this post was submitted on 16 Aug 2023
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That’s great and all but at what cost? Assuming the first GPU didn’t go bad and the idea is a mid cycle upgrade…what is the total cost? Also is this idea actually any better for the environment?
I’m guessing the answer is “a lot” and “maybe but we haven’t finished our audits and calculations yet” which would be lame.
I am curious, what made you think framework's approach less environmental friendly than the current approach? Granted, they don't have economy of scale of larger companies, but they eventually will or they will force large companies to adopt repair friendly practices.
This will prevent you throwing away a entire laptop when one component of it break. Personally, most of the laptop I throw away are because trackpad becam unstable, one key got stuck, the fan stops working or the charge port broke. All of these are trivial repairs on framework (for fan you do need a new mobo), that means you avoid throwing away most of the laptop. I cannot imagine any other way to keep up with this level of saving even with economy of scale.
As for price, I am more than willing to pay more for a device that we can actually own and good for the environment. I wouldn't imagine we can fight back twoards this hyper-capitalism hell hole without making some sacrifices. Not to mention, it is likely cheaper in the long run, since most component are much cheaper than a entire laptop.
I’m not convinced that a mid cycle GPU upgrade fixes the problem of e-waste at all. The problem is everyone is obsessed with having the best they can afford all the time.
Buying a laptop designed to make it through 2 generations that maybe will offer some pricy parts down the road vs. spending that extra money on a better single use laptop and keeping it for a decade or more…I think doesn’t make sense.
I haven’t purchased a laptop since 2013. The screen is still nice, still plenty fast, storage is fast, I replaced the battery…why upgrade?
Now if someone going off to college needs a laptop. Am I going to ever recommend a new company’s new product that is attempting to shake up the laptop market? Absolutely not.
Framework will not appeal to the average person. So they will stay small. And a don’t expect a small laptop manufacturer to ever make a meaningful difference to the environment. I expect their net impact to be bad for the environment. And ultimately a waste of time and effort.
We don’t need another new product to save the environment. We need to stop consuming.
I'm thinking more of the opposite; mainboard does/needs replacing and you can get a new one and not change the GPU
I am really glad your laptop is durable and long lasting, but most laptop do break and slow down. When they do, they will need to be either throw away entirely or commit incremental upgrade. Incremental upgrade is IMO certainly the better option of the two.
Ideal logical shift is not mutually exclusive to better product, both will do good.
like you said, we need a ideological shift, people need to change. Maybe it is a good time to promote repairable electronics than talk down upon it.
@GregoryTheGreat
Maybe. But any solution rooted in a large scale reversal of behavior isn't practical.
Discontinuing incremental progress because its not enough is a good way to make no progress at all.
@baseless_discourse
Assuming you would replace a laptop after 1-2 components fail or after the hardware is 5 years out of date, and given that hardware from Framework (when not on sale) is about 50% more than other laptop manufacturers, I personally estimate a Framework laptop is only cheaper and better for the environment after 4-6 years of use.
So I wouldn't buy it as a gift, but it will definitely be my next daily driver
Could be the last laptop chassis you buy, which is pretty neat to think about. I would certainly reuse my old 2011 15' MBP clamshell if I could.
I love those old Thinkpad retrofit projects you see on blogs.
I can finally keep all my laptop stickers.
I think framework isnt about the implementation but to show thats its totally possible to make a repairable laptop. Its a lot easier to make right to repair laws if there is an example you a can point to.