#plannedobsolescence — Public Fediverse posts on home.social

Max Gross @[email protected] · 2026-09-09 · 06:08 UTC

AUKUS is dead in the water!
#china #australia #ausgov #usa #uk #aukus #plannedobsolescence
https://fincom.substack.com/p/finding-nemo

#china #australia #ausgov #usa #uk #aukus

Max Gross @[email protected] · 2026-09-09 · 06:08 UTC

AUKUS is dead in the water!
#china #australia #ausgov #usa #uk #aukus #plannedobsolescence
https://fincom.substack.com/p/finding-nemo

#plannedobsolescence #aukus #uk #usa #ausgov #australia

Max Gross @[email protected] · 2026-09-09 · 06:08 UTC

AUKUS is dead in the water!
#china #australia #ausgov #usa #uk #aukus #plannedobsolescence
https://fincom.substack.com/p/finding-nemo

#china #australia #ausgov #usa #uk #aukus

Max Gross @[email protected] · 2026-09-09 · 06:08 UTC

AUKUS is dead in the water!
#china #australia #ausgov #usa #uk #aukus #plannedobsolescence
https://fincom.substack.com/p/finding-nemo

#china #australia #ausgov #usa #uk #aukus

DoomsdaysCW @[email protected] · 2026-08-16 · 17:09 UTC

#USPIRG - #ElectronicWaste Graveyard

Expiring software or server support is responsible for up to 1.7 billion pounds of #EWaste over past decade.

by Nathan Proctor, Lucas Gutterman
April 10, 2025, Updated Jul 14, 2026

"Increasingly, we’re pushed to trash tech that should still work, such as #Chromebooks, phones, and smart home devices, just because the software has expired or lost support. This database lists more than 100 tech products that have stopped working after manufacturers dropped support. It calculates the total weight of all these dead devices which have joined the 68 million tons of electronic waste disposed of each year.

"When software expires, or web cloud services end, consumers and schools are pushed to replace devices that should still work. For example, our 'Chromebook Churn' report found that tens of thousands of laptops were being replaced by schools because the software had expired. Since the graveyard was released in 2025, we have tracked a wave of new product shutdowns, some affecting a handful of niche gadgets, and one, Microsoft’s end of support for Windows 10, affecting 400 million computers at once.

"We now estimate that up to 1.7 billion pounds of electronic waste has been created by expired software and canceled cloud services since 2014. The largest contributor by far was the expiration of #Windows10 resulting in up to 1.6 billion pounds of electronic waste from PCs that can’t upgrade to #Windows11.

"13 #AmazonKindle models have also joined the graveyard this year. On May 20, 2026, Amazon cut off store access for 13 older Kindle models released between 2007 and 2012 — devices that, in many cases, are still being used daily by their original owners more than a decade later. The e-readers still turn on, still display books already downloaded, and still hold a charge. What they can no longer do is buy or download anything new, effectively ending their useful life as e-readers for many owners. Amazon’s shutdown means these e-readers can’t even borrow books from users’ local public #libraries.

"For the planet, this lack of support results in a death by a thousand server support cuts. This e-waste adds up. At the very least we need lifetime transparency for tech—we should know how long manufacturers guarantee the tech we buy will work before we buy it."

#SolarPunkSunday #RightToRepair #RightToRepairLaws #PlannedObsolescence #FixIt #ReuseRepairRestore

#uspirg #electronicwaste #ewaste #chromebooks #windows10 #windows11

DoomsdaysCW @[email protected] · 2026-08-16 · 17:03 UTC

New push for #RightToRepair in #Maine aims to cut costs, reduce #ElectronicWaste

Vivien Leigh, August 13, 2026

"Advocates, lawmakers, and business owners have started a renewed push to help #Mainers fix #phones, #laptops, and other small #electronics more easily.

"Supporters set up a mock electronic-waste graveyard on Thursday to underscore the need for 'Right to Repair' reforms.

"Sheldon Arford owns Maine Computer Services, an independent repair shop. He showed nearly six computers that still work but are on their way to the recycling bin.

" 'They can't take the current version of Windows, and #Windows10 no longer gets security updates,' Arford explained. [Um, Sheldon, have you heard of #Linux ?]

"The business owner joined advocates and lawmakers for a mock memorial service focused on electronics that stopped working after their software expired, such as Windows 10 computers, #vacuums, #VideoGames, and over a dozen #Kindle models."

#SolarPunkSunday #PlannedObsolescence #RightToRepairLaws #MainePol #FixIt #EWaste #ReuseRepairRestore

#righttorepair #maine #electronicwaste #mainers #phones #laptops

DoomsdaysCW @[email protected] · 2026-08-16 · 16:58 UTC

#Mainers throw sobbing eulogy for #DeadTech in #RightToRepair battle

Fri, August 14, 2026

#AugustaME (WGME) -- "Local #activists held a literal funeral outside the Maine State Capitol on Thursday, mourning over mock gravestones dedicated to #smartphones, blenders and #SmartRefrigerators.

"They claim manufacturers are discarding technology early and retiring models that still work so customers will buy new ones.

"The activists are fighting for the legal 'right to repair' their gadgets instead of being forced into expensive, corporate-mandated upgrades when devices stop working.

" 'I'd like to offer these remembrances for many #AmazonKindles. Their screens lit up our work and will always be remembered. On May 20, Amazon cut off 13 models of Kindles — every model made before 2012,' Environment Maine Field Director Lily McGovern said. 'I have one of those very models. The company said they had to do this because the technology has come a long way. Meanwhile, I thought reading text on a screen was pretty much the same it had been. Silly me.'

"Maine already has a right-to-repair law for cars, but a bill addressing smartphones fell short by just two votes last spring."

Source:
https://wgme.com/news/local/mainers-throw-sobbing-eulogy-for-dead-tech-in-right-to-repair-battle-electronics-funeral-activists

#SolarPunkSunday #PlannedObsolescence #RightToRepairLaws #MainePol #FixIt #ReuseRepairRestore

#mainers #deadtech #righttorepair #augustame #activists #smartphones

Bryan King @[email protected] · 2026-07-14 · 11:30 UTC

The Security Illusion: How Corporate Overlords Strip Your Ownership

1,571 words, 8 minutes read time.

The modern hardware market is a calculated trap for the man who values his independence. You walk into a store, lay down your cash, and leave believing you own the machine, but you are mistaken. The transaction is no longer a clean break between buyer and seller; it is an induction into a digital prison camp. Manufacturers have weaponized the fear of being hacked to maintain a total stranglehold on every piece of hardware they move. They wrap their control in the flag of cybersecurity, but the reality is a cold, calculated campaign to dismantle your autonomy and ensure you remain a permanent tenant in their proprietary ecosystem.

They use the promise of safety to sell you the chains. The moment that device touches your network, you are no longer the operator; you are a captive audience for their remote directives. These companies know that as long as they can convince you that the world is a dangerous, breach-prone place, you will accept any restriction they force upon you. They are not protecting your interests, and they are certainly not worried about your network integrity. Their singular goal is to strip away your ability to repair, modify, or master your own property so they can continue to dictate the terms of your existence.

The Calculated Strategy of Forced Compliance

Manufacturers push mandatory firmware updates under the guise of protecting your home or office network from the specter of modern exploits. They deploy these patches with a heavy, uncompromising hand, forcing code onto your machine that you never requested and that you lack the authority to uninstall. These updates are a classic Trojan horse. They bundle necessary security patches with restrictive, hidden locks that deliberately break your ability to use third-party parts or run the open software of your choosing. It is a tactical strike against the user who dares to think their hardware belongs to them.

When you attempt to refuse, they flood your interface with dire, alarmist warnings about vulnerabilities and potential exploits. They force a binary choice upon you: either you surrender absolute control of your hardware to their remote backend, or you remain exposed to a digital threat they claim only they can stop. It is a textbook psychological maneuver from a corporate playbook that relies on fear to bypass your critical thinking. They bet on your instinct for safety to keep you compliant, ensuring that you never look under the hood to see exactly what functionality they are gutting in the name of your protection.

Cyber Resilience Versus Corporate Authority

The industry hides behind professional standards set by organizations like NIST and CISA to justify this aggressive behavior. They point to the necessity of platform firmware resiliency to silence anyone who dares to ask why their expensive equipment suddenly lost core features after a routine update. In truth, these technical guidelines are being cynically twisted. Genuine, robust security requires total transparency, yet these updates are delivered as black boxes. You are given no granular logs and absolutely no say in what is being overwritten or disabled within your own equipment.

When a company can reach into your home or shop and disable your hardware’s functionality with a single, unrequested remote command, your claim to ownership is a hollow lie. They maintain a high-privileged, persistent foothold on your hardware long after you have paid the bill, essentially treating your property as a node in their private network. You become an observer in your own house rather than the master of your own tools. The firmware serves as the final, immutable authority, granting the manufacturer the right to decide what your machine is permitted to do today, tomorrow, or a year from now.

The Cold Economics of the Digital Leash

This is not about your safety; it is strictly about their bottom line and total market domination. A device that can be locked down is a device that generates constant, recurring revenue through forced upgrades and the requirement to purchase exclusive, overpriced parts. By wrapping this greed in the language of cybersecurity, they neutralize all rational dissent. Anyone who demands the right to repair or modify their gear is immediately framed as a reckless, dangerous amateur who does not care about the systemic risk of a breach. This narrative is designed to keep you subservient to their profit margins.

The ultimate objective is a future where no machine can operate outside of the manufacturer’s direct control, ensuring that every cycle and every transaction flows back to their balance sheet. You are being managed like a predictable data point rather than treated like an autonomous owner. They have built an environment where your tech is merely a satellite within their wider commercial architecture. If you cannot modify it, you do not own it. You are simply renting a utility that can be revoked, restricted, or rendered obsolete the second it ceases to be profitable for them to let you keep using it.

Conclusion

The current state of hardware ownership is a failure of principle. Corporations have successfully weaponized the fear of cyber threats as a tool to consolidate power and crush individual autonomy. By understanding this dynamic, you can start to see through the marketing fluff that covers up this erosion of rights. To recap the reality of this landscape:

True security requires transparency and individual control, both of which are currently being systematically dismantled by manufacturers.

Security is the primary justification used to strip you of your rights as a hardware owner.

Mandatory firmware updates are often calculated commercial tactics to enforce ecosystem lock-in rather than genuine vulnerability mitigation.

The industry maintains a permanent, unauthorized, and intrusive level of control over the hardware you have already purchased and paid for.

Reclaiming Your Property Rights: A Call to Action

The reality is harsh: if a manufacturer can reach into your device and rewrite its capabilities after you have paid for it, you do not own that hardware. You are merely a long-term renter under the illusion of possession. To reclaim your property, you must stop being a passive consumer and start acting like an owner. You need to organize, push back, and demand the legal right to control the machines you paid for. This fight is not just about convenience; it is about the fundamental principle of property rights in a digital age.

You have the power to push back by supporting the organizations already on the front lines. Groups like the Right to Repair movement, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and the Free Software Foundation are fighting the legislative and technical battles to strip away the manufacturer’s backdoor access. They are the ones documenting these abuses and lobbying for legislation that forces companies to stop bricking hardware remotely. Align yourself with them, lend your voice to their campaigns, and put pressure on the systems that have been built to ignore your rights.

Finally, take direct action by contacting your state and federal representatives today. Do not settle for form letters or generic responses. Demand that they support legislation establishing that software-locked hardware is a violation of consumer protection and antitrust laws. Tell them you expect a market where ownership is absolute and where firmware updates cannot be used to degrade the utility of your purchased property. If they want your support, they must defend your right to own what you buy. Stop waiting for permission to be the master of your own tools and start demanding the accountability you are owed.

SUPPORTSUBSCRIBECONTACT ME

D. Bryan King

Sources

Disclaimer:

The views and opinions expressed in this post are solely those of the author. The information provided is based on personal research, experience, and understanding of the subject matter at the time of writing. Readers should consult relevant experts or authorities for specific guidance related to their unique situations.

Related Posts

Rate this:

#aftermarketParts #antiTrust #CISAGuidelines #consumerAdvocacy #consumerChoice #consumerProtection #consumerRights #corporateControl #cyberResilience #cybersecurity #cybersecurityStandards #dataPrivacy #deviceFreedom #deviceLongevity #deviceManagement #digitalAutonomy #digitalEnclosure #digitalIndependence #digitalRights #ecosystemLockIn #firmwarePatches #firmwareSecurity #firmwareVulnerabilities #forcedFirmwareUpdates #hardwareBricking #hardwareHacking #hardwareIntegrity #hardwareModification #hardwareOwnership #hardwareSecurity #IoTSecurity #manufacturerBackdoors #manufacturerControl #NISTStandards #openSourceHardware #ownerRights #plannedObsolescence #PropertyRights #proprietarySystems #repairIndependence #RightToRepair #secureByDesign #softwareFreedom #softwareRestrictions #techAccountability #techMonopoly #techRegulation #techTransparency #userAutonomy

#aftermarketparts #antitrust #cisaguidelines #consumeradvocacy #consumerchoice #consumerprotection

Bryan King @[email protected] · 2026-07-14 · 11:30 UTC

The Security Illusion: How Corporate Overlords Strip Your Ownership

1,571 words, 8 minutes read time.

The modern hardware market is a calculated trap for the man who values his independence. You walk into a store, lay down your cash, and leave believing you own the machine, but you are mistaken. The transaction is no longer a clean break between buyer and seller; it is an induction into a digital prison camp. Manufacturers have weaponized the fear of being hacked to maintain a total stranglehold on every piece of hardware they move. They wrap their control in the flag of cybersecurity, but the reality is a cold, calculated campaign to dismantle your autonomy and ensure you remain a permanent tenant in their proprietary ecosystem.

They use the promise of safety to sell you the chains. The moment that device touches your network, you are no longer the operator; you are a captive audience for their remote directives. These companies know that as long as they can convince you that the world is a dangerous, breach-prone place, you will accept any restriction they force upon you. They are not protecting your interests, and they are certainly not worried about your network integrity. Their singular goal is to strip away your ability to repair, modify, or master your own property so they can continue to dictate the terms of your existence.

The Calculated Strategy of Forced Compliance

Manufacturers push mandatory firmware updates under the guise of protecting your home or office network from the specter of modern exploits. They deploy these patches with a heavy, uncompromising hand, forcing code onto your machine that you never requested and that you lack the authority to uninstall. These updates are a classic Trojan horse. They bundle necessary security patches with restrictive, hidden locks that deliberately break your ability to use third-party parts or run the open software of your choosing. It is a tactical strike against the user who dares to think their hardware belongs to them.

When you attempt to refuse, they flood your interface with dire, alarmist warnings about vulnerabilities and potential exploits. They force a binary choice upon you: either you surrender absolute control of your hardware to their remote backend, or you remain exposed to a digital threat they claim only they can stop. It is a textbook psychological maneuver from a corporate playbook that relies on fear to bypass your critical thinking. They bet on your instinct for safety to keep you compliant, ensuring that you never look under the hood to see exactly what functionality they are gutting in the name of your protection.

Cyber Resilience Versus Corporate Authority

The industry hides behind professional standards set by organizations like NIST and CISA to justify this aggressive behavior. They point to the necessity of platform firmware resiliency to silence anyone who dares to ask why their expensive equipment suddenly lost core features after a routine update. In truth, these technical guidelines are being cynically twisted. Genuine, robust security requires total transparency, yet these updates are delivered as black boxes. You are given no granular logs and absolutely no say in what is being overwritten or disabled within your own equipment.

When a company can reach into your home or shop and disable your hardware’s functionality with a single, unrequested remote command, your claim to ownership is a hollow lie. They maintain a high-privileged, persistent foothold on your hardware long after you have paid the bill, essentially treating your property as a node in their private network. You become an observer in your own house rather than the master of your own tools. The firmware serves as the final, immutable authority, granting the manufacturer the right to decide what your machine is permitted to do today, tomorrow, or a year from now.

The Cold Economics of the Digital Leash

This is not about your safety; it is strictly about their bottom line and total market domination. A device that can be locked down is a device that generates constant, recurring revenue through forced upgrades and the requirement to purchase exclusive, overpriced parts. By wrapping this greed in the language of cybersecurity, they neutralize all rational dissent. Anyone who demands the right to repair or modify their gear is immediately framed as a reckless, dangerous amateur who does not care about the systemic risk of a breach. This narrative is designed to keep you subservient to their profit margins.

The ultimate objective is a future where no machine can operate outside of the manufacturer’s direct control, ensuring that every cycle and every transaction flows back to their balance sheet. You are being managed like a predictable data point rather than treated like an autonomous owner. They have built an environment where your tech is merely a satellite within their wider commercial architecture. If you cannot modify it, you do not own it. You are simply renting a utility that can be revoked, restricted, or rendered obsolete the second it ceases to be profitable for them to let you keep using it.

Conclusion

The current state of hardware ownership is a failure of principle. Corporations have successfully weaponized the fear of cyber threats as a tool to consolidate power and crush individual autonomy. By understanding this dynamic, you can start to see through the marketing fluff that covers up this erosion of rights. To recap the reality of this landscape:

True security requires transparency and individual control, both of which are currently being systematically dismantled by manufacturers.

Security is the primary justification used to strip you of your rights as a hardware owner.

Mandatory firmware updates are often calculated commercial tactics to enforce ecosystem lock-in rather than genuine vulnerability mitigation.

The industry maintains a permanent, unauthorized, and intrusive level of control over the hardware you have already purchased and paid for.

Reclaiming Your Property Rights: A Call to Action

The reality is harsh: if a manufacturer can reach into your device and rewrite its capabilities after you have paid for it, you do not own that hardware. You are merely a long-term renter under the illusion of possession. To reclaim your property, you must stop being a passive consumer and start acting like an owner. You need to organize, push back, and demand the legal right to control the machines you paid for. This fight is not just about convenience; it is about the fundamental principle of property rights in a digital age.

You have the power to push back by supporting the organizations already on the front lines. Groups like the Right to Repair movement, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and the Free Software Foundation are fighting the legislative and technical battles to strip away the manufacturer’s backdoor access. They are the ones documenting these abuses and lobbying for legislation that forces companies to stop bricking hardware remotely. Align yourself with them, lend your voice to their campaigns, and put pressure on the systems that have been built to ignore your rights.

Finally, take direct action by contacting your state and federal representatives today. Do not settle for form letters or generic responses. Demand that they support legislation establishing that software-locked hardware is a violation of consumer protection and antitrust laws. Tell them you expect a market where ownership is absolute and where firmware updates cannot be used to degrade the utility of your purchased property. If they want your support, they must defend your right to own what you buy. Stop waiting for permission to be the master of your own tools and start demanding the accountability you are owed.

SUPPORTSUBSCRIBECONTACT ME

D. Bryan King

Sources

Disclaimer:

The views and opinions expressed in this post are solely those of the author. The information provided is based on personal research, experience, and understanding of the subject matter at the time of writing. Readers should consult relevant experts or authorities for specific guidance related to their unique situations.

Related Posts

Rate this:

#aftermarketParts #antiTrust #CISAGuidelines #consumerAdvocacy #consumerChoice #consumerProtection #consumerRights #corporateControl #cyberResilience #cybersecurity #cybersecurityStandards #dataPrivacy #deviceFreedom #deviceLongevity #deviceManagement #digitalAutonomy #digitalEnclosure #digitalIndependence #digitalRights #ecosystemLockIn #firmwarePatches #firmwareSecurity #firmwareVulnerabilities #forcedFirmwareUpdates #hardwareBricking #hardwareHacking #hardwareIntegrity #hardwareModification #hardwareOwnership #hardwareSecurity #IoTSecurity #manufacturerBackdoors #manufacturerControl #NISTStandards #openSourceHardware #ownerRights #plannedObsolescence #PropertyRights #proprietarySystems #repairIndependence #RightToRepair #secureByDesign #softwareFreedom #softwareRestrictions #techAccountability #techMonopoly #techRegulation #techTransparency #userAutonomy

#userautonomy #techtransparency #techregulation #techmonopoly #techaccountability #softwarerestrictions

poleguy looking for lost tools @[email protected] · 2026-07-06 · 03:47 UTC

@Earl @RueNahcMohr it makes me think of #righttorepair and #plannedobsolescence and #schematics. Why aren't there laws requiring the posting of electronics schematics? With a schematic I would have a fighting chance of repairing this.

#righttorepair #plannedobsolescence #schematics

DoomsdaysCW @[email protected] · 2026-04-13 · 21:28 UTC

So, it seems that the push toward efficiency is to benefit capitalists. Things used to take a long time to be made, and a long time to break (if at all). Make more things faster and cheaper means some CEO is making money, while the crappy products leave lasting pollution, and need to be replaced often, meaning CEO makes more money. That's #Crapitalism in a nutshell!

#BuildThingsThatLast !
#PlannedObsolescence is #KillingThePlanet !
#CapitalismSucks

#crapitalism #buildthingsthatlast #plannedobsolescence #killingtheplanet #capitalismsucks

regina_nyckelharpista @[email protected] · 2025-07-24 · 09:38 UTC

Sustainability win! ♻️ 🌟 This week, me and my partner successfully replaced a broken laptop screen (fall damage) on a 5 year old HP probook laptop. It was a little fiddly but NOT HARD TO DO, and the replacement screen (~120€) was the only cost involved. Seriously, if you can operate a screwdriver and have some fine motor skills, you can do this.

We couldn't have done it without videos on YouTube though, so thank you to everyone who has ever uploaded a video of a repair! We have replaced this laptop's keyboard last winter, so this is the second repair. It works like a charm and hopefully will last many more years!

If you read this, share a recent repair or sustainability win of yours, I'd love to celebrate with you! 🎉

#sustainability #laptoprepair #fixingthings #careandrepair #plannedobsolescence #techrepair #sustainabilitywin #hp

#sustainability #laptoprepair #fixingthings #careandrepair #plannedobsolescence #techrepair

DoomsdaysCW @[email protected] · 2023-12-30 · 20:34 UTC

ICYMI - From 2017

Levels of #EWaste soar in #Asia as gadgets become affordable, UN says

Amount of electronic waste up 63% in five years, with China’s more than doubling, United Nations University report finds

Agence France-Presse
Sun 15 Jan 2017 11.29 EST

"Levels of #ElectronicWaste are rising sharply across #Asia, as higher incomes mean hundreds of millions of people can afford #smartphones and other #gadgets, according to a UN study.

"The amount of e-waste in Asia has risen by 63% in five years, a report by United Nations University said, warning of the need to improve #recycling and disposal methods across the region to prevent serious #environmental and health consequences.

"Ruediger Kuehr, the report’s co-author and head of UNU’s sustainable cycles programme, said: 'For many countries that already lack infrastructure for environmentally sound e-waste management, the increasing volumes are a cause for concern.'

"For many years, China and other Asian countries have recycled discarded electronics from wealthier countries in rudimentary and often unsafe factories.

"But the report said Asia has become a major source of e-waste due to increasingly affluent #consumers buying electronic items including #phones, #tablets, #refrigerators, #computers and #televisions.

"China’s generation of e-waste more than doubled between 2010 and 2015, the period of the study, according to the report.

"#HongKong generated the highest amount of e-waste in Asia in 2015, an average of 21.7kg (3.4st) per person.

"#Singapore and #Taiwan created just over 19kg per person in 2015.

"#Cambodia, #Vietnam and the #Philippines were among the lowest e-waste generators, with an average of about 1kg per person."

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jan/15/electronic-e-waste-levels-soar-asia-gadgets-united-nations-university-report

#Consumerism #Capitalism #Crapitalism #PlannedObsolescence #SupportLegacyProducts #Landfills #RightToRepair #EnvironmentalRacism #WaterIsLife #SoilIsLife #RepairReuseRecycle #Consumerism #Anticonsumerism #EnvironmentalPollution

#ewaste #asia #electronicwaste #smartphones #gadgets #recycling

IT News @[email protected] · 2022-05-23 · 20:35 UTC

Fighting Back Against Dodgy Dyson Batteries - If you’ve ever worked with multi-cell rechargeable battery packs, you know that th... - https://hackaday.com/2022/05/23/fighting-back-against-dodgy-dyson-batteries/ #batterymanagementsystem #plannedobsolescence #batteryhacks #batterypack #dyson

#dyson #batterypack #batteryhacks #plannedobsolescence #batterymanagementsystem