This is what I do, along with a few other devices I’ve owned. Sometimes I’ve been able to give perfectly decent devices away to friends/coworkers/family who had a sudden problem with theirs and have a hard time affording a new one.
But unlike the old video game consoles that I do the same thing with, I am always a bit worried about long-term storage of devices that use lithium ion batteries. I know failure rates are rare but I’ve heard the horror stories and I know the risk increases each time I take another device and put them back in a box up on the shelf.
Hopefully some day, people will look back and laugh at us using lithium ion batteries like we laugh at lead paint, nitrate film, and asbestos.
Give away, repurpose, or resell. This is the right way. I myself only purchase used phones. No need for perfectly usable devices to become electronical waste.
When it comes to phones at least, I also try to keep mine for as long as possible because there’s honestly no point in upgrading just for the heck of it. Companies don’t release meaningful “must have” features anymore like they did back when people felt it was normal to upgrade every couple of years. No need to contribute to e-waste when it can be avoided.
I’ve been using my current phone for 4 years now, and the phone I had before that I used for 6. I upgraded only because I received the newer one for free from work, but I gave my previous phone away to a friend who needed one because I wasn’t going to throw away a perfectly good phone that I was happily using just fine a few months prior. Sure, the battery life was no longer quite as good, but I didn’t really care (nor did my friend) because we at least remember the days where you were lucky if your phone made it more than 8 hours on a single charge. You just learn to deal with it and bring a spare charger if you’re planning to be out for a while.
Heck, by the looks of it, companies are just making the newer models worse and worse without actually adding anything. They’ll have to tear my current phone out of my cold dead hands.
But when the old phone gets its final resting place in the cupboard, I want it to be in the original box.
This is what I do, along with a few other devices I’ve owned. Sometimes I’ve been able to give perfectly decent devices away to friends/coworkers/family who had a sudden problem with theirs and have a hard time affording a new one.
But unlike the old video game consoles that I do the same thing with, I am always a bit worried about long-term storage of devices that use lithium ion batteries. I know failure rates are rare but I’ve heard the horror stories and I know the risk increases each time I take another device and put them back in a box up on the shelf.
Hopefully some day, people will look back and laugh at us using lithium ion batteries like we laugh at lead paint, nitrate film, and asbestos.
Give away, repurpose, or resell. This is the right way. I myself only purchase used phones. No need for perfectly usable devices to become electronical waste.
Exactly.
When it comes to phones at least, I also try to keep mine for as long as possible because there’s honestly no point in upgrading just for the heck of it. Companies don’t release meaningful “must have” features anymore like they did back when people felt it was normal to upgrade every couple of years. No need to contribute to e-waste when it can be avoided.
I’ve been using my current phone for 4 years now, and the phone I had before that I used for 6. I upgraded only because I received the newer one for free from work, but I gave my previous phone away to a friend who needed one because I wasn’t going to throw away a perfectly good phone that I was happily using just fine a few months prior. Sure, the battery life was no longer quite as good, but I didn’t really care (nor did my friend) because we at least remember the days where you were lucky if your phone made it more than 8 hours on a single charge. You just learn to deal with it and bring a spare charger if you’re planning to be out for a while.
Heck, by the looks of it, companies are just making the newer models worse and worse without actually adding anything. They’ll have to tear my current phone out of my cold dead hands.
Essentially giving it proper funeral it deserves