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Isn't it also a natural consequence of rapidly improving technology. Even if a laptop were built to last 20 years, who would want one when a new one is an orde

Isn't it also a natural consequence of rapidly improving technology. Even if a laptop were built to last 20 years, who would want one when a new one is an order of magnitude better?

griffzhowl 2y ago
If it's two orders of magnitude cheaper then plenty of people could want one. It's handy to have a spare laptop or two around and with a lightweight linux on there old ones can be perfectly functional
fitsumbelay 2y ago
> Even if a laptop were built to last 20 years, who would want one when a new one is an order of magnitude better? Someone living in poverty whose life may be markedly improved by having one?
- Ray20 2y ago
  Not really. Building a laptop that will last 20 years is several times more expensive than building one that will last 5-10 years. So they will be less accessible to poor people.
  - DrillShopper 2y ago
    They will be less accessible initially to poor people, but if the laptop actually does last 20 years then there will be a lot more on the used market therefore driving down the cost when someone buys a used one. That is the avenue most people who can't afford a new one will likely go. It makes it more expensive to be on the cutting edge and turning over your laptop once every couple of years, but it makes the used purchases cheaper.
    - Ray20 2y ago
      >but it makes the used purchases cheaper. In fact, no, because they will also become less accessible to the less poor, and less poor will start using them longer and will also buy used ones.
consp 2y ago
20 years is a bit much but a 10 year old laptop can still browse normal websites. Just not the javascript loaden addfactories. Doesn't mean you dump it after 2-3 years because a new fancy models comes along or the battery is not repairable because it's welded shut.
eviks 2y ago
> would want one when a new one is an order of magnitude better It's not, you're just ignoring two obvious points: 1. a person with no laptop would prefer it 2. a repairable laptop can also have its parts upgraded, so a 20 year laptop could have 1-year old parts
- ponector 2y ago
  Cheap laptop I've bought in 2011 went through several upgrades: replaced ram doubling amount of GB. Replaced HDD with SSD, added HDD instead of DVD reader. Even replaced CPU to get more cores! Nowadays I can only replace m.2 stick to get more storage. Everything is soldered.
  - pjmlp 2y ago
    Compared with 8 bit home computers appliance nature, that wouldn't be a big problem if we had repair shops all over the place, which could nonetheless take over replacing/upgrading soldered items. I do agree having back user upgradable ram, disk and GPUs on laptops would be much better alternatives.
  - Ray20 2y ago
    Today there are also plenty of cheap models that support memory expansion and have an additional slot for an SSD. The only exception is the ability to replace the processor, which is extremely rare. So you should rather ask yourself why you, as a consumer, chose a non-upgradable model.
pjmlp 2y ago
My Asus 1215B netbook from 2009 has served me well, until it died last year. There was nothing in 2025 laptops that I would have replaced it for, the use cases haven't changed from my 2009 requirements in computing on the go with a cheap laptop like device. Its replacement is now Samsung tablet with DEX capabilities, which I will likewise use until it dies.
- linacica 2y ago
  I would like to point out 20 years old it's was in 2005, which isn't very old imo,
  - wink 2y ago
    Some stuff is usable, but not fun. I have a Centrino laptop from 2004, and it's single core, with 1.5GB RAM and, of course, spinning rust. It works, but even playing a video on youtube can be taxing. I'm not arguing for "performance" tasks here, just sitting on the couch and surfing, and clicking random links. Then again my home server is a 2013 i5 that does everything it needs to do (except be super power efficient). So I'd say ~10-14 years is the sweet spot, but 20 is historic and mostly useless, sadly
    - anthk 2y ago
      Mpv + yt-dlp + https://alex.envs.net/dillectory https://alex.envs.net/dillectory
- zozbot234 2y ago
  Cheap netbook-like devices are widely available from China these days. They'll probably be cheap enough even accounting for the new tariffs. Or you can just buy an older 'ultrabook' laptop on the used market.
  - keyringlight 2y ago
    The 'cheap' angle is something I wonder about, especially for the coming year with tariffs, and especially when Microsoft is trying to tell a lot of people that they need to buy new PCs to get off win10 and I doubt a huge proportion will be able/willing to do the remaining bypasses or learn another OS. It seems like a perfect storm if you're trying to be frugal, so I assume 'frugal' is going to translate into a lot of people on unsupported systems.
srean 2y ago
New laptops, phones also last a lot less (borked storage, borked motherboard), forcing us to buy another - which I think is the point. We have one refrigerator that's still going strong after 50 years whereas one of our 'newer' air-conditioners had to be replaced after 6 years.
- catlikesshrimp 2y ago
  >> We have one refrigerator that's still going strong after 50 years In that particular case, it might not meet energy efficiency standards anymore. But I agree appliances breaking the day after the warranty expires is evil. Depending on the country, warranty may be meaningless, or close to that

Isn't it also a natural consequence of rapidly improving technology. Even if a laptop were built to last 20 years, who would want one when a new one is an order of magnitude better?

griffzhowl 2y ago

If it's two orders of magnitude cheaper then plenty of people could want one. It's handy to have a spare laptop or two around and with a lightweight linux on there old ones can be perfectly functional

fitsumbelay 2y ago

> Even if a laptop were built to last 20 years, who would want one when a new one is an order of magnitude better? Someone living in poverty whose life may be markedly improved by having one?

Ray20 2y ago
Not really. Building a laptop that will last 20 years is several times more expensive than building one that will last 5-10 years. So they will be less accessible to poor people.
- DrillShopper 2y ago
  They will be less accessible initially to poor people, but if the laptop actually does last 20 years then there will be a lot more on the used market therefore driving down the cost when someone buys a used one. That is the avenue most people who can't afford a new one will likely go. It makes it more expensive to be on the cutting edge and turning over your laptop once every couple of years, but it makes the used purchases cheaper.
  - Ray20 2y ago
    >but it makes the used purchases cheaper. In fact, no, because they will also become less accessible to the less poor, and less poor will start using them longer and will also buy used ones.

consp 2y ago

20 years is a bit much but a 10 year old laptop can still browse normal websites. Just not the javascript loaden addfactories. Doesn't mean you dump it after 2-3 years because a new fancy models comes along or the battery is not repairable because it's welded shut.

eviks 2y ago

> would want one when a new one is an order of magnitude better It's not, you're just ignoring two obvious points: 1. a person with no laptop would prefer it 2. a repairable laptop can also have its parts upgraded, so a 20 year laptop could have 1-year old parts

ponector 2y ago
Cheap laptop I've bought in 2011 went through several upgrades: replaced ram doubling amount of GB. Replaced HDD with SSD, added HDD instead of DVD reader. Even replaced CPU to get more cores! Nowadays I can only replace m.2 stick to get more storage. Everything is soldered.
- pjmlp 2y ago
  Compared with 8 bit home computers appliance nature, that wouldn't be a big problem if we had repair shops all over the place, which could nonetheless take over replacing/upgrading soldered items. I do agree having back user upgradable ram, disk and GPUs on laptops would be much better alternatives.
- Ray20 2y ago
  Today there are also plenty of cheap models that support memory expansion and have an additional slot for an SSD. The only exception is the ability to replace the processor, which is extremely rare. So you should rather ask yourself why you, as a consumer, chose a non-upgradable model.

pjmlp 2y ago

My Asus 1215B netbook from 2009 has served me well, until it died last year. There was nothing in 2025 laptops that I would have replaced it for, the use cases haven't changed from my 2009 requirements in computing on the go with a cheap laptop like device. Its replacement is now Samsung tablet with DEX capabilities, which I will likewise use until it dies.

linacica 2y ago
I would like to point out 20 years old it's was in 2005, which isn't very old imo,
- wink 2y ago
  Some stuff is usable, but not fun. I have a Centrino laptop from 2004, and it's single core, with 1.5GB RAM and, of course, spinning rust. It works, but even playing a video on youtube can be taxing. I'm not arguing for "performance" tasks here, just sitting on the couch and surfing, and clicking random links. Then again my home server is a 2013 i5 that does everything it needs to do (except be super power efficient). So I'd say ~10-14 years is the sweet spot, but 20 is historic and mostly useless, sadly
  - anthk 2y ago
    Mpv + yt-dlp + https://alex.envs.net/dillectory https://alex.envs.net/dillectory
zozbot234 2y ago
Cheap netbook-like devices are widely available from China these days. They'll probably be cheap enough even accounting for the new tariffs. Or you can just buy an older 'ultrabook' laptop on the used market.
- keyringlight 2y ago
  The 'cheap' angle is something I wonder about, especially for the coming year with tariffs, and especially when Microsoft is trying to tell a lot of people that they need to buy new PCs to get off win10 and I doubt a huge proportion will be able/willing to do the remaining bypasses or learn another OS. It seems like a perfect storm if you're trying to be frugal, so I assume 'frugal' is going to translate into a lot of people on unsupported systems.

srean 2y ago

New laptops, phones also last a lot less (borked storage, borked motherboard), forcing us to buy another - which I think is the point. We have one refrigerator that's still going strong after 50 years whereas one of our 'newer' air-conditioners had to be replaced after 6 years.

catlikesshrimp 2y ago
>> We have one refrigerator that's still going strong after 50 years In that particular case, it might not meet energy efficiency standards anymore. But I agree appliances breaking the day after the warranty expires is evil. Depending on the country, warranty may be meaningless, or close to that