News Samsung investigation blames batteries for Galaxy Note 7 fires

I do feel like an idiot now... but at least I got it rihgt this time.

 

I'm definitely in the camp that believes a lot of it is planned obselencse

But there is another side to it, paraphrasing another article, and that is consumer demand. Market research had shown that consumers were more interested in how much charge batteries held rather than how long they lasted. Companies started to overcharge their batteries so that they held more charge but at the expense of their longevity. The latter wasn't a problem to them because most consumers replace their phone after two years so the the consumer would have replaced it before it could no longer hold charge.


Correct me if I'm wrong but it reminds me of what happened with the new MacBook Pro. Fan and power users were happy with the dimensions of the previous MacBook. But to meet mainstream consumer demand Apple made them slimmer still. At the cost of ports and battery life (despite increased efficiency and improved battery technology).