With the intensity of competition within the technology space continuing to increase, we see a trend among manufacturers to have a yearly hardware upgrade cycle that promises improved features and performance. It can be argued that this phenomenon is driven by a market that is opportunistically exploiting a desire to own the latest technology, one that offers iteration rather than innovation and nominal gains between device generations.  As previously offline appliances gain new features to connect them to the internet, more elements of our lives join the online world and the continuing cycle of updates and upgrades to these electronics becomes more apparent. In this article we will look at keeping your software and hardware up to date in a world which is also needing to deal with the electronic waste (e-waste) it produces.

Technology companies will normally publish clearly defined End of Life (EoL) or End of Support (EoS) dates for their devices; information that does not assist in diminishing the commonly held perception of an industrial model of planned device obsolescence. An alternative (perhaps more pragmatic) viewpoint is that we would expect software/service developers to create their products to push the specifications of devices that are predominant in the market, and it is this that drives hardware manufacturers to evolve their equipment so that they perform well under these increased demands. Until End of Service, updates are made available to allow users to benefit from bug and security patches through to full operating system overhauls offering new features/experiences. Older devices will eventually reach an End of Life stage where they are unable to support the latest software/services and no longer be viable for continued use. 

Realistically, any device (or component of) can fail and if it is out of warranty then it can be costly and timely to have it fixed. Due to the ready availability of replacement equipment, it may be more convenient to purchase a replacement rather than have it repaired, and this is perhaps more justifiable if the device is reaching End of Life or End of Support. With an online tutorial being available to offer a guide through any repair, there is an evidenced fashion in Fix It Yourself (FIY); though with some devices being so precisely engineered, these can be complicated and need specialist tools. There is a call to make devices more modular so that components can be easily upgraded or replaced but we can expect this to sacrifice the slimline form factors we have become so used to.

Batteries in portable devices have a finite life based primarily on charge cycles i.e., how much they are used and how often they are recharged. Device manufacturers supply ratings advising that after three to five hundred cycles, the charge capacity of the ubiquitous lithium-ion battery will have dropped by approximately twenty percent and over its continued use will continue to degrade. This normally becomes impactful when a single charge does not permit use over the duration of a day, and this can often be the motivation to upgrade. Alternatively, it is quite possible to have just the battery replaced though this will likely require the assistance of the equipment manufacturer due to a continuing sophistication of design and assembly.

Reassuringly in recent years, protecting the environment has received a renewed focus; it is becoming increasingly popular and encouraged to use devices until they can no longer subjectively serve their purpose. We see many technology companies now offering their own recycling service to support a price point demand, a marketplace driven by a premium cost of new devices being outside of what many consumers deem reasonable. When devices are recycled in this way it is typically refurbished and sold back into the same market or possibly into third world countries; a great way to make technology more accessible to everyone and reduce e-waste. Devices that are not viable for refurbishment can be broken down into component parts and recycled at a more granular level. It is worth noting that some companies will outsource this effort to a third party who may offer a cash incentive or a credit towards an upgrade.

So how to strike a balance between protecting the environment whilst taking advantage of the latest technology and services? Whatever the motivation is for upgrading devices, there are options to repurpose old technology, whether this be by resale, passing it on to a family member, a charity, or through the manufacturers recycling service. We have historically taken back the electrical equipment used to supply our Freedomsat service so that this can be repurposed or recycled and have recently taken the step to incentivise this through our new recycling scheme https://www.freedomsat.co.uk/recycle-scheme

For your normal household electronics, should the methods described above not be available then we recommend visiting https://www.recycleyourelectricals.org.uk/ who will advise where your closest e-waste recycling points are located.