The real danger behind Chat Control and similar measures, is that countries won't even have to utilize parallel construction anymore. No longer will dragnet surveillance mostly target the big guys. They'll be able to basically automate prosecution of any crime that they desire.

Think about how many little slices have been taken out of our freedom pie over the last 10 years. How many similar dystopian laws have passed despite our outrage?

Technology is outpacing our ability to protect ourselves, and countries will keep pushing boundaries until nothing is left sacred.

Oppression never sleeps.

Yay! Very awesome indeed. /s

That's disgusting.

Yeah, that is so unfortunate. As someone who really wants to move to Europe someday mainly because of their excellent regulations regarding tech, Chat Control has certainly made me rethink that decision, though not really cancelling it outright.

The concept of corporate personhood is way older than you think, it goes back to at least ancienct Rome around 800 BC. Other countries have that as well, eg. the German constitution says very explicitly "Fundamental rights shall also apply to domestic artificial persons insofar as the nature of such rights shall permit.". That's not really the issue, the actual issue is the extreme reliance of political campaigns on donations coupled with the exorbitant costs of political campaigning in the US.

Citizen's United is very often misrepresented as being about corporate personhood, when in fact this concept isn't even referenced in the ruling at all. Instead the ruling says that political speech rights aren't contingent on the identity of the speaker at all. Even if you abolish corporate personhood (which would bring a whole host of other issues with it because for example corporate property ownership hinges on the legal person concept as well) that still wouldn't overturn Citizen's United.

Data privacy to protect individuals. Quick summary here: https://www.techtarget.com/whatis/definition/General-Data-Protection-Regulation-GDPR

It isn't like saying anything like that, no.

Don't get anoyed at gdpr for that. Websites could perfectly operate with those banners being non-intrusive, they choose not to.

Accepting cookies is not a GDPR regulation. It's the cookie law, which is a lot older than GDPR.

I'm curious why you think it was a mistake.

I'm an EU citizen and I strongly approve of GDPR. Out of curiosity: are you an EU citizen?

Why? Isn't the increased regulation regarding everyones private information a bonus?

Lol

Better go back playing StarCraft, my man

Android/Google tried to make this a bit easier through Project Treble, which is like a "core" of android that can be easily updated, then vendors build their modifications on top of it. It's pretty widely adopted now, but that doesn't stop companies from deciding they don't want to support hardware from three years ago even though it is still compatible with the latest Android core.

Fairphone 3 is aiming at 7 years on Android https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2023/07/fairphone-3-gets-seven-years-of-updates-besting-every-other-android-oem/

If you don't buy no-name brand phones, you will get at least one major update. Even chinese brands such as xiaomi will provide updates. You can also install generic LineageOS image if your phone can be unlocked some way, official or not. It works on most devices.

But many smart TVs become useless very quick. When I was using 2015 phone in 2020, TV newer than that already loaded the lightweight Google version for unsupported browsers and vast majority sites/apps became unavailable. It used browser that was already 2 years old when it was released and never released an update to it. But when there was root vulnerability, they released a fix after long time of being basically unsupported.

The thing with older iPhones, running new iOSes, is that they're intentionally slowed down (by the software) or as I'd like to call it, underclocked. That also could render them useless, even with new iOS, and even if there were removable batteries.

Apple is one of the worst offenders. When they sunset a device they force blanket app incompatibility on it, rendering it unusable. It can be a perfectly good device, fully working, but all apps (already installed apps too!) will start suddenly requiring a new iOS version which isn't available for that device.

only 2 models and the "cheap" one is more than I paid for the last two phones I had, combined. what percentage of the market do they have?

A tricky part is that some apps detect an unlocked bootloader and brick themselves, which effectively makes it impossible to use those apps on such devices. And while I don't think rooting is a strict requirement for installing LineageOS based off a quick search, rooting also has this problem (and at least last time I installed a custom OS many years ago, I recall either having to root or thinking I had to root).

Assuming someone makes a ROM for your device. This is often the case if you go with one of the most popular models but less popular devices might simply see no development effort – if the developers can even get their hands on the drivers and other necessary parts to build Android for that device.

It'd be great if manufacturers had to release all of the stuff necessary to run AOSP on their devices but I doubt it's going to happen.

Why not force Apple too?

... so this bot is an ad?

e: weird getting downvoted for asking a question.

It's pretty damn good (android 12), especially considering i got this second hand from a random guy

Dude it's just as easy to wrap it in aluminium foil and call it a day

You can force reboot phone with holding power button or all buttons for about 10 seconds and it will reboot. You don't need removable battery fot that. Or you can just remove sim for example. Thiefs aren't dumb

I can't see any added value of having an unremovable battery that isn't entirely outweighted by the advantage of you being able to replace it.

Giving up your right to easily replace a key part of your phone just so in the event it gets stolen a thief can't take it out, to me feels like saying that pissing on your food so the person next to you won't eat it while you are gone is a good idea.

Additional points:

• Any phone thief probably has the tools (or knows a guy) to remove any battery from any phone.
• In case your phone has an account lock feature, that doesn't go by just removing the battery, they would have to do some advanced wiping, which would make having the unremovable battery useless anyways.
• "Oh but at least i can track them down and feel like a secret agent on a mission against the thief bad guy" 1) Dont, i dont think your phone is worth your safety. 2) they can just put it in a faraday bag as others already pointed out. Or literally a tinfoil wrap. A "faraday bag" is actually a stupid piece of radiation blocking pouch you can buy for 10 euros on amazon really.

You know what instead actually prevents your phone from being stolen? Paying attention to your pockets and avoiding to flex the latest iphone model around. I am absolutely sure "safety" and "consumer security" are points companies will bring up against user-removable batteries

Right. Technically, iPhone X batteries could be considered “replaceable”. Practically, when I did it, I had to purchase an $80 kit with tools, then take on substantial risk that I’d break it irreparably(say 20%), and put in a solid 4 hours of effort to do so.

Valuing my time at $20/hour, and the phone at $800, that’s $80 + $160 + $80 = $320.

From what I recall they will allow screws and similar instead of just having a cover. However no security or custom screws requiring you to purchase tools to replace it. Also, no gluing and stuff like that. Fair enough I think

In the EU that isn't as much of an issue when it comes to Android because they mandate that the bootloader must be unlockable (compared to the US at least, cough SAMSUNG cough). So as long as the device is somewhat popular, you'll always have updates through custom firmware like LineageOS.

Doesn't help Apple, though they've been... surprisingly good with last generation updates lately? iOS 16 can be installed on an 8 year old(ish) phone.

I'm curious how software can last shorter. Could you maybe give me an example ?

The only way i can think of is companies reducing software support.

It's possible that Apple may do this, but for android - it'd just result in a thriving community for Custom ROMs.

I had an LG with removable battery and a metal back. The manufacturers that said they couldn't make a removable back out of anything but shitty plastic were blowing smoke up your ass.

I'm sure we'll see plenty of skirting the laws around these batteries. "well actually, out barriers are removable and easily accessible if you do XYZ"

Any time there's regulations there's always a raft of companies saying how it's going to put them out of business, yet they'll all stick around and continue to make sales, almost like they need to adapt to changing environments.

SIM cards are becoming one-time eSIM activation QR codes slowly. Prepaid eSIM QR codes didn't exist in my country until PLDT-Smart introduced them, with Globe and newcomer DITO following suit soon.

It is a common misconception, this and this are the same phone. It's a 2016 model btw.

Airpods could literally just have a little threaded battery with an o-ring, as that stick part. The added expense and engineering challenges are minor. They just don't do it because they want you to buy new ones every couple of years.

Maybe an unpopular opinion, but if a product can only exist if it's consumer-unfriendly, perhaps it shouldn't exist at all.

Sure wireless earphones can be convenient, but the extra e-waste, the non replaceable batteries, the Bluetooth transceivers, the DACs used (while the device you're streaming from almost certainly already has these things) is super wasteful.

I think if we have any chance as a society, we need to start thinking about the products we use and how they are produced and how much waste they create, instead of just how convenient they are at the time.

Yep, I'm still using a pixel 3a. Was running amazingly well up until a boot loop forced me to upgrade to android 12. It's still okay, but you can feel it's not as responsive. I don't see a reason to upgrade while it is running so smoothly. I could be happier with a better camera, but I have a real camera, which I carry almost anywhere, so that's okay.

When my current phone does, I'm checking out a Fairphone. Don't know if they ship to/work in the Americas tho

They’re already doing it iirc, new models of iPhone might have usb-c in Europe and Lightning elsewhere. Nothing that stops you from buying European ones though, sure.

I absolutely love mine. Unfortunately GM just discontinued them.

Got it. Thank you!

Even though I use Bluetooth a lot now, I still find uses for my headphone jack especially when travelling. For anyone wondering, Sony still makes a great flagship with a great headphone jack and removable storage

I have both wired and wireless headphones and I find uses for both. When I'm walking around the house doing chores, I mostly use Bluetooth headphones. But I need the option to be able to plug into an AUX every once in a while.

Because I already own good quality headphones with a jack cable and buying a new pair that I can only connect to my phone feels needlessly wasteful.
I'm also a musician and I like being able to listen to stuff on my phone with IEMs when practicing to protect my hearing. No Bluetooth headphones provide adequate hearing protection AFAIK.

Ye, and they were far less prone to the screen breaking. When it falls the battery can fly out, taking much of the energy from the fall with it.

They could have been, but they absolutely weren't. IP ratings weren't ubiquitous until 2015-2016. You can buy an IP68 with a removable battery right now, but hardly anyone does. It's not a flagship.

Further, there's nothing in this bill to suggest that it will force manufacturers to go back to the old days of a removable backplate and plug and play batteries. I'd bet you'd be hard pressed to find a device that runs afoul of the bill's language right now.

It’s not really the battery thickness that is the issue it’s the docking mechanism that has to be robust enough for real world usage.

Yeah but it’s a 50/50 gamble that Apple Pay and FaceID will still work if the phone doesn’t recognize it as a legitimate component. I had it done at an Apple Store and they couldn’t figure it out.

15 minutes maybe for an experienced technician but easily hours for someone who isn't used to device repair which is not reasonable.

Source: iFixit iPhone 13 battery replacement

You've been duped if you honestly think devices can only reach IP68 resistance when they have sealed batteries.

My current phone has a headphone jack and removable sim card tray with removable storage that you can take out easily with your fingernail, and it's IP68 and just as thin if not thinner than current gen iphones.

I tried that and lost the ability to use Apple Pay. Plus I miss the old days of carrying two or three batteries and being able to hotswap them when needed.

Didn’t Apple throw around the possibility of usb-c iPhones for Europe and Lightning ones for everywhere else? It seems like they gain enough from the proprietary cables to make it worth.

Agreed. It seems an entirely valid amount of time. Plus that's only when they must do this. I'm sure many companies are gonna be rushing to switch over ASAP, because they don't want to risk waiting till last minute and will want to be able to still sell left over older models.

Also, people are mistakenly thinking only of phones. The article makes it clear this is applies to everything. Most electronics don't come out annually like phones do. There are tons of electronics that would never have been redesigned and now probably need to be if they want to keep selling them.

I know it doesn’t sound as much, but it’s one example and it is still 1.5mm thicker than my iPhone and ip67 instead of ip68. If it turns out, I have nothing to worry about then great, but atm I know what I have and gain nothing from user replaceable batteries as I’ve never had a phone/iPad where I wanted to change the battery. Others may prefer differently.