The world is saturated with electronic devices from Phones, laptops, tablets and more, with almost all adults in the developed world owning them. To be precise there are just over 8 billion devices sold last year alone 1 , and that number is set to rise as we move into an ever-increasing digital world 2. Manufacturers are constantly pumping out new devices each and every year which produces extraordinary amounts of e-waste. 3 You are likely very familiar with the cycle: A new product is released. Hype is built up around it > People buy a new phone/laptop. > The novelty wears off. > They use it for a short while before the next generation device is released. At this rate you don’t need to ‘crunch the numbers’ to see that this is not a sustainable way forward.
Electronics manufacturers try all sorts of tactics to discourage long-term device use as we will elaborate on a few here
Beware Wary
Built-in Obsolescence – Manufacturers design their products to break down after a certain time period, this is done on the software and hardware level. Once upon a time companies tried to hide this however it’s no longer a secret, and some of the big names like Apple and Microsoft still employ this sneaky tactic. Famously apple was found to be slowing down (cluttering) devices via software updates. Hardware wise there are 4
Right to Repair – Consumers using independent repair services to fix devices instead of taking them back to the manufacturer. Companies such as Apple are notorious for discouraging customers from going elsewhere for repairs. This can often become an expensive exercise and voids your warranty. 5
Innovation Obsession – Manufacturers keep trying to find new features and ways to push the envelope. For the past few decades this manifested through the slimming of phones and doubling of processing speed as posited by Moores Law (Which is seemingly subsided now). It seems both consumers and manufacturers are never satisfied with the current state of our technology. 6
Profits – This is somewhat of a tangent off the right to repair; electronic brands make far greater profit from new sales as opposed to other means and so there is inherently a financial disincentive to make devices that stand the test of time.
Are there any solutions?
Something’s got to give; there is a real world need for either the tech companies to design long lasting products. Either that or people to find ways to stretch out the life-span of the current devices.1 Ultimately the way I see it Electronics are “in theory” meant to be used as tools. However no one treats them as such. Conventionally A tool is used until it’s worn , take a hammer for instance : No one goes out buying new hammers each year just because a new model hit the shelves. Electronic devices ought to be the same In this regard.
The key word is “ought”. The consensus from Big Tech and Think Tanks is NOT to reduce our consumption or production. Rather it’s to create a circular economy. This is likely to put a huge strain on an already inefficient industry. Recent investigations from US have found that only 30% of their total e-waste was actually recycled. Now this is neither a sole consequence of manufacturers (the suppliers) nor their sole responsibility to fix, we as consumers drive demand for new tech and given this, there are things we can do to mitigate the onset of the electronic consumer cycle.
What Can we do to curb this?
Continue to use
One of the most obvious yet rarely taken pieces of advice is to actually continue to use your device until the end of its lifecycle. Yes it won’t be as quick as newer devices. Yes You may get a few stares from people, but overall you would be surprised how long it will last.
Repair It
If you have found that your device is experiencing serious lag or there is an issue with it that is hindering you from using it .. fix it . You don’t have to break the bank to upgrade. In fact the simplest thing you can do to speed up a device is to back up and clean your storage. This doesn’t cost you anything.
Purchased Second Hand
Realistically there will be people in circumstances where it may be time to purchase a new phone. In which case you still don’t need to support the electronic consumer cycle!! By simply buying second hand instead of from a retailer, it’s one less phone that is produced by a manufacturer.
Hopefully this has been thought provoking or at the very least made you think about the very device that you’re using right now to look at this post.
References
- Consumer electronics market volume worldwide 2022, by segment
https://www.statista.com/forecasts/1286671/worldwide-consumer-electronics-market-volume - Number of IoT connected devices worldwide 2019-2021, with forecasts to 2030 https://www.statista.com/statistics/1183457/iot-connected-devices-worldwide/
- Awasthi, A.K., Li, J., Koh, L. et al. Circular economy and electronic waste. Nat Electron 2, 86–89 (2019). https://www.nature.com/articles/s41928-019-0225-2
