Being Practical

Is it right to replace our mobile phones into the newest piece of technology as soon as there's a new one available? I can sense those who have the means are nodding their heads right now. There’s nothing wrong about that. but ios it ethical?

The saying goes, ‘don’t try to fix it if it’s not faulty’. So why replace it, or in marketing terms, upgrade it? 

People are drawn into new things. Just a few tweaks of the camera setting and additional feature in a new phone can make people form a long queue to get hold of the new variant. Adding power words like XL, HD, 5G, or vegan friendly resonates to the already conditioned consumer thinking.

 I remember many years ago, there was a concept of a modular phone. The individual components like camera, Bluetooth, nfc, etc. can be added like a piece of Lego. The idea is, if there is a new camera, just remove the camera block and replace it with the new one. If there’s a new feature, just find an empty block and fit it in. That was the way when computers were primarily tower computers. 

Why this idea did not took off? Although a good thought, it can be a fiddle. Consumers don’t like complicated things. They like to buy, then open and use.

There’s not much incentive in keeping your old phone aside from the obvious, saving some dough for something else. Sad thing is the operating system providers stop supporting old versions. Compatibility issues to new technology arise after more or less than 4 years. 

I can only think of the mobile and data providers to set up a ‘decreasing tariff’ to those who continue to hold on to their old mobile phones to reduce electronic waste. It can be bad thing for the company, but can also be a positive choice for the consumers. So why not use providers that offer second hand units which usually have lower rentals, the likes of music magpie, envirofone, giffgaff, voxi refurbished phones and so on. 

It may not be appealing to everybody but this little thing that we can do can save us some money and is friendlier to the planet. Phones are primarily made for ringing, anyway.