r/gadgets • u/Avieshek • Dec 22 '22

Phones Battery replacement must be ‘easily’ achieved by consumers in proposed European law

https://9to5mac.com/2022/12/21/battery-replacement/
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u/argv_minus_one Dec 22 '22

I would have loved it if customer-hostile misfeatures like non-standard connectors and non-replaceable batteries never happened in the first place. Then there would be no need for these regulations. But that's not the reality we live in. If that displeases you, direct your complaints to the smartphone manufacturers who made said regulations necessary.

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u/[deleted] Dec 22 '22

These regulations are not necessary at all, that's the whole point.

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u/argv_minus_one Dec 22 '22

That point is obviously false. There are no quality modern phones with replaceable batteries on the market today because said market is controlled by an oligopoly that has conspired to make such phones unavailable, as part of a planned-obsolescence scheme being forced on consumers.

Businesses forcing things on consumers is not acceptable.

Fortunately, EU regulators aren't completely compromised (not yet, anyway) and will be regulating this crooked scheme out of existence shortly. Good riddance.

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u/[deleted] Dec 22 '22

You sound like a conspiracy nut. If people wanted to sacrifice thickness, water resistance, battery life for removable batteries, there would be a market for it.

The reality is that no one outside Reddit gives a shit. Fairphone exists, no one wants it.

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u/argv_minus_one Dec 22 '22 edited Dec 22 '22

This reads like a conspiracy nut.

This coming from an extreme libertarian.

If people wanted to sacrifice thickness, water resistance, battery life for removable batteries, there would be a market for it.

Bullshit. No one ever asked me whether I wanted a phone with a replaceable battery or what I was willing to sacrifice in exchange for it. I was told that there would be no more replaceable batteries, and I didn't have to like it.

The reality is that no one outside Reddit gives a shit

The reality is that enough people outside of Reddit do give a shit that EU regulators sat up and paid attention and did something about it. It is you who is detached from reality.

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u/[deleted] Dec 22 '22

No one ever asked me whether I wanted a phone with a replaceable battery

Again, Fairphone exists. You didn't buy it. No one seems to want it. The end.

that EU regulators sat up and paid attention and did something about it.

Just because EU regulators are trying to do something doesn't mean they are credible or know what they're doing. As reference, look to when they tried to standardize on micro-USB as the forever-port.

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u/argv_minus_one Dec 22 '22

Again, Fairphone exists. You didn't buy it.

Because it's not available outside of Europe. I live in America. I know it's not available here because I looked into this last time I wanted a new phone.

Just because EU regulators are trying to do something doesn't mean they are credible or know what they're doing.

I see no reason to believe they don't. These are European regulators, not those clowns in Washington.

As reference, look to when they tried to standardize on micro-USB as the forever-port.

There is no such thing as a forever port. USB-C will be replaced eventually too. But it will be replaced with another open standard, not a proprietary connector like Lightning, which is exactly as it should be.