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Comment by tamimio | Hacker News Reader

>expired Chromebook will no longer receive the software updates it needs, blocking basic websites and applications from use.

The first part is basically any android device, now you know why!

>These updates 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,”

What an utter BS!! How hard it would be for google to have an agreement with these vendors to support it for say 10years?! Also, I don’t think you would need such an agreement as mostly new software updates will be compatible with the new hardware unless major changes were made like a cpu architecture etc., you can still get an intel pentium cpu working fine with linux/windows, a fully functional OSes not a browser based one!!

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Companies like Google talk a good game (progressive (lower case) environmentalism, etc.) but like ESG it’s all a ruse.

They sell disposable devices with built-in obsolescence. They like to pretend they care —they only care about their market position and profits. The rest is just a way to get there.

And to just not throw Google under their bus, look at Apple (and Google too) if you think they care... look at the labor practices they condone --just like Nike. If it's overseas, I guess it's not happening. Sure, they treat Engs very well stateside because (for various reasons, including market) they must --not because they want. But then again, "we" condone it and encourage it by buying their goods and services knowing full well the reality on the ground.

100% agree!

How long should we expect vendors to support a device that may have retailed for $125-250?

At some point, if you want 10 years of support, you’re going to have to pay for it one way or the other.

When I paid $129 (including tax and shipping to my door) for my Chromebook, I was fine with getting a little over 4 years of updates from it. That worked out to be about $2.48/mo.

The fact of the matter is that this electronic garbage is an externality that neither consumers nor Google had to pay for due to the planet being valued at $0. The sad part is that since our current generation won’t have to deal with this problem, we happily pass it on to our children and grandchildren.

>The fact of the matter is that this electronic garbage is an externality that neither consumers nor Google had to pay for due to the planet being valued at $0.

Actually in many jurisdictions, the government collects a e-waste handling fee at the point of sale, which partially or completely alleviates this concern.

This is a business model problem, not a technical problem.

Software can keep running without being actively maintained.

What are you talking about?

What a strange devil's advocate.

Internet connected devices absolutely need active maintenance. Especially so for a device which will be used by children.

Google could have designed and licensed Android in such a way that devices would receive direct OS updates, with the manufacturer's custom garbage as a strictly separate layer on top of that. It's not a trivial challenge, but it's absolutely doable.

They didn't, and the result is a lot of e-waste and vulnerable devices.

>How long should we expect vendors to support a device that may have retailed for $125-250?

For how long they can but at least not to kill it like blocking the internet on a device that’s only usable with one.. let the community take it from there, I’m sure some bright people will find a way to have a usable minimal linux distribution for such devices, and I’m sure a lot of less fortunate countries would be happy to buy it.

Google isn't blocking the internet on out-of-auto-update Chromebooks. They just stop getting updates.

That means that as the software drifts farther and farther out of date, which in turn means that some things will stop working, but it's not a kill switch.

There already are native boot Linux distros for most Intel Chromebooks.

https://www.wikihow.com/What-to-Do-with-Your-Chromebook-Afte...

The schools may decide that the costs or risks are not worth it to run unsupported hardware/software in their environment, but Google isn't turning them into doorstop as some people on this thread seem to be implying (or believing themselves).

>They just stop getting updates.

And stopping the updates will block them from the internet, at least that’s per the article:

>Chromebook will no longer receive the software updates it needs, blocking basic websites and applications from use.

>That means that as the software drifts farther and farther out of date, which in turn means that some things will stop working, but it's not a kill switch.

So basically just like an android device, after 2 years you’re on your own? Better than a killswitch obviously but it also means that it’s just a software pre-determined obsolescence and had nothing to do with google claims that’s it’s “hardware vendors issue”, because just like android hardware, a lot received non-official support from different developers for years after untill the hardware became a little slow to keep up with the bloated system.

>And stopping the updates will block them from the internet, at least that’s per the article:

My guess is that eventually the browser will be outdated and sites will eventually break, but in my experience you have years until you start running into sites that use the latest and greatest features with no polyfill.

The math you're sharing makes sense - still, the useful utility is there. It's still working hardware, and if linux can keep that equipment running on it's own, it's hard to imagine why Chromebooks couldn't keep running.

Maybe it's worth preparing them with an alternate distribution that will get updates for much longer.

Yeah, that's disposable technology, and, guess what, that means you're the bad guy.

I'll wager that I'm going to use this Chromebook for a longer total duration (days from purchase to disposal) than you'll use your current phone.

The proper comparison is a laptop. Phones inherently take more routine physical stress and accidental damage by virtue of how they're carried and used.

Also, phones are where this hardware update treadmill cancer started. I only stopped using my last phone because carriers unilaterally obsoleted the model and banned it from their networks.

Well, my phone is three years old, bought after the old one broke, and my laptop is 13 years old, so you make your own judgement.

I'm still running kitkat. I don't think you will win this bet.

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