Smart users can give longer life to smartphones

China may soon see a change in its relationship with technology, among a demographic that is quick to discard old smartphones and gadgets in favor of new products.

Many young people have arguably lost their relationship with the products they own, with the current generation considered less likely than ever to invest time and skill into fixing belongings. Tales of grandparents using the same sewing machine or furniture for decades, only throwing them out when there was no option, have been relegated to history, with millennials and Generation Z more likely than ever to regard their belongings in a disposable manner.

However, to point the finger of blame at young people for being lazy, flippant, or not appreciating hard-earned cash is an over-simplification. An abundance of readily available, albeit expensive, skilled technical labor means that many people have no idea how to fix their smartphones if broken, and big tech companies often discourage such tinkering by making products difficult or impossible to fix, by design.

The latter has led to a consumer rights crisis, where a power imbalance heavily in favor of manufacturers when things go wrong often leads to smartphone owners becoming frustrated by their lack of options.

To add insult to injury, companies such as Apple have also been accused of deliberately limiting the lifespan of their products. This contributes to global waste problems, and also steers such companies into legal challenges instigated by governments and consumer watchdogs around the world.

According to United Nations statistics, around 53.6 million tonnes of electronic waste was generated in 2019, with less than one-fifth of it being recycled. With new phones and gadgets prone to a fast turnaround, landfills around the world are rapidly filling up with yesterday's model.

The unsustainability of this cannot be understated; precious metals that make up the valuable chips within our devices are finite in nature. The issue has international climate change significance too, with the European Environmental Bureau stating that if smartphone lifespans were to increase by just one year, it would be the same as taking two million cars off the road, in the equivalent term of CO2 emissions.

Fortunately, with the correct training, fixing a broken phone may not be as impossible as some owners may think. Those who attempt to fix phones currently risk voiding their warranties with the manufacturers, but a growing minority feel that the liberty of true device ownership is worth it.

Videos on Chinese app Douyin are full of tutorials on how to replace broken screens and install new buttons, although it is worth mentioning that this is currently something people should only attempt at their own risk, and when informed and safe to do so.

Manufacturers should in turn do their bit to ensure that future phone models are not only more robust with longer lifespans, but also structured in a way which allows them to be easily fixable with minimal training.

Similar to how basic car maintenance can be carried out by motorists, big tech's relationship with both consumers and environmentalists would be drastically improved through doing this. Whether it be broken screens or fixing headphone jacks or buttons, many repairs could in theory already be carried out, with help from more forgiving warranties set out by manufacturers. Our right to repair as consumers may still have some way to go, but the current unsustainable turnover of the global technology industry may introduce some urgency.

Barry He is a London-based columnist for China Daily.