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Comment on All smartphones, including iPhones, must have replaceable batteries by 2027 in the EU

lolcatnip@reddthat.com ⁨10⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

Stand back everyone, I’m going to attempt nuance.

Industrial design is about tradeoffs. Making the battery easily replaceable will come with drawbacks. Maybe it’ll be size, or water resistance, or durability, but something will have to be compromised. The extent of the compromises remains to be seen, and people will have different opinions about whether it’s worth it.

Ordinarily I’m not a fan of regulators making product design decisions, because that’s exactly the kind of thing market forces are supposed to be good at. In this case, though, there’s a demand that’s clearly not being met, and companies clearly have a vested interest in pushing consumers toward replacing their old hardware rather than repairing it, which creates externalities markets are unable to account for. Market failures like this are exactly the kind of situation where government regulation is needed.

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Bongles@lemm.ee ⁨10⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

Maybe it’ll be size, or water resistance, or durability, but something will have to be compromised.

definitely size at the least. We’ll probably have to go back to removable backs so I imagine water proofing will be difficult without adding at least a little size.

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vacuumflower@lemmy.sdf.org ⁨10⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
If by size you mean it’s going to become fatter, I’m all for it. PSP Slim was basically as slim as I need for things which go into my pocket. Laptops don’t, so these can be twice fatter than that.

About “market failures” … This particular “market failure” is strongly connected to patent law, which cuts down most of the potential competition. So maybe it’s not a “market failure” at all if you have monopolies and oligopolies because of patents. Because patent law is not a market mechanism, obviously.

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Isycius@lemmy.ca ⁨10⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Considering Samsung during their cost cutting days designed Galaxy Xcover Pro 2 without drawback just fine, I think everyone will be able to do it without drawback just fine as well.

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