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1.  

   If only I could...

   

   Rob Henderson, Mar 31st, 2004 @ 5:07am

   
   

   I've yet to own a mobile phone that I was able to keep for more than 2.5 years. Antennae break off, buttons crack, charging/data ports become unusable.
   Some of our 'disposable gadget' notions do come from our mindset about the value of these things. Much of it, however, comes from the cost cutting at the factory that results in such short product lifespans.

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2.  

   My cellphones are certainly disposable.

   

   Michael Kohne, Mar 31st, 2004 @ 5:08am

   
   

   Not that I necessarily WANT to dispose of a cellphone every 2 years, but since I usually end up taking the 'sign up and we'll give you a phone' device, I find that every year or two I need a new one as the old one has died.
   In this case it's not so much that I want a new phone, it's that I NEED a new phone (or to give up having a cell phone at all, which is something I probably ought to consider).
   

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3.  

   Re: My cellphones are certainly disposable.

   

   Anonymous Coward, Mar 31st, 2004 @ 6:53am

   
   

   
   Well we are Americans !
   Send our used phones to third world countries.
   We really only deserve the best and newest.
   And Verzion told me so.
   Just sign up and spend lots of cash and we will give you a new phone every year.
   
   Do any of you ever donate your used equipment to women's shelters or other facilities that refurbish and sell these " old " phones to help others ?
   
   

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4.  

   It's a consequence of manufacturing technology

   

   David Pachura, Mar 31st, 2004 @ 8:21am

   
   

   This is not a surprise. With modern manufacturing technology, the real cost of the device is in the design, not the actual manufacturing. With VLSI chips, high-density printed circuit boards, and million-line software intensive systems, modern systems are not repairable, or in many cases upgradeable. Combine that with rapid technology changes and it becomes inevitable that a problem means replacement, not repair. My 5-year old cell phone has obsolete analog technology, and my current cell phone doesn't accommodate GSM, which is what my cellphone provider is converting to in the next year. The high-fashion fads in cell phones is a side-effect to increase churn, but it's not the driving factor over a long time.

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5.  

   It's a no brainer.

   

   Anonymous Coward, Mar 31st, 2004 @ 12:17pm

   
   

   A Virgin Mobile phone costs me $69 and I am given $20 worth of airtime for various things like registering the phone online instead of dealing with a live person. Bottom line is that the new phone cost me $49. When the battery dies, a new battery will cost me $69. This is a no brainer.

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6.  

   Re: My WIFI was certainly disposable.

   

   Anonymous Coward, Mar 31st, 2004 @ 9:21pm

   
   

   My home access point died exactly two years after I got it. An informal survey at work found coworders had the same experience, so we all figured that it was somehow built in...

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