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The environmental impact of technology devices is getting worse

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Re: The environmental impact of technology devices is getting worse

#41

Post by EADGBE »

sliken wrote: post #5

Seems like the easiest fix would be to mandate the same charging cable for all phones (no dongles) and user replaceable batteries that require no tools to change. With those two simple tweaks it would be much easier to keep a phone for 3 or more years. My google pixel seems like it could easily last for many years with it's quad core, 128GB storage, 4GB ram, and 2560x1440 display. Lets be honest, for most uses that's…

I think user-replaceable batteries are designed for shorter life.

- Sent on my iPhone 6 (almost 4 years old); 95% battery health.

Re: The environmental impact of technology devices is getting worse

#42

Post by icebraining »

swerner wrote: post #39
icebraining wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Recycling a phone can mean reusing many of its components for repairing other phones (as part of the fourth R: refurbishing).

What good is a refurbished but old iPhone these days when there is no more software for it? Even when you're lucky enough to have backup copies of older software versions, the web APIs most rely on have been discontinued.

I don't know about the iPhone, but I'm still using a Nexus 7 from 2012 just fine. It runs Lollipop (released in 2014) and in my experience, most apps support it just fine, although I'm sure their developers hate me :)

Re: The environmental impact of technology devices is getting worse

#43

Post by jimmy1 »

swerner wrote: post #37

I wish I could use my phones longer than I already do. Unfortunately, the lack of software updates for older hardware turns that into a security risk as even critical issues are no longer getting fixed. Likewise, the 'modern' web breaks things left and right. The heavy use of JavaScript for trackers etc makes it impossible to read even simple news web sites on an old iPad, even though the actual content is just stati…

Where is the disconnect I wonder? Your old iPad I am sure runs software that is many more times more complex, more lines of code, and more intense than the ad tracking software on a browser. Will web assembly help here?

Re: The environmental impact of technology devices is getting worse

#44

Post by the_gastropod »

JoeAltmaier wrote: post #32
elorant wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or we could reduce meat consumption.

I suspect its long past the day when a marginal change in consumption will actually affect the world, even a little. The production of meat (and phones) does not change at all for small adjustments in demand - they are far too large an industry with far too large a lead time to respond to much at all. In fact, using homebrew solutions or alternative sources actually increases my environmental footprint. Now I'm not o…

You changing your diet will not have that big of an impact, you're right. Just like your vote won't sway an election. In aggregate, these things matter. In the U.S., over 9% [1] of the population follows a vegetarian/vegan diet. That absolutely has an impact on how much beef/chicken/pork is produced.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vegetarianism_by_country#Unite...

Re: The environmental impact of technology devices is getting worse

#45

Post by ryandrake »

Arkanosis wrote: post #12
sliken wrote: post #5

Seems like the easiest fix would be to mandate the same charging cable for all phones (no dongles) and user replaceable batteries that require no tools to change. With those two simple tweaks it would be much easier to keep a phone for 3 or more years. My google pixel seems like it could easily last for many years with it's quad core, 128GB storage, 4GB ram, and 2560x1440 display. Lets be honest, for most uses that's…

Also mandate upgradable software. I feel that outdated software becomes an issue way before dead batteries for most phones on the market. Most vendors don't seem to care much about software upgrades, especially on the lower end, and not all devices are supported by LineageOS / postmarketOS and co. I'm not even talking about (ok, technically, I am) how hard and scary it is to install alternative firmware on smartphone…

This is a huge problem. Every single one of my iDevices outlasted their software updates. Yet, I can still install Linux on a 20 year old computer and it runs fine.

Re: The environmental impact of technology devices is getting worse

#46

Post by swerner »

jimmy1 wrote: post #43
swerner wrote: post #37

I wish I could use my phones longer than I already do. Unfortunately, the lack of software updates for older hardware turns that into a security risk as even critical issues are no longer getting fixed. Likewise, the 'modern' web breaks things left and right. The heavy use of JavaScript for trackers etc makes it impossible to read even simple news web sites on an old iPad, even though the actual content is just stati…

Where is the disconnect I wonder? Your old iPad I am sure runs software that is many more times more complex, more lines of code, and more intense than the ad tracking software on a browser. Will web assembly help here?

Unless Apple surprises us with an iOS 5 update that includes a browser with web assembly - no, it won't help.

Either way, simply going to spiegel.de crashes (!) Safari in a 1st gen iPad. The Washington Post web page also would constantly get reloaded in my iPhone 4S.

Re: The environmental impact of technology devices is getting worse

#47

Post by paulintrognon »

jdietrich wrote: post #36
paulintrognon wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But manufacturing a smartphone involves a lot of transportation and electricity, doesn't it? Our focus should also be on cutting energy spendings & reducing transportation, and stop buying new phones (and laptops and tvs etc..) every now and then sure will help, will it not?

The greatest myth in sustainable energy policy is "every little helps". We get caught up on visible but irrelevant things, while ignoring massive systemic problems. Apple publish high-quality, audited environmental impact reports for all their products. A 64gb iPhone 8 produces the equivalent of 57kg of CO2 across the entire product lifespan, from manufacturing to recycling. A return flight from LAX to JFK produces ~…

I understand what you say, and I agree for the most part, but it really seems impossible that a two-hour car journey emits more than manufacturing a smartphone...

I mean, building a smartphone involves digging for raw materials, extract them, transport them, assemble them, etc. And i'm not counting the emission during the design process.

I know that a two-hour car journey is really not optimized, and that manufacturing phones on a large scale is very optimized, but it seems impossible to me that manufacturing a phone in China from components from all over the world emits less that a good big steak in a restaurant... I that's true, that's incredible.

Re: The environmental impact of technology devices is getting worse

#48

Post by syd_ »

swerner wrote: post #37

I wish I could use my phones longer than I already do. Unfortunately, the lack of software updates for older hardware turns that into a security risk as even critical issues are no longer getting fixed. Likewise, the 'modern' web breaks things left and right. The heavy use of JavaScript for trackers etc makes it impossible to read even simple news web sites on an old iPad, even though the actual content is just stati…

My question is: Do we need to surf the web that much? Do we really need an iPad that much in the first place?

Re: The environmental impact of technology devices is getting worse

#49

Post by gnode »

I wonder to what extent modern electronics, particularly display technologies as mentioned in the article, are dependent by necessity on rare earth metals, and couldn't be replaced with other chemicals.

A change I can imagine in the future is towards organic chemicals such as in OLED displays. Although I'm aware that many of those used today are organometalics, and I have no idea what the actual metal resource impact is.

Re: The environmental impact of technology devices is getting worse

#50

Post by syd_ »

xbmcuser wrote: post #6
sliken wrote: post #5

Seems like the easiest fix would be to mandate the same charging cable for all phones (no dongles) and user replaceable batteries that require no tools to change. With those two simple tweaks it would be much easier to keep a phone for 3 or more years. My google pixel seems like it could easily last for many years with it's quad core, 128GB storage, 4GB ram, and 2560x1440 display. Lets be honest, for most uses that's…

Chinese smartphone sales have dropped dramatically this year. Mostly as smartphones have reached a point where upgrading cost vs return is no longer worth it for many. I really wanted Googles modular phone to be a successful but it died very quickly even before release otherwise that would have been a great way to upgrade parts without disposing old phones and creating waste.

Do you think Google bought it only to kill it (the modular phone startup)?
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