Planned Obsolescence: Technology Edition

Pixel Slate coming apart.
Why, oh why does every ChromeOS device I ever get have a shelf life of 3 years or less??? My current daily driver is the Pixel Slate. I got it in September 2019. So I've had it for just over 2 years. Alas... The screen is starting to separate from the backing. It could be that the battery is expanding, or something else. Either way... Less than 3 years and it's falling apart. 

Electrical Tape trying to hold it together. 
It still works, and I used electric tape to at least keep it together enough to stop dust from getting inside but still... It's annoying. 

Surface Pro 4
Meanwhile, my Surface Pro 4 (bought in March 2017), is still working. The battery isn't what it was. The speakers are nowhere near the quality of the Pixel Slate. But it is still together. 

I started looking at Chromebook replacements, like the Pixelbook GO but I'm getting hesitant because I've had several Chromebooks now, from the first Chromebook's released, to a Samsung Chromebook to the original Pixel Chromebook to the Slate and I realized that none of them have lasted beyond 3 years. 

Unlike Pixel (and Nexus before) phones, the build quality for Chromebook's seem to be really lacking (or I have some real shitty luck with longevity), from Google and the OEMs. So I'm not sure if I want to buy another device that is dead within 3 years or just upgrade to the Surface Pro 8??? 

EDIT: I bought the Surface Pro 8 today.

Surface Pro 8
The good news is that SP8 has a bigger screen than the SP4 (and also the Pixel Slate) and much better speakers. It costs more (double) a Chromebook device but again... If it lasts longer than 3 years, then that's worth it. I'm really tired of Planned Obsolescence.

Surface Pro 4 and Surface Pro 8

Planned Obsolescence is the devil of Technology companies. They know that they put out a product that will only last so long, so you have to buy the next. And the next, and the next, and the next. It's the same across the board. Look at refrigerators, they don't even last as long as refrigerators from the 70's, 80's, and 90's. Don't even get me started on the "smart" trend crap, either. 

I've been a ChromeOS user from the beginning but Google and the OEMs really need to put some more effort into their actual hardware. The OS is NEVER the issue. It works great. It always comes down to the hardware not being able to last long. That's a real shame. 


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