[dehrmann]

> 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.

[TaylorAlexander]

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 environmental waste if everything we manufactured was made to be repaired. I designed several pairs of 3D printed headphones [1] which are now the only headphones I wear, and the idea that I can replace any part if it breaks seems significant to me.

[1] https://github.com/tlalexander/reboot-headphones

[wyre]

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.

[TaylorAlexander]

> most people dont care or think about it at all

This is orthogonal to the question of whether or not the practice is environmentally friendly. Most people have been buying gasoline for 50 years but that’s also causing environmental problems. All of these manufactured devices take a lot of resources to create. Often “unusability” means the operating system has outgrown the hardware, but we can easily imagine Apple allowing third party operating systems on their unsupported phone and tablet devices. This would extend the life of the hardware, significantly reduced waste, and lower people’s cost of living. But even when Apple devices can be fixed for free the company will quote exorbitant repair prices and suggest the customer replace the device. (See links below which I also shared in another comment)

From this we can see that Apple is not making the effort to keep old devices functional and they will mislead customers about it to sell them a new device. This leads to hardware waste and higher costs for consumers.

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o2_SZ4tfLns [2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1A9y4S60kg [3] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7RXJP4mxCc

[wyre]

Why is it always about Apple being so bad? Sure, I’ll agree their market share and ecosystem let’s them take advantage of their customers, but Apple is one of the few companies where normies are still comfortably using 5+ year old phones and computers. I’ve heard MacBooks make great Linux machines, too. They are far above the curve for longevity of devices.

If AirPods are making people lose sleep because they aren’t environmentally friendly, then let me introduce you to PuffBars or any of those disposable nicotine vapes that aren’t rechargeable or refillable and often lose all battery life before juice. Or simply the entire lithium lifecycle is incredibly wasteful regardless of the product it is in.

I want to point out EVs aren’t going to last significantly longer than a MacBook will and contain much more lithium that needs to be dealt with.

I get that it’s fun or hip to be anti-Apple, and I’ll agree that they could be better from an environmental standpoint, but they are doing a lot better than most and there are a lot more environmental travesties occurring than the small batteries in AirPods.

[TaylorAlexander]

Apple is, arguably, the largest tech company on earth. Their behavior has a significant impact on earth and on the market. And they are actively hostile to the concept of repair. Why wouldn't we criticize that?

I do criticize other problems with our consumption online and in my published writing. I am not making this critique because it is "fun or hip to be anti-apple". I believe the consumption patterns of people in the USA (like myself!) are literally unsustainable and we must change our outlook on engineering, production, and consumption to be more ecological or we will keep on destroying the natural world until there is nothing left.

I also want to do the environmentally friendly stuff in a way that is economically beneficial for people. So when Apple quotes $1200 for a repair that could cost a person $50, I worry about what this 2+ Trillion dollar company is doing to the average person, and how this mindset among corporate executives towards consumer gouging affects our world at large.

Their behavior is actually hurting people. They could improve without even making engineering changes to their designs. Let us not go around online forums making excuses for people who abuse consumers for profit while also generating unnecessary e-waste.

You can read my past writing on consumption here:

http://tlalexander.com/impact/

[wyre]

I absolutely agree with you that Apple abuses their market position, we need right to repair, and that our consumption as humans needs to drop dramatically. I do the best that I reasonably can to lower my footprint (I’m vegan, car-free, Amazon-free, I don’t fly in planes, etc). We live in an economic system that thrives from overconsumption and we both know from living in this plant that people largely don’t care or can’t be bothered enough to lower their consumption in meaningful ways.

Apple’s products have a lifespan and support cycle longer than their competition. Linux is the only software I know of with longer support, but even still it can be hard to get by on old hardware because of the unnecessary bulk of essential websites.

I understand critiquing Apple and it would be nice if I didn’t have such rosy glasses towards them, but I think they have better values and are better for the end consumer more than any company close in size.

Apple charges $200 for a battery replacement on a MacBook Pro for labor on a $50 part. That’s less gouging than an auto repair shop. I know I’m not citing sources, but claiming a 2400% margin on repair is disingenuous.

What meaningful changes can Apple make without engineering changes?

Im not trying to make excuses for Apple execs, I just don’t understand all the hatred towards Apple when companies like Amazon, Facebook, and Google are much worse for the end-user and how they influence our consumption.

https://support.apple.com/mac/repair/service

[dann0]

I love the idea that you have designed and made your own headphones. I'm also glad that these work for you.

However, your argument about reducing environmental waste is flawed. AirPod, in total, weigh less and use far less plastic than your design.

Given the scale of production, the raw material to final product path will be short and relatively low impact. Your process involves much more packaging, transport and middle-man costs.

Feature set wise, your design is also significantly less.

I'm very supportive of people making product that is better suited to them, but the idea of this approach being somehow less wasteful is completely ridiculous.

[TaylorAlexander]

Because the airpod is a small device, this is true. However in general I believe open source hardware and infinitely repairable devices across the board would lead to less waste than proprietary technology with restricted repair.

My vision is not that one person designs open source headphones. My vision is that the primary suppliers of consumer products make their products open source. That would be a very different world, but I argue that it would be one with significantly less material waste.

In such a world, headphones would be both well designed and infinitely repairable.

By the way I have a new design that is more attractive. https://twitter.com/TLAlexander/status/1403968653406597122