[pjc50]

While this is obviously very far from feasible, what _is_ possible is a return to servicability for the two parts that most commonly fail: batteries and screens. The rest of the phone is usually fine unless subjected to serious physical battering. The legendarily reliable Nokia 3210 is your landmark here.

Note that in a modern phone, the screen strength usually is achieved by bonding it to the case, so in practice "replace screen" turns into "take mainboard out of case and place in new case".

Modularity doesn't really help at all with the constant drive to replace working phones with newer, better ones. But there should be an effective secondhand market selling them to the Third world - and there is! No shortage of websites offering people money for their old phones.

Long term, we have to wait for the Moore's law slowdown, and a rise in Chinese manufacturing wages and other costs, before a local western repair industry becomes viable again.

(Apart from all the other issues, phonebloks would turn "Android fragmentation" into a far more extreme version; you can't guarantee that your peripheral will even be there next time you turn the phone on).

[umsm]

I completely agree. The trend at apple (for example) is to not allow customer to service their phones or laptops (i.e. gluing instead of screwing components together).

Ideally, I wouldn't mind paying ~$100 for a new screen (or any other assembly), but the problem is that the price of replacing exceeds the cost of the part.

One trend is towards purchasing "accidential" warranties and allowing the customer to trade in for a new device if / when something happens. But the issue is that this coverage is at most 2 - 3 years.

Another issue is that in America, for example, most carriers want to subsidize the phones their customers purchase. By doing this, most people don't see the need for keeping an older phone more than 1.5 - 2 years. If the cost of the phone is taken out of the monthly payments and forced upon the customers, this may allow more people to keep phones for a lot longer.

[DanBC]

There should also be a better way to return phones for recycling. Mining the gold and minerals is destructive and it's weird to me that it's easier and cheaper to dig up ore and process it than to grind up old tech and process that.

[pjc50]

In Europe, the manufacturer is _legally required_ to either accept old devices for recycling or contribute to a shared fund for doing this. (The program is called "WEEE": http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/business/topics/waste/1... )

[Kliment]

Which is an enormous racket and close to impossible to comply with economically for small manufacturers in some countries.

As an example, in Germany, if you are a small electronics manufacturer and sign up to the system, you get entered into a lottery weighted by the amount of devices (measured by weight) you ship, and whenever a container of e-waste gets filled, a randomly selected unlucky participant has to take possession of said container, no matter where it happens to be or what it's full of, and find some way to dispose of it. It's absolutely insane. In addition, you have to pay a fee to get to participate, and also you are subject to random inspections by an entity with absolutely no oversight that is legally prevented from having competitors. You have to pay for the inspections yourself too, to the same entity, which also runs said lottery.

There's no option to only accept your own devices for recycling, and also no option to contribute to a shared fund that takes care of it all. There's a small industry that will sell you INSURANCE against winning the shit lottery.

[pjc50]

I hadn't realised it was quite that crazy.

I'm still wrestling with CE approval for a device containing a GSM module. Which looks like it's going to be about E15000 for the radio and electrical testing, plus the complexities of RoHS compliance (random lab testing required, even if all your components are certified lead-free?)

I've concluded that Tindie-style electronics cottage industry is basically illegal in the EU. Fortunately I can still buy stuff from dealextreme and alibaba that doesn't have to comply..

[Kliment]

With a GSM module, you want a pre-approved module so you only need to do EMC testing. Doing your own radio testing is ridiculous and expensive. For RoHS compliance you should be able to get away with a declaration as long as not only the components but also the assembly process is lead-free. Incidentally, I have some thoughts on fixing this process, if you'd be willing to talk about it. Contact me on IRC (Kliment on the freenode network) or at kliment at 0xfb.com (yes, that is a zero)