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This only makes sense if you presume people throw away their laptops when they replace them after "a few years". Given the incredibly high second hand value of

This only makes sense if you presume people throw away their laptops when they replace them after "a few years". Given the incredibly high second hand value of macbooks, I think most people sell them or hand them down.

the_jeremy 5y ago
My F500 company has a 5 year tech refresh policy, and old laptops are trashed, not donated or resold.
- azinman2 5y ago
  I cannot imagine that represents the majority of the market.
- saiya-jin 5y ago
  Exactly, corporate never risks them getting into wrong hands, no matter how theoretical risk that might be. Same for phones
  - lizknope 5y ago
    We used to remove the hard drives which takes about 20 seconds on a desktop that has a "tool-less" case. Then donate the computer to anybody including the employees if they want it. It takes a few minutes to do that on a laptop but it's not that long.
    - oneplane 5y ago
      Seems like FDE would solve that and make it a hardware non-issue.
      - fomine3 5y ago
        Work if you trust FDE. Some FDE are broken, like this: https://www.zdnet.com/article/flaws-in-self-encrypting-ssds-let-attackers-bypass-disk-encryption/ https://www.zdnet.com/article/flaws-in-self-encrypting-ssds-...
    - hyperman1 5y ago
      One of our interns got that jobs. Left are 200 old laptops, take out the SSD and smash it with a hammer. Right are 200 new laptops, don't touch. Turns out someone got confused between left and right, gave him the wrong instructions, and he smashed 200 brand new SSDs. Ouch.
- oneplane 5y ago
  Doesn't that mean that the problem is the policy of the F500 company and not whatever the supplier had in mind?
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- exikyut 5y ago
  Puts on ewaste management company uniform "Yeah <normal guy>'s out sick today, I'm his replacement." *yeet* In all seriousness I would absolutely love to do this sort of thing IRL, in situations where I'll just make incompetent management etc unimpressed (because I'm showing their inefficiency) and there wouldn't be any real/significant ramifications (eg machines that processed material a couple notches more interesting than what PCI-DSS covers). But obviously I don't mean I'd literally use the above example to achieve this ;P I've just learned a bit about (eh, you could say "been bitten by") poorly coordinated e-waste management/refurbishment/etc programs - these can be a horrendously inefficient money-grab if the top-level coordination isn't driven by empathy in the right places. So I would definitely get a kick out of doing something like that properly.
- kube-system 5y ago
  I suspect the disposal company your company contracts with parts them out and resells them. Although if you're literally throwing them in the dumpster, that's not even legal in many jurisdictions.
- schmorptron 5y ago
  Damn, they could at least just trash the hard drives and just give them to local schools or something...
ChuckNorris89 5y ago
You're talking about selling working devices but parent was also talking about repairing them. Seems like a huge waste to throw away a $2000+ machine when it's out of warranty because some $5 part on it dies and Apple not only doesn't provide a spare but actively fights anyone trying to repare them, while the options they realistically will give you out of warranty being having your motherboard replaced for some insane sum like $1299 or having you buy a new laptop. Or what if you're a klutz and spill your grape juice glass over your keyboard? Congrats, now you're -$2000 lighter since there's no way to take it apart and clean the sticky mess inside.
- jrockway 5y ago
  > Or what if you're a klutz and spill your grape juice glass over your keyboard? Congrats, now you're -$2000 lighter since there's no way to take it apart and clean the sticky mess inside. Thanks to the Right To Repair, you can take the laptop to pretty much any repair shop and they can replace anything you damaged with OEM or third-party parts. They even have schematics, so they can just desolder and resolder failed chips. In the past, this sort of thing would be a logic board swap for $1000 at the very least, but now it's just $30 + labor. Oh, there is no right to repair. So I guess give Apple $2000 again and don't drink liquids at work.
  - ChuckNorris89 5y ago
    Not gonna lie, you had me in the first half.
  - amelius 5y ago
    > and don't drink liquids at work. Which is ironic given that Apple laptops are often depicted next to freshly brewed cafe lattes.
  - exikyut 5y ago
    Perhaps this is the real reason behind the "crack design team" jokes? A wholesale internal switchover from liquid-based stimulants after one too many accidents? /s
  - 5y ago

the_jeremy 5y ago

My F500 company has a 5 year tech refresh policy, and old laptops are trashed, not donated or resold.

azinman2 5y ago
I cannot imagine that represents the majority of the market.
saiya-jin 5y ago
Exactly, corporate never risks them getting into wrong hands, no matter how theoretical risk that might be. Same for phones
- lizknope 5y ago
  We used to remove the hard drives which takes about 20 seconds on a desktop that has a "tool-less" case. Then donate the computer to anybody including the employees if they want it. It takes a few minutes to do that on a laptop but it's not that long.
  - oneplane 5y ago
    Seems like FDE would solve that and make it a hardware non-issue.
    - fomine3 5y ago
      Work if you trust FDE. Some FDE are broken, like this: https://www.zdnet.com/article/flaws-in-self-encrypting-ssds-let-attackers-bypass-disk-encryption/ https://www.zdnet.com/article/flaws-in-self-encrypting-ssds-...
  - hyperman1 5y ago
    One of our interns got that jobs. Left are 200 old laptops, take out the SSD and smash it with a hammer. Right are 200 new laptops, don't touch. Turns out someone got confused between left and right, gave him the wrong instructions, and he smashed 200 brand new SSDs. Ouch.
oneplane 5y ago
Doesn't that mean that the problem is the policy of the F500 company and not whatever the supplier had in mind?
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
exikyut 5y ago
Puts on ewaste management company uniform "Yeah <normal guy>'s out sick today, I'm his replacement." *yeet* In all seriousness I would absolutely love to do this sort of thing IRL, in situations where I'll just make incompetent management etc unimpressed (because I'm showing their inefficiency) and there wouldn't be any real/significant ramifications (eg machines that processed material a couple notches more interesting than what PCI-DSS covers). But obviously I don't mean I'd literally use the above example to achieve this ;P I've just learned a bit about (eh, you could say "been bitten by") poorly coordinated e-waste management/refurbishment/etc programs - these can be a horrendously inefficient money-grab if the top-level coordination isn't driven by empathy in the right places. So I would definitely get a kick out of doing something like that properly.
kube-system 5y ago
I suspect the disposal company your company contracts with parts them out and resells them. Although if you're literally throwing them in the dumpster, that's not even legal in many jurisdictions.
schmorptron 5y ago
Damn, they could at least just trash the hard drives and just give them to local schools or something...

ChuckNorris89 5y ago

You're talking about selling working devices but parent was also talking about repairing them. Seems like a huge waste to throw away a $2000+ machine when it's out of warranty because some $5 part on it dies and Apple not only doesn't provide a spare but actively fights anyone trying to repare them, while the options they realistically will give you out of warranty being having your motherboard replaced for some insane sum like $1299 or having you buy a new laptop. Or what if you're a klutz and spill your grape juice glass over your keyboard? Congrats, now you're -$2000 lighter since there's no way to take it apart and clean the sticky mess inside.

jrockway 5y ago
> Or what if you're a klutz and spill your grape juice glass over your keyboard? Congrats, now you're -$2000 lighter since there's no way to take it apart and clean the sticky mess inside. Thanks to the Right To Repair, you can take the laptop to pretty much any repair shop and they can replace anything you damaged with OEM or third-party parts. They even have schematics, so they can just desolder and resolder failed chips. In the past, this sort of thing would be a logic board swap for $1000 at the very least, but now it's just $30 + labor. Oh, there is no right to repair. So I guess give Apple $2000 again and don't drink liquids at work.
- ChuckNorris89 5y ago
  Not gonna lie, you had me in the first half.
- amelius 5y ago
  > and don't drink liquids at work. Which is ironic given that Apple laptops are often depicted next to freshly brewed cafe lattes.
- exikyut 5y ago
  Perhaps this is the real reason behind the "crack design team" jokes? A wholesale internal switchover from liquid-based stimulants after one too many accidents? /s
- 5y ago