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Building products that are designed to be disposable, rather than repairable, then pretending that recycling is a reasonable solution.
by robbyt 7y ago
Building products that are designed to be disposable, rather than repairable, then pretending that recycling is a reasonable solution.
- stephencanon 7y agoThis is a tricky tradeoff. Making products disposable can also allow different manufacturing choices that lead to less material being used up front or a more robust structure for the same material cost resulting in a lower failure rate, or lighter products and hence reduced impact from shipping. If the failure rate is low enough, those factors can beat out repairability and result in a product with lower environmental costs and resource usage on net. This is a rare situation, but for small items with low failure rates and usable lifetimes of at least a few years, it can definitely happen.
- markstos 7y agoUh, they just released $250 disposable ear buds. They replaced a trackpad that replaceable batteries that worked fine with a new model that has a non-replaceable battery. Apple seems particularly responsible for driving the demand for "truly wireless" ear buds as a status symbol.
- papln 7y agoAA batteries are just as (non-)recycleable.
- Ididntdothis 7y agoMine are rechargeable.
- junipertea 7y agoAfter they lose too much capacity you will have to replace them. However it's still better to replace only the battery instead of the whole device.
- eschaton 7y agoWhat do you mean by “disposable?” As far as I know, Apple will take back any previous product for recycling.
- ladberg 7y agoWhy isn't recycling a reasonable solution?
- function_seven 7y agoOut of all the computing devices I've ever owned, the Apple devices are by far the longest-lived (and longest-supported) ones. I still use my 2007 MacBook, my 2012 MBP, and my iPhone 6S. The 2nd gen iPad still does its job fine. These things are not disposable. Each item in the list above has had battery replacements. The 2007 MBP, I bought a 3rd party pack. The 2012 MBP was replaced free-of-charge at an Apple store. The 6S got a new battery for $29. When I do decide to get a newer phone, I'll hand in my old one at that time. I'm sure they don't just chuck it into the wastebasket.
- claudiawerner 7y agoIt's curious that you hand your phone back to them, especially since you paid for it without the benefit they'd get being factored in. I doubt they would have better use of it than giving it to someone who needs a phone, even an old one, such as a child, or even selling it online.
- function_seven 7y agoWhen it comes time for me to upgrade, the phone will probably be worth $30 or so. Maybe I’ll Gazelle it instead. Or if some carrier is offering a trade in deal, use that. Or, most likely, I’ll keep it as a pseudo-iPod My point is more that I won’t just toss it in a trash can. Reusing it or recycling it is easy.
- coolspot 7y agoWhile I agree on longevity of iOS devices, I also have 2007 MacBooks (both Pro and not). They can't get latest OSX, without latest OSX you can't get iTunes that supports iPhone X. Bootcamped Windows 7 on the same machine gets latest iTunes capable of interacting with iPhone X.
- cstejerean 7y agoiTunes? What do you still use iTunes for? I don’t think I’ve used iTunes with my iPhone for probably 5 years.