Planned obsolescence is the practice of designing a product with a deliberately limited life, so that it breaks, fails or looks outdated after a set period and the customer has to buy a replacement. It was once dismissed as a conspiracy theory, but it is now a recognised business strategy. The aim is to shorten the replacement cycle and keep sales flowing. It works best when a producer has a dominant position or strong brand loyalty, because it needs customers to return to the same company. Customers usually cannot see how long a product was meant to last, which creates an information gap between producer and buyer. When markets become more competitive, durability tends to improve. The history of cars shows this: when longer-lasting Japanese vehicles entered the American market in the 1960s and 1970s, American carmakers were forced to build more durable products in response.

Hampi is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Karnataka, India, with more than 1,600 surviving remains spread over 4,100 hectares. It was the capital of the Vijayanagara Empire from 1336 to 1565. Travellers from Persia and Portugal described it as a prosperous, wealthy and grand city with temples, markets and farms along the Tungabhadra River. By 1500 it was estimated to be the world's second-largest city after Beijing, and probably India's richest at the time. In 1565 a coalition of Muslim sultanates defeated the Vijayanagara Empire, its capital was conquered and destroyed, and the city was left in ruins. Hampi remains a religious centre, with the active Virupaksha Temple at its heart.