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Problem is, the phone you want will also turn into e-waste. How many people still use devices from 20 years ago? Jornada's had replaceable batteries and were f

Problem is, the phone you want will also turn into e-waste. How many people still use devices from 20 years ago? Jornada's had replaceable batteries and were far more configurable than today's devices. They still got tossed. As phones go, RAZRs are another example. Most are just laying in landfills today. The list goes on and on. The e-waste problem goes wayyy beyond replaceable batteries. Nowadays you can't even send outdated tech to developing nations. The Chinese keep a lot of those nations well supplied with affordable recent phones for instance. Tech improves, and no one wants the old stuff. That's the problem you have to solve to address the e-waste issue.

Nullabillity 3y ago
> Tech improves, and no one wants the old stuff. That's the problem you have to solve to address the e-waste issue. Tech improves, for a while. In some ways. And then it slows down significantly. Welcome to the S-curve.
jbstack 3y ago
Of course nobody still uses devices from 20 years ago, but we aren't talking about a binary choice between "dispose of devices constantly" vs "never dispose of devices". Nor are we talking about a binary choice between current levels of e-waste vs. zero e-waste. Any reduction in e-waste should be considered a good thing. If I can keep my phone for 5 years instead of 2 years due to a replaceable battery, then I'm producing 40% of the e-waste that I was before. Yes, tech improves, and no one wants the old stuff. But realistically, there isn't anywhere near the level of innovation with new phones as there was 10 or 20 years ago. The phone I bought 5 years ago makes all the same calls, sends the same messages, browses the same internet, takes the same photos, and runs the same apps, as the phone I would buy in the shop today. I'd be quite content to postpone upgrading for 5+ years at a time, and I suspect most people would be too.

Nullabillity 3y ago

> Tech improves, and no one wants the old stuff. That's the problem you have to solve to address the e-waste issue. Tech improves, for a while. In some ways. And then it slows down significantly. Welcome to the S-curve.

jbstack 3y ago

Of course nobody still uses devices from 20 years ago, but we aren't talking about a binary choice between "dispose of devices constantly" vs "never dispose of devices". Nor are we talking about a binary choice between current levels of e-waste vs. zero e-waste. Any reduction in e-waste should be considered a good thing. If I can keep my phone for 5 years instead of 2 years due to a replaceable battery, then I'm producing 40% of the e-waste that I was before. Yes, tech improves, and no one wants the old stuff. But realistically, there isn't anywhere near the level of innovation with new phones as there was 10 or 20 years ago. The phone I bought 5 years ago makes all the same calls, sends the same messages, browses the same internet, takes the same photos, and runs the same apps, as the phone I would buy in the shop today. I'd be quite content to postpone upgrading for 5+ years at a time, and I suspect most people would be too.