Yesterday I posted about the repairability scale, with the comment that a bad score on that scale is bad for the planet. The post generated a number of excellent comments, both here and on Twitter.
A big part of the argument was the bias on the repairability scale. In effect, saying that if a device is easily recyclable, it is not as important that it be repairable. Another related argument stresses that the folks at iFixIt are concerned with user repair and not professional repair.
These and other comments, all good stuff. Thanks for opening my eyes a bit more.
My 2 cents on this? The best solution, the one that is most respectful to the planet and our limited resources, is that of repairability. Better if it’s user repairability, but if it takes special tools and/or a pro, so be it.
Next down on the scale is reusability. If your device still works, but you want to replace it, find a new home for your old one, if possible. Not always practical, so if you can’t find a new home for your old device, recycle it.
One point I really missed out on is Apple’s incredible dedication to recyclability. This is from Apple’s web site:
Apple recycles responsibly.
When you recycle with Apple, your used equipment is disassembled, and key components that can be reused are removed. Glass and metal can be reprocessed for use in new products. A majority of the plastics can be pelletized into a raw secondary material. With materials reprocessing and component reuse, Apple often achieves a 90 percent recovery rate by weight of the original product.Apple meets the requirements of the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal. All e-waste collected by Apple-controlled voluntary and regulatory programs worldwide is processed in the region in which it was collected. Our recyclers must comply with all health and safety laws, and we do not allow the use of prison labor. Apple recyclers do not dispose of hazardous electronic waste in solid-waste landfills or incinerators. For an example of the stringent processing and operational controls Apple places on its directly contracted recyclers, read an excerpt from our recycler requirements agreement [PDF].
Hopefully, both Google and Microsoft have similar policies for the devices they make themselves and partner policies for the manufacturers of devices that run their operating systems. If not, worth considering I think.
The other thing is upgradability, if you buy an Apple product it’s generally outdated very quickly. There is no chance to upgrade RAM or hard drive or graphics. In the past I’ve always upgraded RAM once and upgraded hard drive twice per MacBook Pro.
And no, adding storage externally isn’t the answer, especially when you travel enough as some airlines don’t allow external hard drives.
Excellent point. Never a chance to upgrade an iOS device and newer Macs are difficult to upgrade.
You are missing a big one one: Reliability.
The more reliable a device is, the less of an issue repair, reuse or recycling is. Indeed, with a perfectly reliable gadget repairability would be irrelevant. With tech gadgets though, the importance reuse and recycling never goes away, because at some point the utility of the device drops below its value for parts.
The rise of cloud computing deals with this. And sure it’s not 100% reliable but the vast majority of people are able to use it.
I ranted a bout this a while ago and I won’t bother anyone with it here, but the fact of the matter is that Apple is on a course to build products to such a high standard that their electronics will be a solid, sealed nearly impossible to break (through expected use) devices that will last for as long as someone can find a use for them. And then they will be easily recycled. Apple is far and away the company leading this charge, and it’s obviously one of their top priorities. They are producing hardware consisting of glass and metal, and no doubt as soon as battery technologies change, those will be 100% recyclable as well.
This is why I feel the complaints of repairability are DOA as far as I am concerned. A sealed device with no moving parts built with high quality materials to an exacting standard will last much longer and hold it’s value far longer than the competitions devices and a casual search on eBay will already confirm that is happening.
The Cloud doesn’t increase RAM and using the Cloud is like using a USB (v1) or a slow USB2 (let’s not even talk about security).
Component failures run 5-10% and have for the last 10 yrs., I don’t see that decreasing. Add to that accidental damage which also requires repairing or replacing.
Personally in the 6x MacBook Pros I’ve owned, every one of them has had a logic board/graphics card issue. AppleCare to the rescue.
It’s not that slow for data unless you get into many GB files. And security is a concern no matter what really in this day and age.
I don’t see that decreasing.
Yet it’s been decreasing for decades. The first TVs were fire hazards. Now most households stick a TV anywhere they have free wall space.
if you buy an Apple product it’s generally outdated very quickly.
Nothing stands still. The car you bought in the spring is outdated. The TV I bought at Christmas is several models out of date.
“Outdated” not only defies attempts at a hard definition, but the very concept is becoming moot in certain classes of devices.
There is no chance to upgrade RAM or hard drive or graphics.
The overwhelming majority of upgradable personal computing devices never get upgraded and yet run fine for years. The upgrade treadmill is an anachronism clung to and perpetuated by tweakers and hamsters. The lack of “upgradability” of Apple’s products is a non-sequitor for the overwhelming majority of the customer base.
I stated for the last 10 yrs, and you go to decades. It’s funny there were no computer component failure in the stone age either. Too funny.
Except Apple products stand still for a year, why pay $3300, oooops, then next year $3300.
Certain classes, except for the Pro, hence MacBook Pro and Mac Pro. I don’t care about the lemmings who will buy anything and use it for web surfing and email (they have the iPad)
I stated for the last 10 yrs
10 years is a decade.
It’s funny there were no computer component failure in the stone age either.
But there certainly were people who pretended that technology had gotten as good as it was going to get and that it wasn’t going to get any better. Is the fact that failures rates steadily decline as quality and manufacturing processes improve really that hard a concept to grasp?