[JohnWhigham]

I'd contend NAFTA was the kiss of death for the US. It's what turned on the country to cheap produce out-of-season, and it got us addicted to cheap electronics. People forget that shit like tape decks and the like used to be prohibitively expensive in the 70s/80s. Nowadays we have people working at McDonalds with $1000 phones in their pockets. I don't think these devices were meant to be had by all. You should have to work for them. Commoditizing electronics looks great from a human rights perspective, sure, but it's proved ruinous for the planet.

[SamoyedFurFluff]

> McDonalds with $1000 phones in their pockets. I don't think these devices were meant to be had by all. You should have to work for them.

Aren’t they working for them?? At McDonald’s?? And honestly they’re probably working harder than me, a software engineer, who also has a 1000$ phone. But I also have healthcare, and never have to put up with mopping any flooring.

[JohnWhigham]

My point is that electronics should be prohibitively expensive. They have a lot of expensive parts in them. Today's budget iPhone should be something like $2000.

[KingMachiavelli]

Actually there are less expensive parts. The parts are more expensive per unit mass but I bet an iPhone consumes about 1/10 of the raw materials as a early 70/80s entertainment boxes. It still just plastic, metal, glass, etc. The old electronics probably used worse chemicals in production as well. The lithium ion battery is probably the one outlier in that it's unique to mobile electronics but old portable electronics would use dozens of non-rechargeable batteries every year.

[JohnWhigham]

The lithium ion battery is probably the one outlier in that it's unique to mobile electronics but old portable electronics would use dozens of non-rechargeable batteries every year.

Sure, but devices with replaceable batteries are theoretically easier to use longer. The average person buys a mobile phone every other year and discards their old ones. Practically every consumer electronic out there uses rechargeable batteries now which puts a limited lifespan on them.

[bitcurious]

That’s an opinion; not a point. A point would be some justification for why you think that.

[JohnWhigham]

I said it: they have lots of expensive parts in them. They rely on expensive rare earth metals that require lots of capital to extract, and leave wakes of destruction on the landscape. They require lots of plastics that remain inert for thousands of years. If one is spending thousands of dollars on these things, then they better last a long time. Instead we throw them out every other year and begin the cycle anew again.