Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

posted by chromas on Thursday October 25 2018, @02:26PM   Printer-friendly
from the apt-get-safe-upgrade dept.

The Italian antitrust authority has announced a fine of 5M euro and 10M euro against Samsung and Apple respectively, because they forced upon the users of their mobile devices a number of system updates that significantly impaired the performance and the stability of the smartphones, pushing the owners to consider replacement or repair outside warranty coverage of the misbehaving items.

Apparently the two companies failed to underline that the security mentioned in the upgrades was relative to their own cash flow, by creating demand for new models.

It is a first for tech firms to be explicitly fined for the notorious practice called "planned obsolescence".

Also at Fast Company


Original Submission

Related Stories

Is Upgrade Culture Out of Date? 62 comments

Mac Bowley at the Raspberry Pi blog asks about ending hardware upgrades for the sake of upgrades as well as ending planned obsolescence. The softwre for the Raspberry Pi, he notes, still runs on the first models even if the newer models are faster. In fact the old models are still being produced and bought. Fully exploiting the natural life spans of hardware would have a lot of advantages, not the least of which would be reduction of the enviornmental impact.

Some components of your phone cannot be created without rare chemical elements, such as europium and dysprosium. (In fact, there are 83 stable non-radioactive elements in the periodic table, and 70 of them are used in some capacity in your phone.) Upgrade culture means there is high demand for these materials, and deposits are becoming more and more depleted. If you're hoping there are renewable alternatives, you'll be disappointed: a study by researchers working at Yale University found that there are currently no alternative materials that are as effective.

Then there's the issue of how the materials are mined. The market trading these materials is highly competitive, and more often than not manufacturers buy from the companies offer the lowest prices. To maintain their profit margin, these companies have to extract as much material as possible as cheaply as they can. As you can imagine, this leads to mining practices that are less than ethical or environmentally friendly. As many of the mines are located in distant areas of developing countries, these problems may feel remote to you, but they affect a lot of people and are a direct result of the market we are creating by upgrading our devices every two years.

Many of us agree that we need to do what we can to counteract climate change, and that, to achieve anything meaningful, we have to start looking at the way we live our lives. This includes questioning how we use technology. It will be through discussion and opinion gathering that we can start to make more informed decisions — as individuals and as a society.

Previously:
Apple, Samsung Fined for Crippling Devices With Software Updates
Planned Obsolescence Takes a Step Forward (2014)


Original Submission

This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
(1)
  • (Score: 5, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Thursday October 25 2018, @02:47PM (3 children)

    by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Thursday October 25 2018, @02:47PM (#753665) Journal

    Can't we call it by a more proper name, like fraud?

    • (Score: 3, Insightful) by requerdanos on Thursday October 25 2018, @05:42PM (2 children)

      by requerdanos (5997) Subscriber Badge on Thursday October 25 2018, @05:42PM (#753753) Journal

      planned obsolescence

      Can't we call it by a more proper name, like fraud?

      Quite right. "planned obsolescence" is more likely to involve making something of low enough quality or usefulness such that it will inevitably need to be replaced (sooner rather than later) while still being exactly what you bought.

      That isn't what we have here. What we have here is companies who break into your house by abusing otherwise trusted network connections and break the otherwise still functional and useful device in question so that you will need to buy another one to have the same or greater performance that you did before they broke it.

      "Fraud" would be a polite euphemism for what's going on here.

      • (Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Thursday October 25 2018, @06:57PM

        by MichaelDavidCrawford (2339) Subscriber Badge <mdcrawford@gmail.com> on Thursday October 25 2018, @06:57PM (#753790) Homepage Journal

        Well, rarely anyway.

        In the specific case of iGadgets, I will only update if there is a well-tested untethered jailbreak - even if I don't jailbreak myself, I want to have that option.

        I wasn't going to jailbreak my 10.0.1 iPhone 7, but I'll be doing so soon so as to crap all over the mobile analytics SDKs.

        --
        Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
      • (Score: 2) by Bot on Thursday October 25 2018, @09:25PM

        by Bot (3902) on Thursday October 25 2018, @09:25PM (#753855) Journal

        IMHO there is more than one way to make things obsolete and more than one stage to plan it (design stage, after launch of a new model, when competition is behind...), so the idiom can be applied in context.

        --
        Account abandoned.
  • (Score: 3, Informative) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Thursday October 25 2018, @02:52PM (19 children)

    by MichaelDavidCrawford (2339) Subscriber Badge <mdcrawford@gmail.com> on Thursday October 25 2018, @02:52PM (#753667) Homepage Journal

    -wing the iOS down.

    When they were finally accused of crippling old devices, they explained that this was done so as to avoid drawing too much current from old batteries. While Apple said that the resulting undervoltage would shut down their devices, undervoltage can also _brick_ digital circuits.

    That actually happened with the early prototypes of the Sony Ericsson XPeria Play android phones. There was a sign next to our flashing station that warned of the need for fully-charged batteries before flashing. I replaced the battery with a power supply that had a current meter on it, then determined that just after flashing, sometimes - but not always - the handsets would draw more current than the battery was capable of producing. The result of that was bricking.

    For us, we could un-brick the device with a JTAG gadget, but that option is never available to end-users.

    --
    Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
    • (Score: 4, Informative) by Alfred on Thursday October 25 2018, @03:04PM (11 children)

      by Alfred (4006) on Thursday October 25 2018, @03:04PM (#753675) Journal
      They say that is why but remember they say things so they can make money.

      Maybe it would be better to sustain performance for a shorter time. Maybe better to underclock for a longer time. Any modern chip supports dynamic clock speed adjustments. Are they capping the top clock speed? They should have some system settings for tweaking energy use vs performance since it is controlled by software anyhow.

      I have a Ye Olde iPad that new could play movies for 10 hours, now I get about 5 or 6. That is what I expect for an olde battery.
      • (Score: 1, Flamebait) by chewbacon on Thursday October 25 2018, @03:15PM (10 children)

        by chewbacon (1032) on Thursday October 25 2018, @03:15PM (#753679)

        A lot of these accusations from consumers is simply because consumers don't want to spend money. They already bought a $1000 phone so it should last forever (You could say iPhone XS is priced XSively). Battery going out so the phone slows down to prevent a failure? Buy a new battery. Nah, that costs money - let's blame the manufacturer for a battery that wears down after a couple years like batteries do!

        • (Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Thursday October 25 2018, @03:32PM (2 children)

          by MichaelDavidCrawford (2339) Subscriber Badge <mdcrawford@gmail.com> on Thursday October 25 2018, @03:32PM (#753685) Homepage Journal

          My iPad is the first-gen model. It doesn't even have 3G. I bought it new in the original cardboard box, containing the product box, at a pawn shop for 140 Samoleons.

          Works great, because I'm not into installing apps. There are just a few I download, but aside from those I can't even remember the last time I used the App Store.

          Mostly I use it for web browsing and watching online videos.

          My Mom has a 2002 G4 iMac - the Space Probe model - with OS X 10.4.6 I think that's Tiger or so. That Safari's built-in CA certs were all expired was getting her down so I got her to use TenFourFox [floodgap.com]. Now she doesn't need to buy a new Mac anymore. I'm going to turn Aunt Peggy on to TenFourFox next, she's got a 2002 G3 iBook.

          Both Mom's iMac and Auntie's iBook are in mint condition. They're both quite diligent about dusting. I'm planning to get them both HEPA filters for Christmas so as to keep a lid on forest fire smoke which is a real problem in the Pacific NorthLeft every Summer, but when they open them on Christmas Day I'll also point out that they'll never need to dust ever again if they run their HEPA filters from time to time.

          (They're the best thing for airborne allergies, too.)

          I bought an iPhone 7 a little over a year ago so I could demonstrate Warp Life [warplife.com] during a job interview. When the battery wears out or I crack the screen I'll buy the parts and tools from iFixit then follow iFixit's instructions to replace them. With just that much repair I expect my 7 to last a good ten years.

          --
          Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
          • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 26 2018, @06:04AM

            by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 26 2018, @06:04AM (#754008)

            What are you going to do when you replace a part and the device refuses to boot?
            Take it to the mac shop and pay the price for them to run a "diagnostic"?

          • (Score: 3, Informative) by hendrikboom on Friday October 26 2018, @04:47PM

            by hendrikboom (1125) Subscriber Badge on Friday October 26 2018, @04:47PM (#754144) Homepage Journal

            Dusting may still be necessary with a HEPA filter. Some particles might settle on the mantelpiece before they get wafted to the filter. But there should be a lot less dusting to do.

            -- hendrik

        • (Score: 4, Informative) by Runaway1956 on Thursday October 25 2018, @03:40PM (2 children)

          by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Thursday October 25 2018, @03:40PM (#753687) Journal

          Problem is - Apple didn't TELL ANYONE that the battery was wearing out. They just arbitrarily slowed the machines down - and arbitrarily did so just before the release of a new phone. I think there's a song about that kind of thing - Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap - except Apple does nothing cheaply. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2sky1tt8vLA [youtube.com]

          Apple SHOULD HAVE given users the option of applying speed caps, or getting a new battery.

          • (Score: 2) by darkfeline on Friday October 26 2018, @06:57AM (1 child)

            by darkfeline (1030) on Friday October 26 2018, @06:57AM (#754022) Homepage

            Are you saying that the average Apple user would prefer to make informed choices of their own volition and not have choices made for them? Apple making choices unilaterally is exactly what the average Apple user wants, the proverbial walled garden from which knowledge is banned.

            --
            Join the SDF Public Access UNIX System today!
            • (Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Friday October 26 2018, @02:53PM

              by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Friday October 26 2018, @02:53PM (#754104) Journal

              Key word, "average". The average user seems to be just as you describe, so I can't argue with you.

              Since I am very not average, I can empathize with the remaining Apple users who would prefer to have a choice. Not every Apple user is necessarily an Apple Phanboi. Some of those people weighed their options, and decide that Apple was probably the best phone (or whatever) for their particular use. When the situation changes, they'll change their purchases up.

        • (Score: 3, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 25 2018, @04:44PM (3 children)

          by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 25 2018, @04:44PM (#753726)

          You know, look back a few phone generations and this would have been the solution. I had two batteries for each phone with a removable battery. The number of phone models with removable batteries is slim these days.

          By not allowing easy replacement of the battery they in effect have put an expiration date on the phone. Unless you damage the phone or there is a defect usually the rest of the phone hardware can outlast the battery's lifetime no problem.

          • (Score: 2) by Alfred on Thursday October 25 2018, @06:46PM

            by Alfred (4006) on Thursday October 25 2018, @06:46PM (#753782) Journal
            ^this.
          • (Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Thursday October 25 2018, @06:53PM

            by MichaelDavidCrawford (2339) Subscriber Badge <mdcrawford@gmail.com> on Thursday October 25 2018, @06:53PM (#753786) Homepage Journal

            When the Apple Store was in Portland's Pioneer Place shopping mall, there was a screen and battery replacement kiosk not ten feet from their entrance.

            From time to time I come across a huge long line of fanbois waiting to buy a new product. I always walk down the line, introduce myself as an Apple Developer then say to each of them, "Don't buy version 1.0 of _anything_".

            I got that from one of Working Software's users when he called Tech Support - I was their coder, but did their second-tier.

            --
            Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
          • (Score: 2) by Bot on Thursday October 25 2018, @09:33PM

            by Bot (3902) on Thursday October 25 2018, @09:33PM (#753858) Journal

            Two out of two phones, (one, a samsung) I attempted to salvage by replacing the battery or having it done by a service.
            One repaired lasted for 6 months (pretty intense use though) and showed again problems. The other showed less probs but earlier. I suspect the voltage regulator.

            --
            Account abandoned.
    • (Score: 2) by Spamalope on Thursday October 25 2018, @03:47PM (1 child)

      by Spamalope (5233) on Thursday October 25 2018, @03:47PM (#753691) Homepage

      So check battery charge level in software before flashing. Turn off background processes and all the radios/put it into power saver mode first. There are lots of solutions that don't include permanent slow downs.

      That doesn't explain the phones experiencing profound slow downs upon firmware updates anyhow.

      It's separate from recompiling with optimizations for a later arm processor forcing earlier devices into software emulation; Or forcing software support for hardware not in older phones into memory anyway so old phones are low on ram; or changing the OS memory usage targets to be above the total available to older phones/change the swap settings to assume far more memory than present so there is swap pressure when idle with no apps loaded (had an embedded device update change to assuming 8gig on a 2gig device - was devastating to performance)

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 25 2018, @04:21PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 25 2018, @04:21PM (#753706)
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 25 2018, @04:33PM (1 child)

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 25 2018, @04:33PM (#753714)

      While Apple said that the resulting undervoltage would shut down their devices, undervoltage can also _brick_ digital circuits.

      Ha, ha! Would you like some more sugar in your Kool-aid?

    • (Score: 2) by sjames on Thursday October 25 2018, @10:31PM

      by sjames (2882) on Thursday October 25 2018, @10:31PM (#753884) Journal

      The thing is, people noticed because their iDevices were running satisfactorily before the 'upgrade', which presumably means not glitching and crashing, then after the 'upgrade' they slowed down.

      If glitching was the fear, then the fix is to raise the lower bound where the phone either shuts down or goes into deep conservation mode.

      Contrast with my updated Android phone where I can set the deep conservation threshold in user configurations AND decide if I want 'Eco Mode' or not and if so, do I want to make exceptions to it.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 26 2018, @06:49AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 26 2018, @06:49AM (#754020)

      But they did it without telling the user, and then denied it before finally telling the truth after being pressured enough.

      If only they had just told the user and given the option to bypass the slowdown they'd pretty much be in the clear.

  • (Score: 2) by SomeGuy on Thursday October 25 2018, @02:57PM

    by SomeGuy (5632) on Thursday October 25 2018, @02:57PM (#753672)

    Silly Italians, don't they know that old things should always be thrown away? Throwing old things away and buying new stuff is green, good for the planet, saves us money, and keeps us secure! They are doing us all a favor by disabling old stuff! You don't want to be some behind the times Luddite do you? You can't be too safe, I've got nothing to hide, think of the children, pollywannacracker! All praise our corporate overlords!

    :P

  • (Score: 2) by RandomFactor on Thursday October 25 2018, @04:36PM

    by RandomFactor (3682) Subscriber Badge on Thursday October 25 2018, @04:36PM (#753717) Journal

    Sadly it will be: Don't provide your customers updates. If they want the next version or revision they can buy a new phone.

    --
    В «Правде» нет известий, в «Известиях» нет правды
  • (Score: 2) by stretch611 on Thursday October 25 2018, @06:21PM (3 children)

    by stretch611 (6199) on Thursday October 25 2018, @06:21PM (#753773)

    10 million euros? A quick search on duckduckgo [duckduckgo.com] suggests that Apple is sitting on roughly 250 Billion dollars in cash. (Current conversion: $250B = €219.81B)

    Does Apple even notice a fine like that?

    Even if the fine was made daily, it would take slightly over 60 years to go through that much cash... assuming they were not making any money in the meantime.

    And lets face it... If the fine is noticed, they can always just increase the price of their already overpriced phones in Europe and they would still be bought.

    (Yes, I realize the search results are mostly from last year, but it is doubtful that much has changed and Apple still has a huge wad of cash.)

    --
    Now with 5 covid vaccine shots/boosters altering my DNA :P
    • (Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Thursday October 25 2018, @07:01PM (1 child)

      by MichaelDavidCrawford (2339) Subscriber Badge <mdcrawford@gmail.com> on Thursday October 25 2018, @07:01PM (#753794) Homepage Journal

      ... it would not be worth his time to pick it back up.

      That's not really how bean counters think. IIRC it was Neal Stephenson but I'm not certain, one of his characters said "The rich take very good care of their money".

      I keep attempting to do that myself but so far haven't had much success with it.

      --
      Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
    • (Score: 2) by Bot on Thursday October 25 2018, @08:39PM

      by Bot (3902) on Thursday October 25 2018, @08:39PM (#753838) Journal

      OTOH the guys issuing the fine belong to the Italian antitrust authority. Which can probably consider only Italian sales to determine the amount. Besides, privacy and antitrust are managed by authorities and not by the usual judges, authorities are likely weaker. Maybe they wanted to show off something as the new government is getting seated.

      --
      Account abandoned.
  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 25 2018, @06:52PM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 25 2018, @06:52PM (#753785)

    If you want to upgrade your phone use something like LineageOS

(1)