Firstly, I want to focus on my cellphone. When I went to college, I had just got my first cellphone. It was a Huawei’s Android smartphone, and I just used it for six month.

You can see it in the picture. It still can be used for calling or massaging, even playing some simply games. Because it cannot meet some requests for my normal life. I replaced it.

And in the first three years in my college life, I changed my cellphone every semester. So I have six cellphones in the first three years. And there are two reasons for this. One is that I was an incautious person. I dropped one cellphone in the lavatory, and I loss other one in a Chicago Airport. The other reason is that my father’s habit is changing his cellphone. So he would give me his older cellphones to me. That is why I changed my cellphone every semester. And I also think the new features and the improvement of the hardware is other reason to change cellphones. For example, I always used Android smartphones in the first three years, and these smartphones would be more and more lagging and crash because of updating Apps. So changing a smartphone is a way to solve this situation. About these no longer using cellphones, I just put these in my drawer. Because these still can be used for calling or messaging, if I lose my cellphone, I can reuse these before I buy a new cellphone.

And about other electrical device, I just updated it for just one case that it couldn’t work smoothly or it was broken. For example, before I got iPad mini, I had an iPad 1, iPad 2 and iPad 3. I just updated them when the older generation couldn’t meet the requirements of many Apps. And I just stored all these iPads in my drawer. But I guess it’s hard to reuse these. So I liked to store these no longer using devices in my drawer. And it’s my way to disposed of my devices. But sometimes I wanted to dispose these someplace where there could recycled. But it’s hard find an appropriate information. Because I would face some problems about the distance. The recycle place are not always located in my city, I need to spend money to ship my technological devices. But most of these still have functions. So I just keep all of these for my collection.

But after I saw a video[1] in my COM380 class, I changed my mind about how to dispose of my electrical device. People believe that the electrical device recycling company would recycle these device, but most of these company just sell this E-Waste to developing counties. It’s just a lie for us. The recycling companies are not responsible themselves. They hire women who are pregnant to deal with E-Waste. And the environment of a “recycling” place was polluted by E-Waste. Poor people just make a living by finding gold in E-Waste. After knowing about this, I think storing my older electrical devices in my drawer maybe is not a bad choice. Because these devices wouldn’t pollute the environment. But I just want the government to publish some law or measures to control these recycling companies.

With the development of technology, more and more electrical devices come out. But we should to rethink about how to deal with E-Waste. We need to protect our earth. So we need a method to recycle our electric devices. Maybe some people just throw their E-Waste in the garbage, but we can inform them through TV, newspaper or other way. For example, a paper posted near the garbage in my yard said, “Don’t throw electrical device in the garbage.” It is an effective way to forbid people from throwing E-Waste in the garbage. And I think if I shipped my no longer used devices to a recycle company, my devices would be sent to a developing country to pollute its environment. So I believe that keeping my old electrical device by myself is not bad way. And when I find a reliable method to recycle it, I will empty my drawer to recycle.

And another video also given me a chance to rethink about how to deal with the E-Waste problem.[2] It’s a TED lecture about recycling plastic by Mike Biddle. Using the tech way to figure out a tech question, which is best explanation for this lecture. He research about characters of all kinds of plastic, and knew how to figure out and recycle them. For E-Waste, maybe we can use the same way to deal with this problem. If we have the recycle technology which can match the every new generation of electrical devices. And the government should let people know where they can use this technology to recycle, which can better the situation of E-Waste.

After knowing much information about E-Waste, I also became more careful before I purchase a new electrical device. Because I would think about the impact on the environment. I will select environment-friendly devices. And I also will decrease the frequency for updating my devices, in order to help mitigate the E-Waste problem.

All in all, E-Waste is a big problem we face now. But we can break it down, just focus on ourselves. It will have important influence on this problem. We can reduce the frequency of updating our devices. Due to demand, companies will adjust their production. This is a way to reduce the problem at the source. Don’t throw E-Waste in the garbage, the incorrect way to dispose will pollute our environment. We must select the reliable way to recycle E-Waste. That is what I learned from my experience and what I learn from my COM380 course.

Just following these tips, and doing it for ourselves. Our earth will be more beautiful!

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_PgbrPiUG0M

[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RD07GkmM2fc

My cell phone is something that I use daily. The alarm wakes me up in the morning, the note pad helps me with my grocery list, the message feature allows me to text family and friends, the address book contains my key contacts, and the call feature keeps me safe in emergencies. To me, my cell phone is a tool for the job. I would never consider waxing poetic about my attachment to an inanimate object. Yet, here I am quietly reflecting on the significance of having a cell phone in my life.

In the early days of owning one I discovered that I would have to adopt new habits. I bought a Bluetooth so I could use my phone hands free, I bought a car charger so the battery wouldn’t die while I was on the road, I even started choosing purses that had a special pocket for cell phones. My cell phone was now my constant companion.

For the longest time, I continued a daily relationship with my cell phone and life was good. Then it began…more advanced cell phones were being released to the public; I started receiving messages from my service provider that I qualified for an upgraded model; my friends started trading in their old ones for newer models even though the older models still worked. I was surrounded by pressure to upgrade yet I stubbornly clung to my old device. When the phone began to fail, the time for a replacement was upon me. The coincidental circumstances of my phone failing about the same time that my contract was up for renewal were not lost on me. I remember being irritated and thinking that the phone’s failure was by design.

After much research, deliberation, and soul searching, I chose a newer version of the model I had even though it was considered antiquated by industry standards. I stubbornly stuck to my decision to keep a similar model for several reasons. Firstly, I was familiar with the features and functionality; secondly, it felt a little like betrayal of an old friend to switch to something completely different; and finally, I resented the implication of being relegated to a lower social status if I didn’t choose a more recent model.

My decision to stick with a similar model probably says a lot about who I am. I am cautious of untested technology, I am loyal, and I’m a bit rebellious. I had decided that I was not going to jump into technology that I did not understand and I was certainly not interested in abandoning a tried and true model for a fancier and flashier one because I equated choosing a newer model with abandoning old friends for a new boyfriend – that is where the loyalty part comes in. Really, I did not owe the older model anything. After all, it was just a tool for the job, or so I thought. Having said all that, the phone I carry with me today could be described as a symbol of rebellion. Yes, I own a flip phone.  What was once a tool for the job has now become a symbol of status.

The convenience and practicality of a flip phone has been relegated by popular culture to be used by the poor, the elderly, and criminals. Steve Garbarino (2013) refutes this perception in his article that intimates a resurgence of the flip phone. Garbarino argues that flip phones still have value and are still used by prominent figures in sports, fashion, film, and finance for utilitarian reasons (tool for the job). Garbarino (2014) himself admits to carrying both a smartphone and a flip phone and suggests that there is a new movement under-foot. Some folks are even stockpiling these devices (Weiss, 2014). The fact that these prominent figures acknowledge the benefits of a flip phone is cause to pause and reflect on the cell phone as a device versus a status symbol. So began my investigation into the company that makes my cell phone – Samsung.

The background of my cell phone

When it comes of the sale of mobile devices, Samsung is the leader of the pack and is followed by Nokia and Apple respectively (Kiselicki, 2014). Kiselicki acknowledges that Apple and Samsung have sustainability programs in place however “the core problem is that the industry assesses and reacts to environmental impact in a limited fashion, beginning and concluding with the production process, as well as a simple life-cycle assessment of the product” (p 72-73). Upon deeper investigation, Kiselicki discovered that Samsung ranked seventh place out of ten regarding sustainable practices with Nokia ranking third and Apple ranking sixth.

Kiselicki’s findings certainly put Samsung’s company profile and sustainability report into perspective. The company profile mentions competitive threats (for example: dependence on Android, patent litigations, and intense competition) and has identified Nokia as a top competitor (MarketLine, 2015). Apple is not mentioned. The SWOT analysis boasts Samsung’s research and development (R&D) capabilities yet contains little mention of sustainability. Samsung maintains that it is committed to minimizing negative impacts to the environment at all levels – production facilities, raw materials acquisition, and disposal phases (2015 Sustainability Report). An example of their commitment can be found in their program to take discarded cell phones and combine them with photovoltaic panels to make a ‘mobile solar-powered projector’ (p 105). Another example is a program in Hungary that rewards students for returning their old cell phones in exchange for credits (points). Students can either use these points to purchase electronic products made by Samsung or to purchase stationery items.

These initiatives sound great on the surface but there are other programs that could be leveraged as well. Initiatives like Fairphone (aimed at eliminating the charger that accompanies a new phone) and Phonebloks (replaceable, upgradeable components) are adding pressure to larger cell phone companies to think of production and disposal in new ways (Kiselicki, 2014).   I was surprised at my sense of relief when the store offered to dispose of my old phone. When I asked the store what would happen to my old phone, they said that they would try to repair it and then donate it. Failing that, the phone would be stripped for salvageable parts and the remainder would be recycled. I was satisfied that I had done my part for the environment by asking what would happen to it. Little did I realize that cell phones contain a multitude of chemicals and elements that needed to be dealt with. Environmental waste from electronics, also known as WEEE (waste electronic and electrical equipment) or e-waste is an issue that affects us all and we, as consumers, have the power to influence manufacturers of cell phones by demanding take-back systems and demonstrating environmentally responsible purchasing behaviours (Babayemi, J. O., Osibanjo, O., and Weber, R., 2014).

Samsung’s Sustainability Report mainly focuses on eco-friendly packaging and materials. With 36 Research and Development (R&D) centres around the world, the goal of these centres is to predict future consumer needs and develop products to meet those needs. In essence, their function is to create something we don’t know we need yet. Taking this goal one step further, it could be said that they are in the business of planned obsolescence. For a company that was established in 1969 and consists of 3 divisions: consumer electronics (CE), information technology & mobile communications (IM), and device solutions (DS) which are subdivided into subsidiaries that are distributed across 213 offices around the globe (Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. 2014 Business Report, n.d.), there is a lot at stake.

Samsung’s Headquarters is located in Suwon, Korea and they have 320,000 employees in 84 countries.   Samsung delivered sales of KRW206.2 trillion (KRW = Korean Republic Won) and earned KRW25 trillion in operating profits in 2014. Samsung expects to reach 77% market penetration for mobile phones by end of 2015 (Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. CEO Message, n.d.) and they are the producers of Galaxy branded products. A company of this size and economy of scale has an opportunity to radically influence environmentally friendly manufacturing and disposal of its products. We as consumers, must demand such practices and not succumb to targeted marketing. As more and more people acquire cell phones, it would be advantageous for Samsung to lead the charge instead of waiting for government imposed legislation.

I plan to keep my flip phone model for as long as possible. I will continue to encourage people to reconsider whether they need the latest and greatest model and to be thoughtful regarding the disposal of their old devices. I know that the next phone I get will have functions and features that are leaps and bounds ahead of the model I have today. If I wait long enough, someone may come up with a flip phone/smartphone hybrid. Perhaps then, I’ll have both a tool for the job and an elevated social status.

References

Babayemi, J. O., Osibanjo, O., & Weber, R. (2014). Assessment of use, reuse, and end-of-life disposal and X-Ray fluorescence analysis screening of waste mobile phones in Nigeria. Environmental Quality Management, 23(4), 1-12. doi:10.1002/tqem.21372

Garbarino, S. (2013, December 7). Flipping for Flip Phones?. Wall Street Journal – Eastern Edition. p. D10

Garbarino, S. (2014, November). It takes two cellphones to tango. Wall Street Journal – Eastern Edition. p. D11

Kiselicki, M. (2014). Reducing electronic and environmental waste through commercially sustainable mobile devices. Journal of Sustainable Development (1857-8519), 5(11), 71-90

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.. (2014). 2014 Sustainability report. (accessed on July 5, 2015 from http://www.samsung.com/us/aboutsamsung/sustainability/sustainabilityreports/download/2015/SAMSUNG_SUSTAINABILITY_REPORT_2015_ENG.pdf )

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.. (2014). 2014 Business report. (accessed July 5, 2015 from http://www.samsung.com/us/aboutsamsung/investor_relations/financial_information/business_report.html )

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.. (n.d). Company profile. MarketLine. Retrieved on July 5, 2015 from James A. Gibson Library Brock University, Company Information

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.. (n.d). CEO message. (accessed July 5, 2015 from http://www.samsung.com/us/aboutsamsung/investor_relations/ceomessage/ )

Weiss, T. R. (2014). Flip Phone Simplicity Again Gets Attention From Some Users. Eweek, 1

My Purple HP Laptop

Out of the many technological devices I own, I depend on my purple HP laptop the most. My dependency on it spawned from a distaste I have for not having anything to do. I love to keep my mind busy with writing short stories or playing strategy games online. I think of my laptop as a window which can open up to a myriad of possibilities where I can learn, create, share and play. I feel comfortable knowing that with my laptop by my side I will never be bored. Although it is an inanimate object, my laptop has played a part in shaping my personality and it has had a huge effect on how I live my life by taking on an important role in my daily routine. Its secret power is how it gives me a sense of freedom by being able to connect me to the world and by giving me information and the ability to create at my fingertips. It connects me to answers, information and ideas in a matter of seconds. The moment I open my laptop, I feel invigorated. I feel as if I have the ability to create and contribute to the world. It gives me a sense of belonging and it has become a part of who I am.

My purple laptop is the second laptop I have owned in my lifetime. The first one I owned was a tiny Apple laptop that I purchased the year I started university. I found myself very reliant on that laptop as well. Seeing as it was the first computer I had ever owned, I stored all of my school work, photographs and music on it. When I had purchased the Apple laptop, it was on sale because a newer model had just been released. Because of this, it had older software than the newer model that replaced it. This consequently shortened its lifespan. I used my Apple laptop for two years until it became very slow and was unable to download the newest version of Firefox because its software had become old and obsolete. It is an understatement to say that I was very upset when I realized I had to purchase a new laptop. Nevertheless, I required a laptop that was up to date in order to finish my studies so I shopped around for a few months until I found my purple HP. The decision to switch from an Apple computer to an HP was based on the lack of computer programs available for Apple. The fact that the HP was almost one thousand dollars less than a new Apple laptop was also a deciding factor. Now that I have the purple HP, I no longer use my Apple laptop. It currently sits on the top shelf in the closet of my office where it is unseen and forgotten. I know that it will never function well enough to be used again, but to give it up to be recycled would be heart-breaking to me. Because of the memories I have associated with it, it will always hold­­­ a place in my heart and I will never let it go.

Hewlett-Packard’s Green Initiatives and the Fate of my Purple Laptop

            Hewlett-Packard is listed as number thirty-five in Forbes most valuable brands with $57.9 billion in revenue as of 2014 (Forbes, 2015). It was founded in the United States in 1939 by William R. Hewlett and David Packard (Hall, n.d.). In 2014 the company’s profits were $1.27 billion, which was up 18% from the previous year (Burke, 2015). The company’s headquarters are located in the United States in Palo Alto, California and they currently employ 302,000 people (Forbes, 2015). They have several research laboratories located around the world including India, China, Russia, England, Japan and Israel (Hall, n.d.).

            Hewlett-Packard has an excellent reputation as an employer (Nash & Fernandez-Kelly, 1983). They are known for having an exceptional work environment and they treat their employees well by offering higher than average wages (Nash & Fernandez-Kelly, 1983). They have over three hundred labour markets throughout the world and they have a reputation for employing a diversity of ethnic groups (Nash & Fernandez-Kelly, 1983). Furthermore, they do not gender discriminate (Karsten, 2006). The first CEO of Hewlett-Packard was a woman by the name of Carly Fiorina (Hall, n.d.). The current CEO is also a woman by the name of Margaret Whitman (Forbes, 2015).

            As far as recycling goes, Hewlett-Packard leads the way with the most cutting-edge ideas for the disposal and reuse of their products (Greiner, 2015). The company’s innovative plan is called closed looped recycling, which involves creating items specifically to be reused (Greiner, 2015). For example, when an HP ink cartridge is empty, the consumer can ship it back to the company free of charge so that it can be filled and resold (Greiner, 2015). Hewlett-Packard has recycled more than 500 million cartridges so far and up to 70% of their ink cartridges are made from recycled material (Hewlett-Packard, 2015). It is not only ink cartridges that can be sent back for recycling, they also offer free shipping for customers to send obsolete products back to them for proper disposal (Motolla, 2005). They boast that they design and ship items to be environmentally friendly from start to finish (Hewlett-Packard, 2015). With the convenience of free shipping to over fifty countries, Hewlett-Packard has made every effort to make its products as environmentally friendly as possible (Hewlett-Packard, 2015). Hewlett-Packard saves millions of dollars by offering a recycling program (Motolla, 2005).

            Although Hewlett-Packard has worked hard to initiate a recycling program, they are still creating products with planned obsolescence in mind (Beam, 2011). For instance, in the 1990’s HP printers were a lot more durable and lasted a lot longer than they do currently (The Old Wolf, 2013). Furthermore, if Hewlett-Packard is as environmentally friendly as they claim to be, the price of buying a full set of their printer ink cartridges should not cost more than buying a new printer (Beam, 2011). Lowering the price of the replacement ink cartridges could encourage consumers to hang on to their electronic devices instead of replacing them with newer models.

            Companies such as Apple play a role in making Hewlett-Packard laptops obsolete. Since Apple upgrades their technological devices on an annual basis, and since their technology is always marketed as being on the cutting edge, those who purchase other products, such as Hewlett-Packard, may feel as if they need to upgrade to a newer device more often than they need to in order to keep up-to-date with technology (Ackerman, 2014). Consequently, some consumers may choose to move forward with Apple products instead of HP because Apple’s marketing strategies always place them in the forefront of technology (DeMers, 2014).

            Microsoft also has a hand in making Hewlett-Packard laptops obsolete. For instance, Microsoft upgrades the Windows software roughly every three years and once a computer is purchased with the newest software, Microsoft only offers support for the device three years following the purchase (Microsoft, 2014). Because of this, Microsoft will eventually be responsible for making my HP laptop obsolete. Furthermore, Microsoft will experience an economic gain by doing so since any computer running off the Windows platform will only be able to upgrade for a certain time period based on the original platform installed (Computer Maestros, n.d.). Once the computer is no longer able to load items because of its old software, it will no longer function properly and will therefore need to be replaced (Computer Maestros, n.d.).

            The companies that create technological devices have the power to generate more profit by keeping planned obsolescence in mind during their creation. These companies create new devices that make their old technology obsolete, which in turn forces consumers to replace their old items with new items (Hogan & Zeffiro, 2015). This is how companies contribute to the vast amount of techno-trash in our landfills (Hogan & Zeffiro, 2015). Conversely, the aforementioned companies also have the power to limit the amount of techno-trash created by making their products without an expiry date and by limiting the frequency of software updates. The likelihood of this scenario is unfortunately not a viable option for companies such as Apple, who are making a lot of money and are therefore unlikely to change their marketing strategies anytime soon (DeMers, 2014). Sadly, if we as consumers do not stop upgrading our products to the newest technology available, and if the companies who create the products to fail do not change their ways, the landfills will be full of our techno-trash and eventually our electronic waste will take over the world.

References

Ackerman, D. (2014, June 2). Apple breaks the annual mac upgrade cycle. CNET. Retrieved from http://www.cnet.com/news/apple-breaks-the-annual-mac-upgrade-cycle/

Beam, J. (2011, August 5). Designed to fail: Planned obsolescence in printers – tricks to fix them! [Web log comment]. Retrieved from http://www.reportsfromearth.com/155/designed-to-fail-planned-obsolescence-in-printers-tricks-to-fix-them/

Burke, S. (2015). HP eyes $2 billion in cost cutting in troubled enterprise services business. The CRN. Retrieved from http://www.crn.com/news/data-center/300076904/hp-eyes-2-billion-in-cost-cutting-in-troubled-enterprise-services-business.htm

DeMers, J. (2014, August). Here’s the simple secret to apple’s marketing success. Forbes. Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/sites/jaysondemers/2014/07/08/heres-the-simple-secret-to-apples-marketing-success/

Forbes the World’s Most Valuable Brands (2015). Electronic reference. Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/companies/hewlett-packard/

Computer Maestros (n.d.). Electronic reference. Retrieved from http://www.computermaestros.com/slow.php

Greiner, L. (2015, May 15). A look inside HP’s closed loop recycling strategy. Financial Post. Retrieved from http://business.financialpost.com/fp-tech-desk/cio/a-look-inside-hps-closed-loop-recycling-strategy

Hall, M. (n.d.). Hewlett-Packard Company. In Encyclopaedia Britannica Online. Retrieved from http://www.britannica.com/topic/Hewlett-Packard-Company

Hewlett-Packard (2015). Electronic References. Retrieved from http://www8.hp.com/ca/en/ads/supplies/environment.html?jumpid=va_r311_ca/en/any/corp/recycle

Hogan, M. & Zeffiro, A. (2015). Out of Site & Out of Mind: Speculative Historiographies of Techno-trash. New American Notes Online. Retrieved from http://www.nanocrit.com/issues/7-2015/out-site-out-mind-speculative-historiographies-techno-trash

Karsten, M.F. (2006). Gender, race, and ethnicity in the workplace: Organizational practices and individual strategies for women and minorities (p 269). Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing Group.

Microsoft (2014, April). Electronic References. Retrieved from http://windows.microsoft.com/en-ca/windows/lifecycle

Motolla, D. (2005, November 5). Developing world is our toxic techno-trash dumpster. Austin Chronicle. Retrieved from http://www.austinchronicle.com/news/2005-11-04/306954/

Nash, J. & Fernandez-Kelly, P. (1983). Women men and the international division of labor (pp. 286-287). Retrieved from https://books.google.ca/books?id=o9Se6JmIKQoC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false

The Old Wolf (2013, March 10). Planned obsolescence. [Web log comment]. Retrieved from https://playingintheworldgame.wordpress.com/2013/03/10/planned-obsolescence/

As is the case with many people today, I would say that my phone has become the premier example of my reliance on and reverence for my technology. From the moment I wake up in the morning until I go to sleep at night—and usually when I am asleep as well—my phone stays with me.

Interestingly, I use my phone almost exclusively for music/audiobooks or as a phone. Almost all my social media apps, like Facebook and Instagram, are tools for my social media-marketing job. Often, my friends will complain that I don’t update social media enough, or text back with any reliability.

The real significance of my relationship with my phone is as a tool for connecting with absent friends and family members. My boyfriend and I began our relationship by getting to know one another long distance, and we have developed a relationship that relies heavily on our phones. Our lunch dates, Facetime calls and constant stream of voicemails fill the gaps when we are unable to be in the same physical location.

My relationship with my boyfriend is indicative of my relationship to my phone since I got my first one. My first phone was a simple LG flip phone, and my parents only bought if for me because I was going away to boarding school and my parents wanted a reliable way to reach me at school. Throughout high school, and well into college I had “dumb” phones. I began to treat my phone with reverence, as it was my way to contact those that I loved no matter how far away they were from me. Often, I couldn’t understand the appeal of a smart phone because I had everything I needed in my “dumb” ones.

My switch to a smart phone was actually forced. Until I got an iPhone, all of my phones had been second-hand. Whenever my mom upgraded to a new phone I would get her old one (if I needed a new phone). When my second Alias 2 was stolen in the spring of my sophomore year of college, the only phone my mom had to give me was her Droid 2. Initially, I was annoyed by the touch screen and app store. However, I enjoyed the increased capacity for storing and playing music.

After I had accepted “smart” phones, I decided to switch to an iPhone because I liked the idea of consolidating my iPod with my phone. Now, my phone lives one my person. As gross as it might seem to some, it lives in a pocket in my bra—and it even stays there when I sleep. My attachment to it has gotten to the point where I have trouble functioning without it—which I realized when I cracked it’s screen last semester and had to rely on my computer to communicate with my parents and my boyfriend for two weeks.

Even my now defunct phones still hold some part of me hostage. I keep them, even though I know I could ostensibly pitch them at the recycling center at the entrance of any Best Buy. Some still have pictures or voicemails from years ago that were never transferred to my newer phones. One was just my favorite phone design that I ever had and I couldn’t bear to throw it out when I found out they had discontinued it in favor of a newer, sleeker version. I even like to pretend that if anything happened to my phone now, one of them could serve as a stand in until I was eligible for an upgrade on my current phone—which I have only done once. However, most have some defect, such as a broken End Button or inability to adjust the volume—which is why I upgraded in the first place. It’s difficult to part with my old technology on an emotional level, but I also don’t know how much I trust Best Buy or other recycling centers to dispose of them properly.

My family actually purged much of our older, defunct technology over the past year, so I am familiar with my city’s recycling center—the Shelby County Household Hazardous Waste facility. (You can only bring one electronic device per household per month.) I hadn’t really considered it until now, but all of the technology we recycled was “family” technology. Our old family computers, dating back to our first Gateway and one computer that only ran DOS. However, underneath a cabinet in the living room is a little repository for all our cameras, cell phones and other more “personal” electronics. It seems that it’s more difficult to part with these more personal items.

I’ve never really stopped to consider that my phones seem to conveniently “wear out” right around the time when my cell phone contract is up for renewal. In recent years, it seems that two years is the standard lifespan for a phone before daily wear and tear takes its toll. However, it is no accident that my iPhones need replacement just as the new version is released; rather it is planned obsolescence. According to The Economist, planned obsolescence is “a business strategy in which obsolescence…of a product is planned and built into it from its conception.”[i] The logic behind this strategy is that in the future consumers will purchase new products or services from the manufacturer as old products wear out. Many companies even go so far as to say this benefits the consumer, as the customer will stay up to date as the technology improves.

Apple, the progenitor of my various iPhones, iPods, and Mac Computers, has been continually cited as a perpetuator of planned obsolescence within the technology industry. Whether Apple maliciously searches for ways to have their products begin to deteriorate just as a newer model is released is unknown. However, Apple does engage in planned obsolescence as Brook Stevens originally envisioned it in their drive to instill “in the buyer the desire to own something a little newer, a little better, a little sooner than is necessary.”[ii]

With a total net income of $39.5 billion in 2014 and 416 retail stores in 13 countries as of September 28, 2013, Apple is a massively powerful corporation.[iii] Therefore, if Apple decided it had an economic stake in utilizing (technical) planned obsolescence, it approaches the monolithic status required to engage in planned obsolescence without being abandoned in favor of a cheaper or better-made alternative.

E-waste is becoming a major environmental problem, given that a staggering “20m-50m tonnes of “e-waste” is produced each year, most of which ends up in the developing world.”[iv] When e-waste is not recycled, the hazardous materials contained in them are released into areas surrounding the incinerators or the landfills where discarded technology eventually winds up. According to their corporate website, Apple has a strict e-waste policy that often ensures up to 90% of the materials in their products get reused in some form.[v] Apple’s e-waste policy has been somewhat problematic in the past, due to the wording of the policy that may have included a potential loophole for the exportation of e-waste to developing nations.[vi]   However, Apple now states that all e-waste will be handled in the region where it was collected. The voluntary nature of their recycling program means that Apple is not required to provide transparent documentation regarding their audits of their recycling partners. Maxwell and Miller in their book Greening the Media, caution against this type of corporate self-auditing as companies are able to capitalize on ‘green prosumption’ by saying they are “green” or “sustainable” without providing proof positive to the public.

In order to recycle Apple products, one can trade them in via mail and even redeem some resale value from the item.[vii] Additionally, Apple will take any brand of computer or monitor for free (max – 10 items and 70 lbs.) in the mail and take iPod trade-ins in store. Despite these efforts to recycle the e-waste we are creating, Apple—as well as other mobile phone companies—continually produces more e-waste at an alarming rate. According to Maxwell and Miller, people in the U.S. replace their phones at a rate of once per year and over 130 million phones are trashed in the U.S. alone per year. When Apple unveiled the new lighting charger with the iPhone 5, there was a new kind of e-waste problem associated with the obsolescence of accessories and the impetus to upgrade iPods or iPads in order to have all one’s Apple products be able to use the same charger and accessories after upgrading one’s phone.[viii] While Apple has made some strides by meeting the requirements of the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal, planned obsolescence whether social or technical still plays a big role in the creation of—or elimination of—e-waste.

[i] Tim Hindle, “Idea: Planned Obsolescence,” The Economist, March 23, 2009, http://www.economist.com/node/13354332

[ii] Catherine Rampell, “Planned Obsolescence, as Myth or Reality,” The New York Times, October, 31, 2013, http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/10/31/planned-obsolescence-as-myth-or-reality/?_r=0

[iii] “Apple, Inc,” LexisNexis® Corporate Affiliations™. April 27, 2015. Date Accessed: 2015/05/11. www.lexisnexis.com/hottopics/lnacademic.

[iv] “How green is your Apple?” The Economist, August 25, 2006

[v] “Apple Recycles Responsibly,” Apple, Inc, https://www.apple.com/recycling/includes/recycles-responsibly.html

[vi] Jeff Bertolucci, “How green is Apple: Where does the e-waste go?” Macworld, April 21, 2009, http://www.macworld.com/article/1140122/greenapple3.html

[vii] “Apple’s Takeback Program,” Electronics TakeBack Coalition, http://www.electronicstakeback.com/how-to-recycle-electronics/manufacturer-takeback-programs/apples-takeback-program/

[viii] John Biggs, “Apple Is Creating An E-Waste Problem,” August 14, 2012, http://techcrunch.com/2012/08/14/apple-is-creating-an-e-waste-problem/

—

[1] Tim Hindle, “Idea: Planned Obsolescence,” The Economist, March 23, 2009, http://www.economist.com/node/13354332

[2] Catherine Rampell, “Planned Obsolescence, as Myth or Reality,” The New York Times, October, 31, 2013, http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/10/31/planned-obsolescence-as-myth-or-reality/?_r=0

[3] “Apple, Inc,” LexisNexis® Corporate Affiliations™. April 27, 2015. Date Accessed: 2015/05/11. www.lexisnexis.com/hottopics/lnacademic.

[4] “How green is your Apple?” The Economist, August 25, 2006

[5] “Apple Recycles Responsibly,” Apple, Inc, https://www.apple.com/recycling/includes/recycles-responsibly.html

[6] Jeff Bertolucci, “How green is Apple: Where does the e-waste go?” Macworld, April 21, 2009, http://www.macworld.com/article/1140122/greenapple3.html

[7] “Apple’s Takeback Program,” Electronics TakeBack Coalition, http://www.electronicstakeback.com/how-to-recycle-electronics/manufacturer-takeback-programs/apples-takeback-program/

[8] John Biggs, “Apple Is Creating An E-Waste Problem,” August 14, 2012, http://techcrunch.com/2012/08/14/apple-is-creating-an-e-waste-problem/

My first was an iPod classic that I got in 5th grade. Eventually the battery died and it was laid to rest in a drawer in my parents’ house. Earbud set number 1. Next came the MacBook for Christmas of 2006. In my junior year of college almost exactly nine years later, I finally upgraded to a friend’s used 2010 MacBook Pro. Somehow I’ve already lost track of the old laptop not even three months into my “new” computer, and all I have is the pair of earbuds from that era to show for it. First iPhone came in 2009, again with earbuds. I had been an avid Blackberry and then later Droid fan, but with all the other Apple products I had, it felt strange to not complete the set. I finally upgraded to an iPhone 4S in 2012 (the same year the 5 came out), and have stayed with it since, despite its shattered screen. That makes earbud set number 4. Then I started missing my iPod Classic from the good old days and, staying true to my uberloyal way with technology, got another Classic even though the only model available had a ridiculous amount of memory I could never use. It was lost at a swim meet circa 2013, and I’ve been contemplating another ever since. I just have the earbuds now. I suppose “EarPods” would be the appropriate terminology to use were I to buy a new Apple anything now.

I am currently at five going on six pairs of earbuds and it seems strange that with all the hell those earbuds were put through (tangled in backpacks, shoved in wet ears at swim meets, doubled as cat toys), they have lasted longer than the products they came with. For someone more enchanted by new than I am, the number of earbuds could double or triple. I think mine have stuck around so long because they are the only pieces of equipment that can transcend generations of iPhones or iPods and are still universally compatible. Even with this power though, they still sit alongside the chargers and docks that no longer are, adding to the technotrash clutter.

Apple had huge iPhone sales this past month alone with record earnings and took a massive portion of overall smartphone industry profits over 2014. While Apple still brought home serious dough, it may be forced to turn towards other types of software applications to continue the ability to boast such incredible profit margins. The plateau of iPad sales, for example, could be made up for by the emergence of Apple Pay. As Apple shifts towards decreased percentage of its profits originating in actual hardware, this could imply less of an incentive to find friendlier ways of disposing of outdated or broken products.

The economic stake in planning for hardware disposal remains, however. The biggest reason Apple would show a more ecofriendly and recycle-friendly side to its consumers may be its image. The key to Apple’s marketing strategy is simplicity. Both its products and advertising adhere to this method, and it is implied that the type of person they so strongly cater toward with their products would also be in favor of an ecofriendly way to dispose of their product once they are finished with it.

Refs:

DeMers, Jayson. “Here’s the Simple Secret To Apple’s Marketing Success.” Forbes. Forbes Magazine, 8 July 2014. Web. 19 Feb. 2015.

Warman, Matt. “World-Beating Profits – But What’s Next For Apple?; Tech Giant Is Planning Beyond The iPhone With Payments And Watches, Says Matt Warman.” The Daily Telegraph [London] 29 Jan. 2015. LexisNexis Academic. Web. 19 Feb. 2015.

Wolverton, Troy. “Apple’s iPhone Profits Leaves Rivals with Little but Table scraps.” San Jose Mercury News [San Jose] 9 Feb. 2015. LexisNexis Academic. Web. 19 Feb. 2015.

Since 1995, the year that I was born, as well as the year that my family purchased this Sony device, countless music players have been created, both by this company, as well as hundreds of other electronic manufacturers. The implementation of new technologies into the market has outdated our old unit. Although the sound system was such a pertinent part of our lives, more advanced sound systems (i.e., laptops, iPods, iPads, speakers, headphones) have replaced my family’s need for our now archaic stereo. Because newer innovations have served up the same entertainment, as did our old stereo player, changing from one device to another was not difficult for any member of my family. Moreover, our modern technologies being far more advanced, function without the need to purchase CDs or cassette tapes at a music store, and they play music with a much greater sound quality. We have actually marveled at the ease with which we have evolved electronically and musically, and the transition has been without any reservation.

Though I cannot remember the last time any person in my family, myself included, has used our Sony stereo system, the cassette and CD player still inhabit our den. What seemed like the perfect spot for our sound system at the time, placed atop our large television unit, now proves to be a waste of space. Today, this once-loved relic of a bygone era continues to reside in its original domain solely for show. No one has felt the need to change its location, most likely due to the sentimental value of the machine within our family. In fact, the very obvious location of our stereo system in an oft-used room appears to contribute to Turke’s “secret power,” as well. Despite the fact that we have long ago transitioned to modern modes of sound production and entertainment, it is ironic that we have never chosen to move our old system. We don’t use it, but subliminally, it surely resides in some intangible place.

So much of the wistfulness that we feel as we ogle the ancient box is derived from the countless merriments in which the music player was the main event. For each one of us, this obsolete technology is a source of unique as well as shared memories; the “secret power” is that it holds an innate ability to remind us of our past years, old friends, and fondest reminiscences.

Sony Corporation, though not originally referred to by this name, began as a much smaller establishment. In the year 1946, Sony was lead by one man located in Japan. After years of company growth, the Japanese enterprise has proven to have paved a path for countless other technological companies that currently thrive, as a result. According to the numerous articles discussing Sony’s net profit in the year that my particular stereo system was made, the corporation has achieved great success. Moreover, from 1994 to 1995, Sony stated to have a net profit growth of 50.4%. This same year, the technological corporation’s pretax increased by 4.8%. About twenty years later, Sony Corporation appears to have suffered significant profit depletion. In 2014, Sony faced a net loss of $1.1 billion. This is most likely due to technological competitors, the main one being Apple, that have outdone Sony’s products in a variety of ways.

Sony is currently aiming a restructuring plan that will maximize its’ future profits. The company’s target is $4.2 billion in annual profit by March of 2018. To achieve this goal, over the course of the past two years, Sony has decided to “ease away from its reliance on computers, televisions and mobile phones,” and rather, develop smaller-scale technologies. The depletion in Sony’s overall annual profits since 1995 appears to be a direct result of the change in demands of the public. Sony’s plan to restore multiple fields in the business are necessary in order for the company to thrive similarly to the way it did twenty years ago.

“Sony Profit Recovers in Third Quarter: Electronics Sales Strong, but Outlook Clouded by Movies.” Lexis Nexis. Web. 20 Feb. 2015.

“Sony Announces $1.1b Net Loss.” Chinadaily.com. Lexis Nexis, 7 Feb. 2014. Web. 20 Feb. 2015.

Mozur, Paul. “Sony Aims for Huge Leap in Profit.” Bits Sony Aims for Huge Leap in Profit Comments. The New York Times, 18 Feb. 2015. Web. 20 Feb. 2015.

On a different note, I know for a fact that the computer still functions, but it has so much information that there is no more space left on it. It is an old MacBookPro from around the year 2004. But at the time I was very glad to find out that my uncle was about to upgrade to the new MacBook. The one that he gave me was my first ever laptop; I was the lucky beneficiary of the relatively new piece of technology. I used it up until my sophomore year at university; I used it for everything. Sadly, it got to be so ancient and outdated that it began to glitch. I could no longer store my documents on it. It was time for a new laptop.

For fear of finding something excruciatingly embarrassing that one of my cronies could potentially use as blackmail, I am reluctant to open it. Now that it is closed, I want to keep it that way for a long time. I have a feeling that one day, when I’m 35 years-old, I’m going to finally open it and be very glad I waited. Right now feels too soon to rehash those old memories.

I am absolutely dependent on my computer. It has become an extension of who I am. As a filmmaker, all of my movies are on my computer. All of my editing progress is on my computer. All of my accounts for everything are on my computer. Furthermore, my emails keep me in touch with potential employers, friends, family, and pen pals. Thank goodness I have my own computer so that I can store all of my 50 or 60 usernames and passwords that belong to me. If I didn’t have my own laptop, I would certainly fail to remember my passwords and would certainly spend a disgusting amount of time trying to recover my various username and password combinations. My laptops get me by. They keep me on my feet. They hold my memories. They are a part of my identity.

I was always excited about new technologies but was hesitant to part with my older ones that I had become attached to. Each device holds memories that develop with its use, but the desire for new technologies overrides the fondness we have for the outdated ones. After a few years with my Walkman, I moved on from my CD player, and then to the new, chick iPod Nano. After only a few years, it was time for an upgrade. To make a ong story short, I went through four different versions of iPods within the next few years. Then, in 2013 I got my first iPhone and immediately even my newest iPod became obsolete. I could do everything on the new iPhone and had no further need for my other technologies.

Today, I am unsure if I could locate each of these music technologies that I used to use and love. All of my generations of music are now lying around my home somewhere in the bottom of a box. Each of these discarded items once seemed so appealing in its newness and ability to do more and more. In their book, Greening the Media, Richard Maxwell and Toby Miller discuss the “technological sublime” as a “quasi-sacred power,”[i] which draws consumers in with an attractive appearance and the promise of a better life.[ii] Modern technologies offer something newer and better, which wears off as soon as the next device comes out, yet society is addicted to the feeling of buying something new and life-changing. In The Digital Sublime, Vincent Mosco argues that people constantly give in to myth and hype surrounding new technologies because each new device comes a new promise of better communication, better connection and the ability to do more. We buy into it every time, no matter what the product.

The beginning of my consuming and upgrading music players was with the Walkman, a cassette tape player that was once a revolutionary product made by the Sony Corporation.

After being established with a different name in 1947 in Tokyo as a start up company, Sony Corporation was introduced to America in 1960 and began producing innovative new products. Sony was on the rise, creating products such as CD players, radios and a color television. In July of 1979, Sony made a stamp in music history by introducing the Walkman[iii]. Since the creation of this personal cassette player, Sony as well as other companies have introduced a myriad of music players to society, making this once revolutionary product seem ancient. Maxwell and Miller offer an explanation about why we are so quick to throw away devices once something new comes out:

…New technologies redefine the social and cultural relationships that earlier media helped shape… Old media cannot carry certain new content… they are displaced by new media delivering higher-potency versions of old content through new channels.[iv]

Today with abundance of new, high-tech products, older devices that were once popular are outdated and unused. The decline in popularity of the Walkman foreshadowed the overall decline in popularity and profitability of the Sony Corporation.

Despite Sony’s indisputably groundbreaking products in earlier years, the company is now struggling. In 2012, Sony experienced a loss of $540 billion in revenue from the past year. Their market value in 2012 was one ninth of Samsung electronics, and one thirteenth of Apple’s. In fact, they have not made a profit since 2008 because they had not had a hit product in years.[v] Sony tried to compete with the creation of Apple’s iPod, but has not made a competitive portable music product since the Walkman in 1979.[vi]

 [vii]

In an attempt to decrease spending and increase profit, Sony steered away from their electronics branch and tried to focus its efforts and money in their other ventures such as video games, movies and software. In February of 2014, Sony sold Vaio, Sony’s PC business, to Japan Industrial, which is a Japanese private-equity firm that buys units of larger Japanese companies. Sony’s spokes person said that the Vaio brand has a stronger presence in the business world in Japan.[viii] Investors and owners are making an effort to get Sony back on the competitive market and revive the once extremely profitable company.

Sony is just one example of a company struggling in the ever changing and modernizing media environment. Like me, the rest of the world will drop an older device for the newest gadget. My purchases reflect how devices and technology companies can go from being extremely relevant with hit products to becoming obsolete in a matter of years. This begs the question, what ultimately happens to these discarded items? They are either left abandoned or are disposed of. The outdated electronics branch of Sony is a contributor to the techno-trash that everyone has acquired over the years.

However, when someone purchases the newest device, they do not think about what will happen to their old one, but are instead caught up in excitement and hope for something that will change their lives. Greening the Media illuminates, “…that the tendency to regard each emergent medium as awe inspiring and world changing relies on recurring myths of technological power in the absence of acknowledging environmental and labor realities.”[ix] Society views the creation of new technologies in a distorted way. While they may allow us to do more, everyone is blind to the fact that technologies are material objects that harm the environment during their creation, use, and disposal. I now realize that I am no different in my thought process, and before writing this I never even considered what I should do with my old devices, such as my Walkman, CD player and old iPods.

Electronic waste has become a huge environmental issue. A study done in 2005 by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency showed that there were 1.9 million to 2.2 million tons of electronic waste discarded that year, with only 379,000 tons recycled, and the remaining 1.9 million tons put in landfills.[x] The electronic industry has a huge impact on the environment, and electronic companies are moving to make recycling programs to appease the consumer demand for better disposal of products.

In 2007, Sony partnered up with Waste Management and made an effort to boost electronic recycling by covering the recycling fees of their products. Sony and Waste Management hope that other companies will follow in Sony’s footsteps in promoting the importance of recycling. They hope that covering the cost of the recycling will give people more incentive to bring their old electronics to drop off locations.[xi] Between 2007 and 2011, Sony reported that their program had recycled over 50 million pounds of Sony products in the United States.[xii]

The Safety and Health department at Sony Electronics said, “We support the recycling of our products in the same respect we have when we create them, and our ultimate goal is to take back one pound of eWaste for every pound of product we make.”[xiii] Sony made a commitment to the U.S Environmental Protection Agency to promote environmentally sound management of electronic waste through recycling products.

In 2011, Sony announced that they made it even easier to recycle old or unwanted products on their website, www.sony.com/ecotrade. It is designed to help consumers find the best way to trade-in or recycle Sony products for credit towards new products. The website has a drop-off locator, which shows customers the nearest recycling center where they can bring their unwanted electronics. The website is easy to use, and asks for your Zip Code and the type of product you wish you drop off. To test the locator, I entered the Tulane University Zip Code, 70118 and selected “portable audio player” so that I could see where to recycle my Sony Walkman and CD player.

The site came up with multiple locations, the closest of which is in Houston, Texas about 313 miles away:

If a location is far away, the website claims that Sony will ship your item free to the drop-off location for products that they manufactured.[xiv] However, this makes recycling old devices less environmentally friendly because the shipping process produces gas and the box to ship the products in create waste as well. I called Sony’s customer service at: 1-(877)-865-7669 to ask about the recycling program and found that they would not cover the shipping cost of my Sony product to the drop-off in Houston. I inquired about where the items go after reaching the drop-off location, and was told that they go to another warehouse in Texas. However, my customer service representative was unable to get in contact with anyone involved in that warehouse to ask further questions.

It is unclear where Sony products are actually recycled. It is possible that they are recycled in that warehouse in Texas. However, it is known that in some cases, recycling is sent out of the country to be dealt with. According to Barbara Kyle, the national coordinator for the Electronics TakeBack Coalition about 50 to 80 percent of electronic waste that is brought to recyclers goes to China and other developing countries. She does say, however, that manufacturers themselves are more likely to have responsible practices[xv], so Sony’s recycling may be better than this outsourcing.

It is comforting to know that as consumers, we have options about what to do with our “techno-trash.” Companies have responded to demands about being environmentally friendly with programs for recycling their products. It is important that we recognize these options and utilize them, but stay objective and realize that these recycling processes may be different than we image. As long as technologies are surrounded by myths, we will continue upgrading and buying new devices. We must learn how to keep the environment safe as our society keeps modernizing, creating new products and adding the outdated castoffs to the ever-growing heap of techno-trash.

[i] Maxwell, R., & Miller, T. (2012). Greening the media. New York: Oxford University Press. (p. 4)

[ii] IBID (p. 22)

[iii] Sony Corporation Global Headquarters. (n.d.). Retrieved March 10, 2015, from http://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/CorporateInfo/History/history.html

[iv] Maxwell, R., & Miller, T. (2012). Greening the media. New York: Oxford University Press. (p. 43)

[v] Tabuchi, Hiroko. (2012) “How Sony lost its place in the Sun; Drought of hit products and a lack of focus weigh on the electronics giant.” The International Herald Tribune. LexisNexis Academic. Web.

[vi] Zaun, Todd. “Sony Says Year’s Sales and Profit Will Miss Targets.” The New York Times. (2005). LexisNexis Academic. Web.

[vii] “Eclipsed by Apple.” (2014, July 12). Retrieved March 10, 2015, from http://www.economist.com/news/business/21606845-electronics-companies-japan-are-starting-turn-themselves-around-they-are-shadow

[viii] Edwards, Cliff and Yasu, Mariko. “Sony Said in Talk to Sell Japan PC Unit to Investor Group.” Bloomberg Business. (February 2014). http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2014-02-04/sony-said-holding-talks-to-sell-japan-pc-unit-to-investor-group

[ix] Maxwell, R., & Miller, T. (2012). Greening the media. New York: Oxford University Press. (p. 43)

[x] Richgels, Jeff. “Sony to Cover Recycling Fees.” The Capital Times. (2007). LexisNexis Academic. Web.

[xi] IBID

[xii] “Sony Rolls Out New Trade-In & Recycling Web Site.” India Retail News. (2011). LexisNexis Academic. Web.

[xiii] IBID

[xiv] IBID

[xv] Munoz, Sarah. “Electronics Recycling Starting to Heat Up; Manufacturers, Retailers Beginning to Provide Ways to Dispose of Old Gadgets.” The Wall Street Journal. (2008). LexisNexis Academic. Web.

WORKS CITED

Belson, Ken. “Sony Says Profit Tumbled 25% From a Year Ago.” The New York Times. (October 24, 3003). LexisNexis Academic. Web.

Eclipsed by Apple. (2014, July 12). Retrieved March 10, 2015, from http://www.economist.com/news/business/21606845-electronics-companies-japan-are-starting-turn-themselves-around-they-are-shadow

Edwards, Cliff and Yasu, Mariko. “Sony Said in Talk to Sell Japan PC Unit to Investor Group.” Bloomberg Business. (February 2014). Retrieved March 10, 2015 from http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2014-02-04/sony-said-holding-talks-to-sell-japan-pc-unit-to-investor-group

Maxwell, R., & Miller, T. (2012). Greening the media. New York: Oxford University Press.

Mosco, V. (2004). The digital sublime myth, power, and cyberspace. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press.

Sony Corporation Global Headquarters. (n.d.). Retrieved March 10, 2015, from http://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/CorporateInfo/History/history.html

Tabuchi, Hiroko. (2012) “How Sony lost its place in the Sun; Drought of hit products and a lack of focus weigh on the electronics giant.” The International Herald Tribune. LexisNexis Academic. Web.

Zaun, Todd. “Sony Says Year’s Sales and Profit Will Miss Targets.” The New York Times. (January 21, 2005 Friday). LexisNexis Academic. Web.

Each night, we would gather by the TV and while my mother would casually sit down and begin to eat her meal, my father and I could feel each other’s eyes scanning the room for that big grey remote control. It was a nightly competition; whoever could find it first had all the power in the situation, that is to say the choice of what we were going to watch. I always preferred cable to DVDs, whereas my dad usually had a movie already in mind for us to watch. Whoever found the remote first, however, almost always had the privilege of choosing what we were all going to watch. This is when I was older, however, because when I was younger than say 10 years old, the remote was always something that belonged to my father. Once I got a bit older however, he made room for me to enter into the game of hide-and-seek. There were certain nights when I cheated (and hid the remote beforehand) and others where I am sure he did as well. Regardless, as Turkle discusses, holding this almost identical remote in my hands once again brought back swarms of memories of these family dinners that always meant so much to me yet I had seemed to forget about over time. This is the “special” quality of things or objects; as put by Turkle, the intense emotional attachment to them resulting from the fact that “we fall in love with objects that put us in touch with these ideas.”

The picture I uploaded includes the SANYO remote that plays a lead role in my childhood story sitting beside the Apple TV remote currently used by my roommates and I. It is interesting to see the sheer size difference between the two, but the emotions that they carry are similar in several ways. In the same way my father and I used to fight over the SANYO remote, my roommates and I have developed a similar dynamic surrounding the Apple TV remote. Whoever finds it first (which is even more of a challenge due to its size and tendency to disappear), gets to choose what we watch. This is something we engage in almost every day, but that I would never have thought to connect back to my childhood and my father had I not come across the SANYO remote.

The company which manufactured the remote control that I found in my house is called “SANYO”, and is a Sydney-based technology firm that has seen huge declines in profits over the past couple of decades. According to Chris Jenkins , SANYO has recently cut more than 14,000 jobs from its world-wide companies. The company had also planned to closed down 20 percent of its factories in Japan. This is a clear indication that the company has suffered an economic downturn. This article claims that the decline in profits stem from major competition in digital cameras, an item which is also quickly becoming obsolete (with the clarity of the camera on the iPhone 6, for example). However, many sources attribute the gain of zero net profit to the rapid rise of the Yen. Even after selling their cellphone business to Kyocera Corp. in 2008, Sanyo would have “fallen into the red” so to speak. This term is used in business to indicate when a business/company has fallen so far into debt that they cannot keep track of how much money they owe, for example. In struggling to avoid a shut-down, SANYO has cut off ties with fourteen of its “debt-ridden affiliates” (Bloomberg,1997). All of this information previously discussed is that which I have extracted from articles written from the years 1997-2006. It was very difficult to find any relevant articles regarding SANYO profit and sales in the year 2014, which further supports the notion of its obsolescence. Upon locating an article written in 2014 through Lexis Nexis by GlobalData, I discovered that Panasonic Corporation (a much more well-known company) has acquired 50.19% of SANYO’s shares (GlobalData Ltd., 2014). This fact illustrates the necessity for SANYO to sell its shares in order to survive, and perhaps attempt to jump-start new innovations, although at this point the chances of their revival seems unlikely.

Works Cited:
Analysts see profit potential in Sanyo; AROUND ASIA’S MARKETS; BUSINESS ASIA by Bloomberg
The International Herald Tribune, June 7, 2006 Wednesday, FINANCE; Pg. 23, 578 words, Wes Goodman
Sanyo slashes 14,000 jobs
The Australian, July 6, 2005 Wednesday All-round Country Edition, FINANCE; Pg. 24, 414 words, Chris Jenkins

Sanyo to cut operating profit forecast by 40 percent; see no net profit
Kyodo News International (Tokyo, Japan), January 10, 2009 Saturday, BUSINESS AND FINANCIAL NEWS, 314 words, Kyodo News International, Tokyo

For my high school graduation gift, I got a new laptop. The realization that I must get rid of my old, trusty computer was a scary one. Yes, all I did was complain about how slow it was, but my computer had been with me through so much, it almost felt like a part of me. It had begun to symbolize the future. As a young girl being able to type up documents felt grown up, and as I became older it transformed into the tool that would help me start the rest of my life, college essays. At the same time, I understood that my laptop had done its job and was ready to retire.

One thing that never crossed my mind is what would happen to my old laptop once it had been replaced by a newer, shinier version. And the answer is simple, nothing. It still sits dormant in my room waiting for someone to use it. I keep it in case of an emergency, but in all actuality, I am not even sure if it would even turn on at this point.

I know that soon I will have to find a way of disposing my old laptop, but I have no idea how. In high school, I volunteered at an organization that collected old technology, fixed what was broken, and then donated the gadgets to families in need. But, for the life of me, I cannot remember the name of the organization. After spending over thirty minutes on Google trying to find the organization, I have come to the conclusion that it no longer exists. I did find a few other places to drop off old technologies in my hometown, Houston.

The best option for technology donations in Houston is Goodwill or Compucycle. These donation centers, though not centrally located, accept items from PCs, servers, laptops, and game consuls to old cell phones, PDAs, tape drives, and cords. From my research, it seems as if donating my laptop would be the best way of disposing it. It would allow someone else to squeeze a few more good years out of it. But what happens after that is a question that has been running through my head nonstop. Although I do not know where my laptop will end up, I can only hope that what is now my beautiful machine of memories will not end up as pollution in a third world country.

My old laptop is an Apple Product. Apple is one of the largest technology distributer’s in the nation and has around 92,600 employees. The company was founded in 1976 by Steve Jobs and is now headquartered in Cupertino, Ca. The company mainly produces personal computers, portable digital music players, and mobile communication devices. While reviewing the list of products that Apple makes its crazy to see the variety of different technologies the company encompasses. It makes everything from iTunes (music listening service) to fonts to software and telecom technologies. The company has so many different products people could subsist solely on Apple and not lack for anything. In 2014, Apple made $182,795,000,000 in sales and had a net income of $39,510,000,000 (Corporate Affiliations 1). Even though Apple has so many resources available to them its sad to learn that recycling/disposal of products is not a higher priority. On its website, there is a page that walks users through the processing of sending back reusable products. Their website boasts that Apple meets the requirements of the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal. The site also says that Apple recycles “key components” of their products, but fails to mention what happens to the material that cannot be reused in new products? Another interesting part of Apple’s website is the list of unaffiliated places to recycle in both American and the rest of the world. But, in the United States section, Apple only give places to recycle in 14 out of the 50 states. Clearly Apple is aware that technology recycling is an important part of their industry, but there is still much work that must go into making disposal of technology more common and accessible.

Sources

“Apple – Recycling Program for IPod and Mobile Phones.” Apple – Recycling Program for IPod and Mobile Phones. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Feb. 2015.         <https://www.apple.com/recycling/ipod-cell-phone/>.

LexisNexis® Corporate Affiliations™. (February 9, 2015): LexisNexis Academic. Web.            Date Accessed: 2015/02/19.