Americans are holding onto devices longer than ever before, and while it may be consumer smart, it comes at a cost to work productivity and the U.S. economy.

The average American now holds onto their smartphone for 29 months, according to a recent survey by Reviews.org, and that cycle is getting longer. The average was around 22 months in 2016.

While squeezing as much life out of your device as possible may save money in the short run, especially amid widespread fears about the strength of the consumer and job market, it might cost the economy in the long run, especially when device hoarding occurs at the level of corporations.

  • 4am@lemmy.zip
    25·
    2 days ago

    To be fair, current laptops don’t handle Outlook and Word very well.

    It’s probably not the hardware that is the issue.

    • SteevyT@beehaw.org
      2·
      2 days ago

      Hell, Windows 11 is broken enough on my work laptop that it sometimes struggles with fucking explorer.exe, and this damn thing will run multithousand part CAD models without too much hassle while Windows isnt fucking up.

      • Korthrun@lemmy.sdf.org
        8·
        2 days ago
        They used the dorodango technique to create dung spheres in order to bust the myth that one "can't polish a turd". Using a glossmeter, they measured gloss levels substantially higher than the value of 70 gloss units, which is considered "high gloss". Savage's 106-gloss unit dorodango used an ostrich's feces, while Hyneman's 183-gloss unit specimen used a lion's feces. They therefore deemed the myth "busted".