🇬🇧 🇩🇪 🇫🇷 Interesting links / news articles somehow related to FP (collection)

It’s mainly about a company called MMR which is exploiting workers. And Fairphone is mentioned as one of its first clients. :frowning:

BTW, is it just me, or do all the huge images/videos embedded in that article make it almost unreadable?

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No problem with blazing fast Firefox 57. :sunglasses:

About avoiding conflict material (written in German):

Fairphone is not mentioned, but good to see that other manufacturers also starts to care.

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Nah, I didn’t mean performance wise. This media content totally interrupts my reading flow. A simple heading instead of screen-sized pictures with the corresponding text in it would do.

But then I have a general problem with these “modern” web pages that seem to consist of only images/videos and no “real information” :smiley:

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My grandmother just told me she saw a movie about Fairphone in Austrian Television:

http://tv.orf.at/orf3/stories/2880186/

“Geplanter Murks” is a documentary on planned obsolescence.

PS: Fairphone is first mentioned at 35:16 (after a lot of missed opportunities for mentioning it). :wink:

PPS: At 43:15 it’s finally mentioned how Fairphone fights planned obsolescence and e-waste.

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A German blog-article about the new camera module (17th October 2017).

They have two pictures with the following caption (translation - and any errors on that behalf - by me):
Fairphone 2 – new camera module: left a picture with the old camera, right a picture with the new camera (about 15 minutes later).
So it took them about 15 minutes to change the modules on the spot (i.e. on the street). Get that! Any other phone, you can do that with?
Right, none!

The conclusion of the camera test:

I’ll try a translation (corrections are welcome :))
Utopia says: On behalf of sustainability it might not really be appropriate, if a sudden run on the new camera module starts, just to “have the latest model”. On the other hand, the old camera was a fatal flaw of the Fairphone 2 - that now is a thing of the past: the new camera really is way better and worth it’s price. With that, the last flaw of the FP2 remains the weak battery.

Later on in that article they talk as well about the following aspects:

  • the Android 6 update and how easy it is to install
  • alternative/free OSs: FP Open, Ubuntu Touch and a possible cooperation with Uhuru Mobile a special, secure Android (the links are copied from that page)
  • Why to get a Fairphone

and they link to a gallery as well, showing how to exchange the camera and other modules.

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German article, unfortunately behind paywall (haven’t read it myself)

The title and first few visible sentences don’t sound positive :frowning:

Edit: I registered myself at blendle.com (which I meant to do anyway) and have read the article now. I don’t know. Replace “Fairphone” with any other smartphone manufacturer and I’m sure you’ll find people who could share the same story…

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Read that one yesterday as well.

She basically shared her tale of woe with her FP1. She had some issues with some sensors (display turn on and off while the called someone -> hanged up accidentally from time to time) and with the sound. Additionally she could not install some apps she needed while studying because of the outdated OS of the FP1. She also visited Fairphone in Amsterdam.
After her FP1 fall down and was broken completely she was somehow facilitated. Finally she bought a iPhone :thinking:.

The final sentence is her interests as a smartphone user won against ethical thoughts.

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Test of the new camera module (in german):

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This is not specifically about Fairphone, but I like the opening sentence in that article

Too many social enterprises prioritise their social aim over becoming a viable business and achieving financial sustainability.

I think Fairphone does better :slight_smile: And it might help to quote that article next time someone rants that “Fairphone has failed” because

  • Support of the FP1 has ended too soon
  • It ships with Android and not Sailfish OS, Ubuntu Touch, (other fully free smartphone OS)
  • There is no co-operation to get the Purism OS on the FP2
  • Spare parts/the entire phone is out of stock from time to time
  • Not everything is conflict free and fairtrade yet
  • Working conditions/payment in China is still pretty bad compared with European standards
  • etc.
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Altogether, the report estimates that nearly 45 million tons of electronics were thrown out in 2016—and only about 20 percent of it is known to have been recycled. The report puts the value of the raw materials in that 45 million tons of e-waste at about $55 billion ($9 billion from smartphones alone), but most of that waste isn’t being recovered.

There are, of course, huge differences in e-waste from one region to another. Africa, for example, accounted for only about five percent of the total e-waste generated—roughly zero of which was recycled. Europe and Russia combined to generate about 28 percent of the world’s e-waste, but recycled it at a higher average rate of 35 percent. That’s partly due to recycling rates of around 70 percent in Switzerland, Sweden, and Norway.

The United States produced 14 percent of e-waste and recycled less than a quarter of it—just above the global average. China, which has four times the population of the US, came in at about 16 percent of the world’s e-waste, with about 18 percent getting recycled.

The trend for e-waste is, of course, upward, with about four percent more being produced every year. The report highlights the tremendous scale of changes in the use of technology over the last decade. In 2007, only about 20 percent of the world’s population was online, but that number has since increased to nearly 50 percent. That’s more people using more devices, while recycling efforts lag behind.

And many of those new devices are smartphones with incredibly short lifecycles. The average smartphone, the report notes, is only used for less than 2 years before it gets replaced.

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A 45 min documentary about the “doughnut economy” featuring British economist Kate Raworth.

They’re referring to previous Tegenlicht documentaries, including the one they made about Fairphone. Fairphone is mentioned at 30 min in the documentary but the documentary at its whole is interesting as it includes various examples of sustainable economy, and for example a reference to the documentary China Blue from 2005 [1].

Its made for Dutch public broadcast TV station VPRO. Voiceover is in Dutch, subtitles are in Dutch, but a lot of spoken audio is foreign (mostly English).

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China_Blue

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A reportage about the hacking scene in Shenzhen/China (in German).

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Edit: unfortunately the transparent back cover is shown (it’s no longer available) and the guy fails to mention that LineageOS already provides Android 7 when he comments on the old Android 6 and the wish that somebody may bring Oreo to the FP2.

Besides he doesn’t mention that the Android 6 on the Fairphone 2 is more secure (due to monthly security updates) than probably most smartphones that have officially received Android 7.

I had an interesting discussion on Twitter the other day with someone who wasn’t aware that also “old” Android versions get (security) updates. He thought, all non-Oreo versions were insecure.

Partly I can see where that comes from: in many places it is said/written that one should ensure to be “at the latest version”.

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It’s not an article, just a tweet, but Sony says (copying the text here in case they delete the tweet)

That’s fair enough, but remember the Xperia Z3 is over 4 years old now. We don’t know any phone that has been supported for that long. It’s not just Sony…

Basically they are saying: “Don’t expect a (android) smartphone to get support for more than 4 years” :wink:

https://twitter.com/XperiaBlog/status/952630278262050823

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It’s not Sony. XperiaBlog are saying on their Twitter profile that they are unofficial.

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Hmm, isn’t that true though?