this post was submitted on 16 Jun 2023
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You can certainly make the argument that phones (and computers) are slowing down. It used to be a revolution every year or two, now it’s very incremental.
I would not say though that you can effectively use a 10 year old phone. There are some old networks out there, but major networks shut down 3g.
You might have seen Joanna Stern’s attempt to use an iPhone 3G on YouTube last year (if not watch it for some amusement). Even if the battery on that device were fine, the device was really pretty unusable.
Also: even if the battery were easily replaceable, replacements will only be easy to find for the most popular older phones.
Yeah, I'm not saying that people should be using a Nexus 5 (a 4g phone) in 2023. Smartphones have matured a lot since 2013 though, and I think phones coming out now will still be perfectly usable in 2033, as long as replacement parts are available and they are updated to 2033 software. There are people using x230 Thinkpads in 2023, so it's definitely possible with laptops.
I'll have to check out that video, it sounds pretty interesting!
Yeah, Thinkpads are still usable, though I don't think most people would want to run an x230 today. It might be usable on Linux with XFCE. But Windows? Eh...
Either way, what's stopping phones from lasting longer isn't really batteries. You could take a phone in for a replacement battery every 2 years and it would still be unusable before too long because of software updates.
I do think requiring OEMs to provide security and software updates for at least 5 years would be a sensible regulation. Maybe even 10 years for devices over $1000.