I can't say for sure when this all started. I have periodically upgraded my PC, bought more RAM, moved to a laptop, traded it for one with a bigger screen, a better CPU. My old mobile phone (Nokia) broke so I bought a new one with a better camera - and so on. All natural progressions.
I now own a HP laptop. Intel Core i3. I own a Samsung J5 mobile. They both do what I need - I'm quite happy with my old tech.
But the other day I was going through my box of stuff and I found my old FitBit - I charged it and Lo! It works! I go to install the FitBit app on my 'phone - nope, not available any more. I try to install it on my laptop - nope, sorry, not supported. So the FitBit is pretty useless then.
Oh, and the laptop is not Windows 11 compatible either!
So, I went to log into my Costa coffee app on my 'phone this morning and I'm told I need a newer version but my 'phone software might need an upgrade, and sure enough, the app isn't available any more in PlayStore!
So slowly but surely I am being forced to discard these expensive (at the time) items to buy new stuff. My new laptop will not have an optical drive. My new mobile 'phone will be bulkier, so I'll need a new case for it, and larger screen protectors.
Now if as implied, the old stuff is obsolete, there's not going to be much to reuse or recycle, so it'll probably end up in some landfill.
And the worst thing is - give it a couple of years and I suspect I'll have to do it all over again.
Once upon a time we had things that were built to last - and when they broke, a skilled artisan or an engineer repaired them. These days, your toaster breaks, you buy a new one online and it's delivered the next day in a massive cardboard box filled with crumpled up brown paper. But to dispose of the old one you have to take it to the recycling centre (once called "the dump"), and that's likely to cost you in fuel or bus fare, and that just adds more pollution.
It's all a ridiculous waste of resources and it saddens and angers me.
