Global Chip Shortage Threatens Production of Laptops, Smartphones and More


If people would value their devices more and not throw them away after 2 years, there would be enough chips for everyone.

My smartphone is from 2015.
My laptop is from 2015 (Plays every game on high settings)
My car is from 2009 (Navigation, cruise control, 7 gear automatic)

These were all high end (car was high middle) devices from that time.
I got everything used for a far cheaper price than what it would have cost new.
 
But what about economic growth? We should buy stuff and immediately throw it away. Then buy some more, and so on.
 
But what about economic growth? We should buy stuff and immediately throw it away. Then buy some more, and so on.

The only reason why I support that is medicine.
We still need more growth and better technology to get better medical equipment.
Once that point is reached where we can heal diseases more easily and do not have to open a body's chest to to a heart surgery we're done.
Also the brain needs to be understood better to heal all those mental diseases.

But that's it.
We do not need more technology that tells us what to do.
We don't need more people who make themself slaves of their technology.

Oh, and there is one positive effect of the throw away mentality.
If you do not throw away your stuff, buy used products and use 2-3 year old technology, you can live in all the luxury you can ever think of.
Everything an ordinary person needs is so cheap now.
If you do not buy the latest goods and don't get brain washed by all the advertisement, you get more that you could ever dream of 10 years ago.
For dirty cheap prices.

Screens for example.
I have a 60 inch 4k screen for 450€.
Full HD is even cheaper now.
These TVs are not too "smart" but that's a good thing in my opinion.
My 1080p screen of about the same size is still good enough and used by my family.
There is no need to spend thousands of euro for a "better" screen.
 
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Phone: 2008
Computer: 2009
car: 2006

I dont think i am going to replace any of these in the next 10 years.
What's your phone?
I had a Desire-Z.
However the keyboard was getting worse over time and I needed to upgrade.
Now I have got a Blackberry Priv (removed all Google via adb ...)
 
I am not a person who actually uses a phone. Its a nokia xpress music i got for 5 bucks at the flea marked.
I bought dozens of it.
Its nice for not needing an mp3 player with me, but usually what i use to play music with ALWAYS breaks at the headphone jack within a few weeks.
So it did, the jack is broken, and i carry around the mp3 player with me anyway. Since that leaves no actual usage for the phone it will probably last ages now.
Id like to leave it at home completely but doing 8 hour bike tours through forests can be risky at times, you never know when you need an ambulance.
 
But what about economic growth? We should buy stuff and immediately throw it away. Then buy some more, and so on.
Any capitalist system that requires us to do that is funadamentally broken. We should derive more value from not mining more raw materials, and reusing what we can. I don't really have a good way to measure and fund that though.

Phone: 2016
Computer: 2008
Car: Never owned one

Edit: @elw3 yeah, especially cheap headphones use super low-spec cables that always break at the plug end for me after a few months. I've since switched to on-ear headphones that mostly come with pluggable cables at both ends, and have replaced the cables more than once now.
 
The device breaks, not the headphones.
Well they did too in the past, but i used to make my own headphone cables and they lasted ages.
Indeed headphone cables are weak on purpose, open up one yourself, its usually a strain of super thin coated copper that breaks fast and is a pita to resolder, there simply is no excuse for these cables.
Nowadays i have an on ear headphone and just replace the cable like you do.
Tip: Get a flat cable, these last a lot longer.
I also got a bunch of costly in ear headphones for very cheap that i use for audio books as wearing the on ears hurts after some time.
 
Phone: 2008
Computer: 2009
car: 2006

I dont think i am going to replace any of these in the next 10 years.
Phone: Anything that can't do 4G will be obsoleted in the coming 5 years (and then, when 6G comes out, 4G will be obsoleted). I'm hanging on to my Nokia until the last day...
Computer: Webpages run entire webservers in javascript before showing you text. You will need a faster one if you need new software. My Linux PC is slow, but enough to do the job.
Car: Center of cities will exclude cars older than xx years because of pollution (new green deal). Eventually, your car will not be approved for the road because of $reason. I think I have 2002 car... yeah, I think it has 5 more years before the yearly fixing is too expensive and I'll need a new one (also by that time $kid will have a drivers license, so I need an old car).

edit: haha, same here. I use a pandora with audiobook to fall asleep. Got many broken cables and earphones with only one working ear.
 
Oh, I've never made a headphone jack break on any device I own. That's even true on my current phone which seems to have a dodgy headphone detect pin so any time I unplug headphones I need to play with it for a couple of minutes before it'll stably recognise them again, so I generally leave it in now.
 
Phone: Anything that can't do 4G will be obsoleted in the coming 5 years (and then, when 6G comes out, 4G will be obsoleted). I'm hanging on to my Nokia until the last day...
Computer: Webpages run entire webservers in javascript before showing you text. You will need a faster one if you need new software. My Linux PC is slow, but enough to do the job.
Car: Center of cities will exclude cars older than xx years because of pollution (new green deal). Eventually, your car will not be approved for the road because of $reason. I think I have 2002 car... yeah, I think it has 5 more years before the yearly fixing is too expensive and I'll need a new one (also by that time $kid will have a drivers license, so I need an old car).

edit: haha, same here. I use a pandora with audiobook to fall asleep. Got many broken cables and earphones with only one working ear.

I think it is okay to upgrade hardware from time to time.
Each 5-10 years the gain you get is worth it.
My old grandfather's car was from 1995. The 2009 car (10 years old as I got it) was a HUGE improvent and I felt like driving a super expensive luxus car.
Same for my phone and laptop.

I do not say we should stick with that is 20 years old (mostly).
What I say it the gain has much more value to me when I really feel it.
That 100% speed improvement is money well spent. Those 10% probably not.
You can save money AND value the money spent more AND feel rich with the same strategy ;)
 
Phone: Anything that can't do 4G will be obsoleted in the coming 5 years (and then, when 6G comes out, 4G will be obsoleted). I'm hanging on to my Nokia until the last day...
Computer: Webpages run entire webservers in javascript before showing you text. You will need a faster one if you need new software. My Linux PC is slow, but enough to do the job.
Car: Center of cities will exclude cars older than xx years because of pollution (new green deal). Eventually, your car will not be approved for the road because of $reason. I think I have 2002 car... yeah, I think it has 5 more years before the yearly fixing is too expensive and I'll need a new one (also by that time $kid will have a drivers license, so I need an old car).
Phone: False, they are shutting down 3G, but not the older ones, so the phones keep working. Just cant browse the web, but they cant do that to begin with, so who cares.
Pc: Id like to think that evolving software has to be slimmer and faster than their previous version. Oh its not? Well not my problem, i simply wont use that website/software then. After all they want us to use it, its not that we have to. And if they fail to make it slim, i coincidentally fail to use it.
But i dont see much progress in computer specs in the past 10 years anyway so i consider mine to be still on the faster range anyway. Its nettraffic i mostly care about since i dont have a flatrate.
Car: At one point your car ends up being an oldtimer and can drive there even with that smokey diesel engine :D
Mine has a CNG engine tho, highest ECO class. Problem is that the CNG Tank needs to be replaced periodically and unless you manage to find a cheap source its 2k€ to replace them.

I do not say we should stick with that is 20 years old (mostly).
My main camera was camera of the year in 1981, i keep thinking its just 20 years old.
 
I don't upgrade my tech very often, but I just reached the point where my laptop isn't really coping any more, and sounds like it's not a good year to buy a new one.
 
Everything an ordinary person needs is so cheap now.
Health care is artificially expensive, and you pay for that one way or another.
And housing is through the roof.
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I sense some sort of guilt or something.
Is it shame of lusting after an ultra portable mini computer?
Or are you trying to justify that fact that the components are outdated?
 
Phone: False, they are shutting down 3G, but not the older ones, so the phones keep working. Just cant browse the web, but they cant do that to begin with, so who cares.
No man, they are also shutting down 2G. Worldwide. They need the spectrum for 4G/5G. Your phone will be useless for calling too. (of course, taking pics and listening to mp3 will still work; so if you put it in airplane mode, it will last longer too).
Edit: In rural areas, 2G will be the only thing available (due to the wavelength and distances to celltowers) but in the cities, they want to get rid of 2G (or minimize the band).

When will they shutdown 2G in my country?


USA: https://www.androidsage.com/2021/02/05/3g-and-2g-shutting-down/
AU: https://www.news.com.au/technology/...k/news-story/c393d06f29a05a6f3341349128d3be3b
India: Not sure here, some carriers already shut down 2G. But an old article stated that they still need 2G to support poor people.

And you probably mean: https://www.theregister.com/2019/10/18/dont_switch_off_2g_report/


As for the Netherlands, one carrier (KPN) guarantees 2G until april 2025, but not after. This is because we have lots of smartmeters that still use 2G. So the companies get a bit of time to replace them with 4G smartmeters.


Edit 2: Oh man, this is a great article worth reading:
 
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So, that's it for a new cpu board being the first upgrade then? We need a new mb asap?
 
I have a 1X phone that still works even though they said they were going to end 1X at the end of last year. Funny, it got even better reception during my mountain vacation than it does around here.
 
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