Designed lifespans like "2-6 years for a cell phone" are a red herring. The notched logs in Zambia weren't intended to last to the present day either. A cell ph

Designed lifespans like "2-6 years for a cell phone" are a red herring. The notched logs in Zambia weren't intended to last to the present day either. A cell phone might stop functioning as a cell phone after 10 years or so, but it will be recognizable as an ex-cell phone for a long, long time after that.