What do you base your decisions on when purchasing and disposing of smart and electronic devices?

For a professional user, the principle “I only own the newest model and sell the old one on the secondary market while its value is still high” may be suitable, and I personally am a consistent buyer of precisely such lightly used devices. As an average user, one should buy a new device only when the old one no longer works.

Although many devices support the same functions (a computer, tablet, and smartphone often differ only in the presence of a keyboard and size), each multifunctional device still has one main function for the owner, while the rest are secondary. This brings us to the dominant purchasing rationale today: technically, there is no need for a new product because the functionality is already covered by other devices, but a new product is purchased when there is financial opportunity and a discount happens to be available in the store.

A good tip is to establish a rule of keeping the total number of devices constant: if you acquire a new device, you must find a buyer for the old one, because the total number of devices in your possession should remain the same. Stores make this easy by buying back old devices at a symbolic price. Personally, I am probably an exception, as I keep most interesting technology stored in a drawer so that in a couple of decades it will be fascinating to analyze past technological achievements.

How can old devices be given a new life?

The components of modern electronics become obsolete so quickly that they are no longer suitable for use in new-generation products. However, they can still be useful in several ways.

First, by properly disposing of devices, I can help protect the environment and allow valuable materials to be recycled. Devices with data storage, whose other functions no longer work, can be kept at home as backups (in addition to cloud backups) and for reading old storage media (floppy disks, videotapes).

A faulty device can also be used to develop technical skills—experimenting with simple repairs or studying how devices are built. Exploring the inner workings of devices also helps educate young people, future inventors of new technologies.

Many justify frequent purchases of new devices with better quality or the idea that the previous device has “fallen behind the times” when memory fills up or the device becomes slow (e.g., phones), or because newer models have cooler features (e.g., phones or TVs). How do you manage without needing new devices so often?

I try to squeeze as much as possible out of an older model and take satisfaction in extending battery life or increasing application speed with clever tricks.

Memory usually does not actually fill up; rather, it gets clogged with digital clutter that we mistakenly consider important. Another cause is unreasonably large file sizes, which may be important but are not optimized. So the real reason behind “falling behind the times” is often the user’s lack of skill or laziness.

Another reason for replacing devices is insufficient RAM. This, too, can be mitigated with good habits and usage techniques. Users often keep applications running that they are not using, which occupy RAM and interfere with ongoing tasks.

Give one good piece of advice to those who have drawers full of phones and/or buy a new device every year.

If buying a new device is exciting only for following progress, I recommend not purchasing it outright but using a leasing agreement instead. This way, you always have access to the latest technology, and the store handles finding a new owner for the device. With children’s phones, you can save money by giving the child who loses phones most often an older sibling’s device, while buying a new one for the child who takes the best care of their belongings.