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Podswap: Keep airpods alive and out of the landfill

thepodswap.com

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Re: Podswap: Keep airpods alive and out of the landfill

#91

Post by DeliriumTrigger »

tbrock wrote: post #55
denimnerd42 wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

what's frustrating is that while batteries are consumable products they could last much longer if they stay between 80 and 20% capacity without overheating. (this is similar to what tesla does) I wish there was a "battery care" settings on all electronics that would respect limits like this so that I could get thousands of cycles out of my devices instead of only Apple has added a feature which tries to do this intel…

Apple is the only laptop manufacturer that even gets close to 1000 cycles of great battery life.

It's nice having a battery when their soldered ssds crap out after 5 years.

Re: Podswap: Keep airpods alive and out of the landfill

#92

Post by samatman »

TaylorAlexander wrote: post #38
samatman wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's just the Discourse in action. For whatever reason, AirPods, of all things, have become a go-to example of environmental waste and throwaway culture. It's bizarre to me. I'm fairly confident that for minutes of pleasure / embodied energy, AirPods score higher than almost anything else I own, certainly among things with a battery and chip. They also last multiples of the time I would get out of wired earphones, wh…

This seems way too conveniently dismissive of the environmental issue. Apple is the 800 lb gorilla that sets industry expectations. They have been gluing batteries and making repair difficult across their product line for a decade. This leads to higher consumer costs and manufactured goods filling landfills prematurely. As one of the most visible companies in the world making repair difficult, the criticism is well-d…

Apple laptops and phones objectively last longer than the competition.

Most of that is software support. Some of it is that they make few models, and sell at a premium, so there is a robust secondary market in used devices. They continue to make and sell batteries for old models, and there are plenty of counterfeits available if you want to risk it.

Apple recently (late last year) replaced the battery on my Mom's iPhone 6, which will turn seven this year. I saw an estimate that half of all iPhones 4 are still in use, mostly in developing nations. That was two years ago, but, still.

As for laptops, same basic principle applies, except I have to give a shoutout to the Thinkpad T series for sheer longevity. You have to want a Thinkpad T, but if you do, they're excellent and durable computers.

But with that one (sterling) exception, Macbooks last about twice as long as anyone else's computers. You can easily confirm this yourself by checking eBay. The butterfly keyboard era may have put an end to that, though, which is a damn shame, but we can hope the return of the scissor keyboard will bring it back.

As for the AirPods. What are we talking about on this page again?

Re: Podswap: Keep airpods alive and out of the landfill

#93

Post by deregulateMed »

Over here I'm still using 3$ Panasonic earbuds from 2012.

I spent $15 dollars so I could have 1 in my car, 1 in my laptop bag, 1 next to my computer, and 2 backup for when I lose them or have new location. Haven't lost them yet.

Maybe you really do need wireless and it's worth the effort of charging and replacing batteries. Or maybe you are being sold a veblen good and your brain is exploited by a trillion dollar corporation's marketing department.

Re: Podswap: Keep airpods alive and out of the landfill

#94

Post by maxerickson »

deregulateMed wrote: post #93

Over here I'm still using 3$ Panasonic earbuds from 2012. I spent $15 dollars so I could have 1 in my car, 1 in my laptop bag, 1 next to my computer, and 2 backup for when I lose them or have new location. Haven't lost them yet. Maybe you really do need wireless and it's worth the effort of charging and replacing batteries. Or maybe you are being sold a veblen good and your brain is exploited by a trillion dollar cor…

For many types of exercise, music from watch over Bluetooth really is the dream.

(I tend to buy the ~$40 version though)

Re: Podswap: Keep airpods alive and out of the landfill

#95

Post by wyre »

TaylorAlexander wrote: post #62
dehrmann wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> This leads to higher consumer costs and manufactured goods filling landfills prematurely. Citation needed. Apple claims, and I'm fine with taking it with a grain of salt, that because batteries aren't replaceable like old Nokia phones, they can make the battery larger, possibly reducing consumer costs and how often batteries are changed. It's not just Apple, either. Consumers seem to not care.

It seems obvious to me that this is true at least with laptops. And whatever costs are saved by a 5% larger battery must surely be offset by the higher costs of replacement when the battery ultimately dies? I don't know it's so clear to me that this is true that I've not felt the need to research it. By all means if you have sources to the contrary I'd be happy to read them. To me, we could save significant environme…

It takes a long time for modern batteries to get to a point of unusability and replacement. Yes, Apple and others want consumers to purchase the new product and that is often the case because of the fast advancement of technology. This is worse with android phones because the support cycle is much shorter.

I often drop my phone and it’s great not having to worry about my phone’s battery falling out making me lose my data.

I’m glad there is a small section of the market with brands like Fairphone and Lenovo still offering replaceable batteries because it is very important to some consumers, but most people dont care or think about it at all.

Re: Podswap: Keep airpods alive and out of the landfill

#96

Post by mcculley »

maxerickson wrote: post #94
deregulateMed wrote: post #93

Over here I'm still using 3$ Panasonic earbuds from 2012. I spent $15 dollars so I could have 1 in my car, 1 in my laptop bag, 1 next to my computer, and 2 backup for when I lose them or have new location. Haven't lost them yet. Maybe you really do need wireless and it's worth the effort of charging and replacing batteries. Or maybe you are being sold a veblen good and your brain is exploited by a trillion dollar cor…

For many types of exercise, music from watch over Bluetooth really is the dream. (I tend to buy the ~$40 version though)

For me, it is audiobooks and podcasts from the watch over Bluetooth while running outdoors. It really is a game changer for me.

Re: Podswap: Keep airpods alive and out of the landfill

#98

Post by system2 »

I love my Tozo T6, screw apple. $25 and I have better sounding way more cheaper product. I wouldn't care at all if my $25 headsets fail after a year or two. I'd get 6 pairs instead of one Apple. My other bluetooth earbuds worked over 2 years and had no battery problem until I lost them.

Stop throwing money at Apple.

Re: Podswap: Keep airpods alive and out of the landfill

#100

Post by e40 »

visualphoenix wrote: post #99

Are they actually replacing the battery at all? Or are they simply sending you “AirReps”? The clones these days cost $30. Most folks wouldn’t recognize the difference, except for the poor microphone recording quality.

According to the FAQ they are refurbished from previous customers, and yours are sent to future customers.
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