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> The notion of buying a laptop or phone, let alone headphones, every year is ludicrous and actively harmful to the environment.

Is this notion in your head? My electronics, especially recent ones, last many years.




That is the point I was making. The devices last (as we both have experienced), but today it is "fashionable" to dispose of them and buy new ones on a schedule much shorter than their lifespans (because of some new gimmick that provides an inconsequential improvement in the usability of the newer model).


My point is that perhaps you might have that impression, but what does the data say?

Even higher income people I know don't swap out their phones and laptops every year. It's a pain in the ass to reconfigure everything, and even when the devices get replaced, the old ones get passed down to the kids or elders.

http://www.asymco.com/2018/02/27/the-number/

Perhaps low end devices are getting replaced more and more often, but I would bet high end devices get used for much longer. Especially with a widening wealth/income gap, how would people even afford to replace working electronics for no reason?




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