Smartphones Are Killing The Planet Faster Than Anyone Expected
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Smartphones are particularly insidious for a few reasons. With a two-year average life cycle, they’re more or less disposable. The problem is that building a new smartphone–and specifically, mining the rare materials inside them–represents 85% to 95% of the device’s total CO2 emissions for two years. That means buying one new phone takes as much energy as recharging and operating a smartphone for an entire decade.
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I wonder how the inevitable proliferation of IoT will affect resource consumption and waste.
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@bb36e I would be willing to wager that a lot of the same people who get outraged at this ignore the same effects that electric cars have on the environment.
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@polygeekery said in Smartphones Are Killing The Planet Faster Than Anyone Expected:
@bb36e I would be willing to wager that a lot of the same people who get outraged at this ignore the same effects that electric cars have on the environment.
Taking that bet.
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@polygeekery good point
In any case, keeping a smartphone for even three years instead of two can make a considerable impact to your own carbon footprint, simply because no one has to mine the rare materials for a phone you already own. It’s a humbling environmental takeaway, especially if you own Samsung or Apple stock. Much like buying a used gasoline-fueled car is actually better for the environment than purchasing a new Prius or Tesla, keeping your old phone is greener than upgrading to any new one.
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Good. That will motivate us to develop space mining, which is the real future, not this preservation shit.
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How many years worth of smartphone CO2 is Mark Wilson's continued breathing equivalent to?
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@cartman82 said in Smartphones Are Killing The Planet Faster Than Anyone Expected:
Good. That will motivate us to develop space mining, which is the real future, not this preservation shit.
Not sure how well that turned out for the miners in The Expanse (which is worth a watch IMO)
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@bb36e You just wasted like 0.4% of my battery life.
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@bb36e Non-@boomzilla alt detected.
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@hardwaregeek said in Smartphones Are Killing The Planet Faster Than Anyone Expected:
@bb36e Non-@boomzilla alt detected.
Not sure how well that turned out for the miners in The Expanse (which is worth a watch IMO)
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I guess I'll be "that guy" and throw in some FPGA hype. At least when Chrome needs more RAM, the computer/smartphone can literally reorganize itself to provide more.
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@sumireko said in Smartphones Are Killing The Planet Faster Than Anyone Expected:
I guess I'll be "that guy" and throw in some FPGA hype. At least when Chrome needs more RAM, the computer/smartphone can literally reorganize itself to provide more.
No. That'd be cool if it was true, but it isn't. The way (useful amounts of) memory is built isn't really susceptible to being done the FPGA way; to make it efficient, you've basically got to build the memory block out normally and then make the rest of the logic around it programmable. You might be able to do a CAM with an FPGA, but that's not the same at all.
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I think our FPGA-based products have actual DDR3 chips on-board rather than consuming FPGA area for RAM.
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@mott555 Totally what I'd expect.
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Not sure how well that turned out for the miners in The Expanse (which is worth a watch IMO)
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@mott555 Most (?) FPGA devices have a small amount of on-chip RAM, but that's a few MB, tops, of SRAM for FIFOs and such, not GB of dense DRAM. E.g., Xilinx's top-of-the-line FPGA has a total of about 64 MB of RAM on-chip; lower-end versions have as little as 250 kB.
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@bb36e And the blame falls entirely on Google.
Well, and the customers for being so eager to buy new phones. But mostly Google.
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@bb36e said in Smartphones Are Killing The Planet Faster Than Anyone Expected:
In any case, keeping a smartphone for even three years instead of two can make a considerable impact to your own carbon footprint, simply because no one has to mine the rare materials for a phone you already own. It’s a humbling environmental takeaway, especially if you
own Samsung or Apple stockare dumb enough to care about carbon footprints.
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@thegoryone said in Smartphones Are Killing The Planet Faster Than Anyone Expected:
Not sure how well that turned out for the miners in The Expanse (which is worth a watch IMO)
In practice, carting (live) humans around space is very inefficient, so robots are the only viable solution.
By the way, in the tv adaptation of "Expanse", they had nice transparent smartphones.
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@cartman82 said in Smartphones Are Killing The Planet Faster Than Anyone Expected:
Good. That will motivate us to develop space mining, which is the real future, not this preservation shit.
Not sure how well that turned out for the miners in The Expanse (which is worth a watch IMO)
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Not sure how well that turned out for the miners in The Expanse (which is worth a watch IMO)
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@pie_flavor said in Smartphones Are Killing The Planet Faster Than Anyone Expected:
@cartman82 said in Smartphones Are Killing The Planet Faster Than Anyone Expected:
Good. That will motivate us to develop space mining, which is the real future, not this preservation shit.
Not sure how well that turned out for the miners in The Expanse (which is worth a watch IMO)
Not sure how well that turned out for the miners in The Expanse (which is worth a watch IMO)
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@anonymous234 said in Smartphones Are Killing The Planet Faster Than Anyone Expected:
@bb36e And the blame falls entirely on Google.
Well, and the customers for being so eager to buy new phones. But mostly Google.
Funnily enough, google actually discouraged me from getting a new phone by making the Pixel 2 even shittier than the Pixel for my purposes.
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@boomzilla I think you needB̝͉͇̥̄͋̒͢o̭̱͚͆̂o̭̞̜ͨͦͣ́̚m̞̙̙ͯ̇̓z̃̐̇͑ͥͭ҉͙̳̮̼̝͖̮̖i̴̩̳̫ͩ͆̋͐͂̒̕l͙͈͉̾̈̍ͨ͞ḻ͓̻̳͇͚ͬ͊̒ͧ͒ͣa̸̮̖̮̫͋ͬ͐͆̏̉̿͟ͅ,̖̤̪͆̈͂̑̆ͧ ̨̱̠͚ͩ̆͠Į̧̗̘̻̹̰ͤ̀͒̾̈ͩͅ ̢̢̤̻̪͖̃̄t̴̲͕̘͙̍̾̽ͥ̈h͙͙̩̥͍̊̑͐̑ͣ̀̑́i̸ͯ͐ͯ̇̽͌҉̪̰̠͞n̵̡͓͕̱̟͉͎͕͐̽̍ͅk̺̞̝̱̙̻̬̃ͭͥ̂̾̽ͅ ̴̩̰̹̝̬̖͓̯ͣỵ̴̬̫͍̙̰̗̜̉̅̓̋̚͢õ̢̦̣̲͓͓͌͜ȕ̵̢̹̙̎ͭ͒ͅ ̨̫̜͙ͨ̾ͥ͞ͅn̸̼̟̙̣̪̮ͭ̍ͣͫ̓͋̀͜e̡̲̦͚͔̳͊̂ͭ̆̆̎̾̕e͍͚̬̱̩̮͚͂͝d̦̲͔̿ͦ͂ͦ͑͐͢ ̸̷̦̻̟̗̻̈́ͫ̓ͦͨ͋̍̆t̴͎̜͓̊ͩ͛ͮ̐o̪̖̔̃̂͑͌͡ ̙̝̺͉͚̦͍ͦ̃̓ͬͤ͐̇ͩř̢̌̅͛̄̅҉̜e̢̜̝̫̥ͨ̍͂͐̽ͬ̂ş̜̳̔͋ͫ̿͑ͦ̄͟e̢̛̘͖̥͕̫̥̘̎ͦt͚͖̦̣͓̓̃ͨ͆͂̾̈̏͛͡ ͔͉̙̰͇̞̙͒̽t̛͎̻̙̗ͮ͐͒̾ͫͮh̷̶͚͓̺̤͐̿̈́͐ͣe̙̞͋ͬ̄͑͂͝ ̰̳̝͎̼̘͎̻̬̈ͫ͠n͔͖͇͉̩̞̜̥ͥͥ̀̈́ő̮̿ͮ́͌͟͝d̸͓͚̣̟̭̻͙̪ͣ͑̆ͯ̽̆̑̀͝ě̸̟̊̐͋̍̏ͩ̾͘͟s̾͏̷̛̤̖̣̫͔̠̣.̴̙̥͇̄͐̒̀ͣ͒ͦ͊̕ ̨̥̟̥̪̲̺̺͑͒ͥ͊̃̀͘ ̰̻̯̘͔͓̋̆L̶̵̨̦̼̙͉̃̒̅ͥ̆ő̰͔̙̰̟̯̼̺̊̈́͂͂̈́͟͜͞o̬̰̹ͬͬͣ̅̈́̓̈́̀͜͡k̠̹̥̬̜̹̥̓ͤ̂̇ͥ͗̏̀͞s̯̙̻̘̼͑̈̒͝͝ ̖̯̣̫̙͈̳͋͑ͬ͋ͫ͘ͅl̘̘̜͈̩̝̫ͥ̇ǐ̵̷̟̼ͧ́̔͛̿̑́k̴̪̺͍͋͛ͣe̛͚͉̓͗́̿̚ ̸̙̞̲̪̣̤̥ͪ̂̂͞t̢̟̤͔̖̤̙̜̺͕͂ͯ̒͢h̴̢͓̺̙͖͉͓̯͙ͥ͒͗̒͐͠e̟̿̈͂͛͂ͫ͆ͪ͌ ̧̗̭̺̺̝̌̂͋͟p̢ͫͥ̈́ͮͪ͑҉͚͉̪͉̖̬̳̼ȅ̢̠̺̰̦̤̺̠̈ͭ͒̇ͧ͞r̮̭̣̿ͧs̟̦̩͙̳͕͒̓̎ö̞̙̗̟́̒͡n̹ͪ͘a̰̣͙̳̼̤̞̎ͤl̗̻͌̀ͫͦͬ́͘i͙͓̮ͥ͋͑̈͂ͯ̏͂̓t̥̹̹ͮ̽̃̒̔́̕͘ͅy͕̯̐̈́͆̋̉͋̒́̚ ̤̲̣̝̞̥̔̆̏ͦͤ́ͬ̀̐̕͢͝ǵ̢͈͇̖̮̜̳̓̔̋̉̃ͅḙ̠̯̯͈̖̞͙͒͌̓ͫ̏ͮ͢ͅņ̳͙͚͚ͮͥ̊̏ͣ͘e̸̤̭̦̻͓̋͒̃ͧͨͤ̀̚͘͠r͕͙̱͛́ͦ͋̒͞a͈͎͚̹ͪ̆͐̑ͪ͂̀t̷͉̼̼͎͍͑̓o͍͕ͮͮ̍͊͊̈ͭ̒̕̕ͅr̭͈͈̥̖͉ͮͭͪͭ͊̅͜ ̝ͦ́̍̐ḡ̵̸̤̇̓̔͞o̰̘̲̱͈͉̺̥̦ͪͥ́͢t̠̞̻͚̄̆ͮ̔́́͌ͫ̈ ̛̗̘̮̃̈̋̈c̨͇̙̦͉̹̍̆̌̎̑̽͋̈o̡͚̩̜͉̖̼̮ͯ̓ͣ͐͋r̠͚̃͊̒̑ͣ͑ͬ͋r̴͚̙̹̮̣͔̠̯ͧͨ̎ͪ̈̋̋́̚u̶̫͉̤̖̙̅́ͫͧͧ͟͠p̭͓͕̄́ͨͣ͌̀̀ṭ̷̭̄͐ͭ͒́ḛ̶̰͚̼͚̩̉ͮ̓̇̏̐̾͋̀̀d̮̣̰̣͙̫͌͜͞.̞̟̪͍̯̱ͭ̈́̓̇̅͛̐ͤ
@cartman82 said in Smartphones Are Killing The Planet Faster Than Anyone Expected:
Good. That will motivate us to develop space mining, which is the real future, not this preservation shit.
Not sure how well that turned out for the miners in The Expanse (which is worth a watch IMO)
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@dreikin and then the murders began!
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@cartman82 said in Smartphones Are Killing The Planet Faster Than Anyone Expected:
Good. That will motivate us to develop space mining, which is the real future, not this preservation shit.
We're gonna need that Space Force after all!
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WTF is going on in this thread?
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@bb36e said in Smartphones Are Killing The Planet Faster Than Anyone Expected:
@dreikin and then the murders began!
The only mistake we made is not starting with the murders sooner!
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@Onyx If @faoileag were here, then @the_dragon would have been all for murdering him. And then kidnapping the @presidentsdaughter.
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@dreikin said in Smartphones Are Killing The Planet Faster Than Anyone Expected:
Funnily enough, google actually discouraged me from getting a new phone by making the Pixel 2 even shittier than the Pixel for my purposes.
What changed? I ask as someone who owns a Pixel 2 but never had a Pixel.
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From the actual scientific article cited by this journalistic article:
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@boomzilla said in Smartphones Are Killing The Planet Faster Than Anyone Expected:
@dreikin said in Smartphones Are Killing The Planet Faster Than Anyone Expected:
Funnily enough, google actually discouraged me from getting a new phone by making the Pixel 2 even shittier than the Pixel for my purposes.
What changed? I ask as someone who owns a Pixel 2 but never had a Pixel.
Already shitty: no SD card
New shitty: no headphone port. I can't currently justify the price of new wireless headphones of unknown quality on top of the price of the phone.Edit: Actually, I think one thing did get better: more than one speaker. (I was not happy when I discovered their top-of-the-line phone was mono after having already bought it.)(
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@dreikin said in Smartphones Are Killing The Planet Faster Than Anyone Expected:
Already shitty: no SD card
Ah. Having come from an Android phone with a card, I'm more than happy to get a reasonable about of space on board, since SD cards are pretty useless to me.
New shitty: no headphone port. I can't currently justify the price of new wireless headphones of unknown quality on top of the price of the phone.
Yeah...removing headphones seems retarded to me but then again I've never used them and probably never will.
