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Researchers: Americans Holding on to Old Tech Devices Is Hurting the Economy

Americans are holding onto their smartphones and other devices longer than ever, but researchers claim this trend comes with a hidden cost to the economy.

CNBC reports that in recent years, Americans have been clinging to their aging smartphones, computers, and other electronic devices for extended periods. While this may seem like a financially prudent decision on an individual level, experts warn that the collective impact of this trend could be detrimental to the economy as a whole.

According to a recent survey by Reviews.org, the average American now holds onto their smartphone for 29 months, a significant increase from the 22-month average in 2016. This trend is not limited to individual consumers; businesses are also holding onto outdated technology for even longer periods to delay the expense of device rollouts.

Experts claim that lost productivity and inefficiency are the unintended consequences of people and businesses clinging to aging technology. Cassandra Cummings, CEO of New Jersey-based electronics design company Thomas Instrumentation, explains that older devices were engineered when internet speeds were much slower, and they often struggle to keep up with the faster speeds available today. This can lead to networks throttling back their speeds to accommodate the slowest devices, resulting in entire sections of networks running slower than they would if all devices were up to the newer standards.

Wait, 29 months? An extra 5 months over the typical 2 years people are charged monthly for that new phone? That’s it? Which is just 7 months more than the previous average? Phones are a lot more expensive than they were in 2016, and, really, do they do much more? The processors might be slightly faster and the cameras better, but, the tech is really not all that much of a step up, in the same way computers are not really that much different than 9 years ago.

I have a Samsung Galaxy S20 FE purchased Christmastime 2020. It works fine. The battery is still fine. The processor is more than fast enough for what I do. I couldn’t care less about a better camera. 4K would be nice for the screen, but, very little is 4K. Otherwise, it would actually be a downgrade, since phones still do not have a replaceable battery (one of the main reasons I switched from iPhone to Android long ago), and most Androids no longer take a memory card, especially the higher end ones. I have over 1200 songs on the card, plus, that is where I store photos and certain documents I secure with a passcode. Even a movie. What benefit does a new one have, other than getting a $25 plus charge on my bill monthly?

If it works, why change it? My JVC receiver is from around 1987. Still works perfect, though, can’t hook to TV, since new TVs do not have red/white/yellow out anymore. Washer and dryer from 1994 work fine. Heck, while not tech, a cheap Carlos acoustic guitar from early 80s still plays fine. I have a Chorus foot pedal I rarely use and a tuner pedal which I do from mid-80s that work fine. Knock on wood.

I’ve replaced my laptops every couple of years, because the hard drives started dying. Hopefully the current will last longer with a solid state HD. It really isn’t all that much faster than the desktop I had around 2005. Just slight improvements in things like the number of cores. And less expensive solid state hard drives. I could seriously go down the rabbit hole, but, nah, just remember, this is all your fault.