4 ms·

The fact that selling such a thing is profitable means that we lack regulations somewhere.

• spacephysics 1y ago
  The fact something is profitable (even vices) does not mean it requires regulations, unless the regulation in mind is direct or indirect cap on profit margins?
  • 0xffff2 1y ago
    The missing regulation is some kind of tax or other disincentive against e-waste. I believe the premise of the GP is that such things can only be profitable if we chose to ignore their environmental impact.
  • strbean 1y ago
    I think it's a lack of regulation to prevent negative externalities. Particularly with respect to waste management / product lifecycle.
    • rixed 1y ago
      ...and consumption/dispersion/degradation of the finite/rare/precious resources used in the manufacturing process, which we could also factor in, if we wanted to be serious.
  • palata 1y ago
    E-waste like this exists because it's legal and profitable. I believe that we as a society don't want e-waste (at least I don't). And when the society does not want something profitable to be done, it sets regulations. If it wasn't illegal to steal your neighbour's car and sell it, then it would be profitable. But we as a society don't want it to happen.
• ramesh31 1y ago
  >The fact that selling such a thing is profitable means that we lack regulations somewhere. It's the exact opposite. Tobacco is so heavily regulated and taxed that these become profitable. If cigarettes were 3-4$ a pack (which they would be without sin taxes and regulatory overhead), the vape market would come down as well and there's no way these could be profitable. As it is, they retail around $20 and contain the same nicotine as multiple $10 packs of cigarettes.
  • rebolek 1y ago
    The regulation was written in time when there were no such devices. Are they "healthier" (less damaging) for the user? If yes, let's tax them lower. Are they less damaging for whole population? Considering the e-waste, I guess not, but it's not up to me to decide. If they aren't, they shouldn't be taxed higher that cigs, if yes, let's change the regulation.
    • lyu07282 1y ago
      Because they contain so much more nicotine they are way more addicting, way better for the lungs than smoking but still bad for cardiovascular health. Disposables should be illegal for environmental protection reasons, that's a bit unrelated though since these companies can very easily switch to reusable/pod-systems. We want people to vape rather than smoke tobacco, obviously, it's not a zero-sum issue.
  • dpc050505 1y ago
    You can get 10 packs for 20$CAD on reservations in Canada, and that's for decent cigarettes in packaging, the really cheap ones in ziploc bags go even cheaper. 3-4$ a pack is still a decent markup.
  • palata 1y ago
    > It's the exact opposite. Tobacco is so heavily regulated and taxed that these become profitable. It's not the opposite at all. Tobacco should disappear just as well.
    • 1y ago
• gwbas1c 1y ago
  No, it means computing has gotten so %$#@ cheap that it's cheaper to just cobble together cheap parts instead of spending the money to design a purposed device.
  • palata 1y ago
    That's not mutually exclusive with what I said. Laws are not here to make money, they are here to decide what kind of society we want. If electronics is too cheap and it creates wastes, I'm of the opinion that we should make it illegal, period.
    • lyu07282 1y ago
      [flagged]
      • datameta 1y ago
        I was with you until the last clause of the final sentence, which I believe is against the HN guidelines.
      • steezeburger 1y ago
        Liberals generally want more regulation what are you talking about and why are you breaking the HN rules?
        • datameta 1y ago
          I don't recall the exact language but it was rather flame-war-esque in a comment full of otherwise benign discourse. The issue isn't liberals or conservatives being mentioned. In what way do you think I broke the rules? That it wasn't a substantive comment on its own? I didn't feel the pull to silently flag and hoped for GP to elaborate.
      • MattGrommes 1y ago
        Does liberal mean something different where you live? Where I live, the right-wing republicans are the ones who are prone to letting corporations do whatever they want without regard to the people/environment getting hurt.
• scotty79 1y ago
  I think we need a regulation about trash. To be allowed to sell products containing things like electronic or plastics companies should be forced to collect x amount of this kind of trash.
• wolvesechoes 1y ago
  No no, regulation and government bad, "free market" and "innovation" good. That's the Hacker's credo. Supposedly.