1 yr. ago • 98%

Google extends Chromebook support from 8 years to 10 after heightened backlash

arstechnica.com Google extends Chromebook support from 8 years to 10 after heightened backlash

Automatic Chromebook expiration dates still "fundamentally flawed," critics say.

Tech News @lemmy.ml Google extends Chromebook support from 8 years to 10 after heightened backlash

8 comments

Because in this way they can continue to sell unsold inventory that has been left in a warehouse for 8 years

It's Linux+Chrome and it should be supported indefinitely. Stopping sending chrome updates because marketing dept said so is not just being assholes but it's a crime against the environment

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- But they don't include chargers with their phones anymore, so they should be good, right?!
  
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  also they say the packaging of the pixel watch is with less plastic. Yeah, the climate crisis is solved!!! Who cares then if you break its screen, they don't offer any kind of repair, with the only option being disposal.
  
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- This is true, but this is also going to be a huge help to schools, many of which have spent a substantial amount of their meager budgets on Chromebooks. Expanding their lifetime is going to be a big deal in education.
  
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  Are Chromebooks lasting that long in the hands of students? In my experience they tend to be pretty rough on hardware, even if the software is hard to mess up.
  
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This is the best summary I could come up with:

The move follows increasing criticism from consumers, schools, and advocacy groups around the many Chromebooks in use and on sale with looming death dates.

Chromebooks are unique in individual models having automatic update expiration (AUE) dates and have faced criticism for this for years.

By including interviews with repair techs, repair activists, and US school districts that helped surge Chromebook sales during the COVID-19 pandemic, PIRG's scathing report detailed concerns with Chromebook AUEs, including views that they were "arbitrary" and "aggressive."

However, Google has previously said that AUE dates aren't easy to change because the dates "depend on many device specific, non-Google hardware and software providers that work with Google to provide the highest level of security and stability support," which is why "older Chrome devices cannot receive updates indefinitely to enable new OS and browser features."

For example, Washington's South Kitsap School District in January said it expected to spend at least $2.8 million to replace 9,483 Chromebooks in 2026.

Google and other tech companies should continue to innovate ways to commit to a circular economy and stop pressuring us to replace our phones and laptops.

The original article contains 727 words, the summary contains 186 words. Saved 74%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!

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Nice.

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