under copyright and not "everyone wants waterproof phones which makes it very hard to repair them" as the most blatant) but it's usually only planned obsolescence in retrospect. sometimes it's not even intentional, and instead a case of marketing being completely ignorant to how the field is advancing, and that driving not just production, but what story you the buyer are sold to frame things ("hype")

there's a lot of interplay and grey area that's mostly companies doing what economists claim is impossible, and exploiting their favourable information imbalance compared to the customer. is it strictly planned obsolescence? usually just happy accidents.

your computer/phone needs to be replaced every n years because the internet and or your machine gets loaded with so much stuff that it bogs down. would replacing components be better? deleting the right things? probably, but most people don't know that's an option, or don't know where to look

medicaid-tier medical tech is often absolute garbage because insurance is paying for it and insurance doesn't use it. but insurance never logs complaints about quality from patients. so your pump breaks and insurance replaces it and the medtech company pockets the difference. they also mark it up by at least 2x. this is the most clearcut ones

your car center console, a proprietary design because they were the first to use tablets for it, stops getting software updates a year after buying it. a few thousand down the drain, especially in terms of resale value. the company was dumping stock, and marketing sold it as if it was still relevant. paying the extra 200$ for the new version would have given you five more years. you punch the horn in agonized grief, drowning out your sobs

Planned obsolescence is also real in the sense that companies can literally make the things you buy say "No." and there's no legal action you can do.

This is something that goes hand in hand with "Subscription-based services" and "Digital Products" where the company has total control and there's nothing you can do. If you buy a game on Steam, GOG, or even Itchio they can legally send an update that prevents the games from playing and even delete it off your system.

American Capitalism is literally a system built on nothing but the idea of "Buy Low, Sell High". Every high school teacher told us so. You either raise prices(Get more money) or cut costs (Give less money) if you want to make a profit.