[johnea]

> On the contrary, the only thing a consumer can do to improve their laptop’s ecological and economic sustainability is to use it for as long as possible.

This is true for everything, not just laptops.

Any purchasing that occurrs on a fashion cycle is largly a rip off...

[jll29]

I believe most people do not WANT a new device, as getting used to new ways and new quirks is a unproductive distraction.

For instance, I would pay a lot to get my BlackBerry back, screw all that app bloarware nonsense. Fast email, phone, a good keyboard and long battery life, that is a winning combination, from a user's perspective. (And I actually prefer devices with no camera or microphone in it, for security reasons.)

[bluGill]

That depends on what you do. a newer cpu is often enough more efficent per unit of work as to pay for itself. I first calculated this when we were arguing if the price of a 80486 was worth it over the cheaper 80386 and if you kept it busy 24x7 you would pay for the new computer in a year from your electric bill (more in summer when you need ac)

[Jolter]

The idea of the article is to not run the newer, more demanding software which drives the replacement cycle. Instead install a lightweight Linux or similar and don’t use all those extra CPU cycles.

[bluGill]

But even then wht if you ran the lite linux on the newest. Would the increased efficiency pay for it?