Abstract

Computing trends have been following evolution and obsolescence, as cleared stated by Bill Gates-Every product becomes obsolete in 3 years, “In three years, every product my company makes will be obsolete. The only question is whether we will make them obsolete or somebody else will.” In addition, complexity, open systems, layering, heterogeneity, computing environments and improvements in technology further contribute to the speed of obsolescence. Obsolescence has been studied over the years and found that it has many dimensions and side effects. Most of the industry believes that the obsolescence is necessary to make continuing profits, by making products obsolete. The obsolescence spans across many disciplines and software and hardware products. Obsolescence is resulting in a jungle of products with incompatibilities and no customer and product support within a short period of time. Consequently, it results in retiring products before their useful life and incurring waste of money, resources, people skills, security vulnerabilities and open doors for hackers.