My Galaxy Note 3 lasted about 10 years, by generally charging it to about 50% most of the time. Charged it to about 80% before bus rides, or before meetings. Finally had to replace it due to Sprint shutting down in Seattle region (phone was carrier locked). Never replaced the (replaceable) battery.
Still have 2 old 17" crt monitors for emergency & trouble-shooting. Still have 3 old LCD monitors - one dead pixel in all, each 10+ years old.
Devices can last a heck of a long time, with care and luck. But not when manufacturers start getting slimy like this article describes.
Maybe the fact that we design them with computers and modern quality makes the die quicker.
Suppose you design a device, and you want to give a 2 year warranty. Every device brought in before this eats in your profit. So you design with a safety margin, using components that on average last 3 years.
Now you design them with a computer. You can simulate the heat profile of the whole thing, move some troublemaker components around, where a pen-and-paper designer would need to guestimate. So you can produce a cheaper device by lowering the safety margin to 2.4 years.
Still have 2 old 17" crt monitors for emergency & trouble-shooting. Still have 3 old LCD monitors - one dead pixel in all, each 10+ years old.
Devices can last a heck of a long time, with care and luck. But not when manufacturers start getting slimy like this article describes.