I always expected something worse going on in the background as not all network traffic is purely going directly to Google. Now I know for sure that having too much trust in such devices running stock Android (IOS) is a bad idea.
Seems like every smartphone owner is potentially keeping an Alexa sniffing device.
Sad conclusion of this research project:
“So, unfortunately, sustainable cobaltmining in the DRC is still a utopia.”
Completely off topic:
Interesting to find those two articles in this journal within a few weeks, that seem to be a bit contradictory to each other:
Global study shows environmentally friendly farming can increase productivity (17. August) A major new study involving researchers from the University of York has measured a global shift towards more sustainable agricultural systems that provide environmental improvements at the same time as increases in food production.
A german startup that wants to build an electric car with solar panels on top of it (finally someone who does this, I already thought of that years ago!) features a picture of a Fairphone to showcase their app!
This is quite cool. Though I’d say all credits go to iFixit. Motorola just promotes a service iFixit already provides for some devices anyway.
And btw, I don’t know if I’d call the difficulty of the screen replacement “moderate”. There are 5 s in the guide and personally I don’t trust the standard “To reassemble your device, follow the above steps in reverse order.” sentence once disassembly involves melting glue with a heat source.
Same as me, by my past experiences in repairings I tend to say there is a 50/50 chance that the putting back together process simply equals a reverse order.
Each direction is a new experience. But this sentence is much easier and quicker to type than once again take snapshots of what has to be done and explaining more details.
Probably because most people are glad about having (successfully) reached the main goal of applying the fix and then quickly wanting to end all this hassle.
30.000 phones sold since 2014…and there were users here stating that 160.000+ Fairphones since then were noticeable less…
Anyway the Shiftphone founders mentioned some very honorable values too:
“We actually own the mold that you need to make this battery, which we use in all our devices. This way, we can make sure you’ll always be able to get a new battery for your phone.”
Great move first of all that there is a generic part and even more as it is the most fragile part due to use.
That independence is important to the duo, who despite interest in their products, refuse to bring in outside investors to grow their company faster. “That is also our promise to our customers,” said Carsten Waldeck, “that we can’t be bought. To assure that we will still be around in 20 years.”
Although they have chosen to take the hard risky way I appreciate this move most.
There were several very interesting ideas and prototypes available in the past which were acquired by wealthy companies or investors just to be dumped or locked up.
I’m afraid that I have to revise my statement from here as we are at least on par with Apple:
Yes - we can!
"Apple, Fairphone make the cut in Greenpeace survey
Greenpeace has issued a fresh report that assesses the environmental impact of the world’s leading technology companies. It said only two firms had made significant strides to lower their environmental footprint. (17.10.2017) "
Taking a look at Apple’s new semi-giga central building I do believe that many trees and other parts of the flora and fauna had to give up their home area. I guess no solar panel or other new technology can compensate for this impact having removed things which has grown in decades.
So I would say that puts Fairphone to the top in this concern.
It’s probably easy to miss in the blog post about Fairphone turning 5 years old, so here’s a direct link to the brand new Fairphone impact report (PDF, 67 pages)
This is a pretty good introductory article about F-Droid for non-techie, regular hoomans. I’d wish I had this post at hand when I started to tinker with alternative appstores; fortunately, now other people have. Share the love!
This video is already 3 months old, but I haven’t seen anything on the Forum yet (sorry if someone already posted it).
This is a video by TechAltar about European phone brands making a comeback:
There’s a piece in the latest issue of Positive News about millennials changing society for the better which includes one Josh Babarinde, founder of Cracked It.
“It’s London’s social enterprise smartphone repair service, staffed by young ex-offenders and youth at risk of offending.”
I asked them if they had heard of Fairphone and got a reply in the affirmative. However they did not elaborate as to whether they’d actually repaired any.