Every time I look at the drawers of 'put away' items, especially old cell phones and tablets, I see still-functioning devices that could continue to serve a purpose. Take, for example, the old Motorola phone my mother discarded due to years without security updates. I believe it's no less efficient than an old Raspberry PI - it even has a screen, good built-in WiFi, various sensors, a camera, etc. Yet, this Android terminal has been abandoned since 2018, and I feel quite insecure running software on it.
The European Union, often too focused on bureaucracy and not enough on the real world, did make progress with USB-C. It would be wonderful if they could mandate manufacturers to open up their devices once they are abandoned. I dream of being able to install an updated OpenSource OS (not necessarily *BSD, but at least Linux) detached from Android, or at least an AOSP version of Android, without resorting to questionable binaries from XDA.
Essentially saying: 'You've bought my device, I won’t update it anymore, but since the hardware still works, you're on your own but you can keep it running.'
My drawers are full of high-quality, still usable but abandoned devices. I'd rather use my old Huawei as a surveillance camera (which now has outdated and unupdated software) than any device sending my images to obscure clouds in countries with questionable laws.
I'm considering starting a petition – not sure if there are any yet, will do some research – but I'm fairly certain it won't lead to much. Planned obsolescence is a concept too ingrained in today's technology, and there are too many interests behind it.
#TechSustainability #OpenSource #RightToRepair #PlannedObsolescence #EuropeanUnion #DigitalRights #Technology #OSS
Stefano Marinelli /
npub14c…j0nj8
2023-12-30 10:02:22
Author Public Key
npub14calwd6xg349ahf3nnhhyqem2w2e3gs66p7zctz2sna74u3tsddq7j0nj8Published at
2023-12-30 10:02:22Event JSON
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