alt Hacker News> it’s hard to imagine many Chromebooks currently in service or acquired in the next year or two will still be in service come 2034
While there won't be many there definitely will be some; I know of an ~8 year old Chromebook currently in active use.
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Exactly.
I know plenty of people who use Apple products such as iPhones and Macs and have to stop using them and throw them into landfill basically because there are no further security updates, although the device works fine and is fast enough for their needs.
Shortening security updates absolutely has an environmental impact.
I wouldn't even say 8 years is "old" for a computer anymore, right around Intel's Haswell generation we crossed a threshold of cores and performance and computers became Good Enough. You can see it with Android and iOS tablets too they last a very long time, and of course Apple Silicon leaves no doubt.
I have a 12 year old Acer C720 that while obviously doesn't run chromeos anymore, it's still useful as a super durable 12'' linux machine.(thankfully it's intel based)
It road around in a backpack while cycling around campus, survived multiple bike spills, knocked off tables half a dozen times.
Really sad we can't get something like this anymore.
Indeed, a big failure of imagination
I still don't get the point of Chromebooks. You need the exact same hardware as a real laptop, you don't get to save on anything, in fact it's worse, since browsers are usually heavier than real apps.
But you get less functionality, and have to hack into it even if you can to make it your own.
They're even worse for browsing, as you can only install addons and adblockers allowed by Google, which are deliberately gimped.
At least we get to enjoy freedom on our PCs - the smartphone-ification of computers is a worrying trend (this applies to games consoles too).
I would be stunned to find that less-affluent districts weren't acquiring hand-me-down Chromebooks or stretching their fleet's lifespan for as long as they could manage. Would love to believe that things have gotten better since the, "History books still mention the USSR," (true) urban legends of my Millennial youth, but I somehow doubt it.
Yea my Thinkpad 11e is still going and running software. That's 12 years old, now.
I use my 2016 pixelbook every day. Best laptop ever made. I have a small stack of them and intend to retrofit them as needed.
You can't just expect things to last years! Building stuff to last only benefits society and customers, it does nothing for shareholders!