• Mr PoopyButthole@lemm.ee
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    46
    ·
    1 year ago

    This kind of thing (and e-waste in general) is why I think we need radical laws about unsupported hardware in general.

    If an electronic device (phone, laptop, etc) stops receiving software support, the most recently available firmware should be made freely available under public domain.

    Apple is obviously the worst offender, but it’s just horrible when you have really great hardware that’s 100% worthless just because the software is unsupported and proprietary.

    The number of iPads, smart home products, and other devices that become e-waste every year is unsustainable. If companies were forced to release the code for free when they stopped supporting devices, maybe they would support them longer. Or at least bother innovating for a change.

    • Weirdfish@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      27
      ·
      1 year ago

      This is only going to get worse with modern games. Always online to servers that won’t exist. Digital only copies you won’t be able to download.

      Not only should the firmware be made available, I think if you are taking servers offline you should be required to release the source code.

      I can still play my N64 and PS3 games with physical copies, but many on PS4 are basically unplayable without the day one patch at least

      Ubisoft has made it clear, “Well, if you want to play Assasins Creed, or Farcry, we expect you to play the new ones”.

      Well, in both cases, the new ones are ass and I want to play the old ones, that I paid for.

      As others have said on here, once the product is no longer supported, I feel the rights to that software should pass to the community.

      I write code for a living, and when I’m done, the client owns that software. I hand over all the source code as part of close out. If they want me to maintain it, fine. If the want to go with someone else, its theirs to do with as they please.

    • Shaggy0291@lemmygrad.ml
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      8
      ·
      1 year ago

      This kind of thing (and e-waste in general) is why I think we need radical laws about unsupported hardware in general.

      Agreed. Out of market for over a 10 years? The game is made public and preserved in a government library that is available to the public as a service.

    • brainwashed@feddit.de
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      2
      arrow-down
      11
      ·
      1 year ago

      Apple is obviously the worst offender, but it’s just horrible when you have really great hardware that’s 100% worthless just because the software is unsupported and proprietary.

      How so? Because they produce hardware that one would actually like to use after firmware updates cease? They provide updates the longest and are evidently not worthless, as they have higher resale values than Android devices the same age.

      • AProfessional@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        13
        ·
        1 year ago

        None of that matters. Open hardware from 2003 still works because of course it still works. Apple is artificially bricking hardware for profit.

        • brainwashed@feddit.de
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          1
          arrow-down
          5
          ·
          1 year ago

          What is Apple bricking and in which way is it worse than any other android OEM that provides updates for shorter?

          • AProfessional@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            6
            ·
            edit-2
            1 year ago

            Apple stops updating devices and their phones are locked down and their macs are only really supported by proprietary software eventually losing functionality artificially.

            Yes other companies are immoral and anti consumer. At least some Android devices let you install custom software making them easily outlive locked down ones.

            • brainwashed@feddit.de
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              1
              arrow-down
              3
              ·
              1 year ago

              Every intel Mac lets you install Linux too. M1 is well on its way.

              As for phones: Apple provides updates longer than any android manufacturer. In android phones you too have non unlocked bootloaders as well as proprietary firmware blobs without which operating the phone is near impossible.

              So I see no Dimension in which Apple is the worst.

              • AProfessional@lemmy.world
                link
                fedilink
                English
                arrow-up
                3
                ·
                1 year ago

                You keep playing this comparison game…

                The iPhone is full of anti consumer patterns, it simply is, and no external factors excuse this.

                • brainwashed@feddit.de
                  link
                  fedilink
                  English
                  arrow-up
                  2
                  arrow-down
                  2
                  ·
                  1 year ago

                  Of course I am comparing. Op stated Apple is the worst offender which only has meaning in comparison.

              • Little8Lost@lemmy.world
                link
                fedilink
                English
                arrow-up
                2
                ·
                1 year ago

                not necessarily manufacturers but the open source community can support 10 year old phones with new security updates like the LG G2 and Samsung Galaxy Note 3 LTE. https://doc.e.foundation/devices

                On IPhones there is not really such a community because apple aggressively screws people for profit and will stay to do so in the future because that works.
                Other companies copied Apples design choices like unmovable batteries because that works. And some fans argue “but not replace batteries are more water proof” and such but the phones only got more fragile.

                And its not like they are the best in customer service, i mean they only offered repairs for design flaws when a lot of people sued them: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUaJ8pDlxi8&t=801s&pp=ygUUbG91aXMgcm9zc21hbm4gYXBwbGU%3D (25 minute video by Louis Rossmann about apples repeated design failures)

                And for the M1, i looked into it, nice that they don’t lock the boot-loader without jailbreak. But they don’t help with the OS, that again is the open source community.

                And you are right: Apple is not the worst, Nestlé is the worst but a completely different topic.

                I know that the products of apple are very user friendly and everything can like work together. The software is brilliantly comfortable so that a users don’t want to use everything else, because how comfortable it is. For me it is a trap by a greedy mega cooperation.